Challenges of social service delivery to persons with disabilities in Egypt: A stakeholders\u27 analysis

Social Rehabilitation Offices are one of the most vital outlets in Egypt that provide services to persons with disabilities (PWDs) under the supervision of the Ministry of Social Solidarity (MoSS). This study seeks to document the performance of Social Rehabilitation Offices from a multi-dimensional perspective; persons with disabilities (beneficiaries), Rehabilitation Offices (service providers), partner non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working in the field of disability, and MoSS (regulators). A mixed methods approach was used to gain an in-depth perspective to the complexity of the issues present in the Egyptian social service delivery system. It was clear that not all Rehabilitation Offices are performing with the same quality, efficiency and effectiveness. The service providers and regulators hold more positive views towards the services provided by the offices than beneficiaries. PWDs are not able to exercise their full rights as a result of receiving little information about the services. More effort can be done regarding the training and employment of PWDs. Also, the study shows lack of clarity of roles and responsibilities for several stakeholders, which had an impact on the quality of services provided. Structural issues such as lack of coordination among multiple stakeholders, poor financial support, a weak monitoring system, and weak social support to PWDs were also found to negatively impact the quality of services. Recommendations for enhancing the performance of these Rehabilitation Offices and the overarching system are listed

Civil Society and State Fragility in Angola

State fragility is becoming increasingly alarming as an epidemic in our world today. It breeds crippling crises and can have irrevocable effects. According to Robert I. Rotberg, fragile states are hubs for both: local and international crimes, human and drug trafficking, terror and human rights violations amongst other problems acting as a social menace to the globe (Rotberg, 2003, p.6). One of the main reasons why fragile states are alarming is that the problems they bring about are rarely contained. They automatically overspill due to the complexity of some of the problems as well as the interdependence of the world’s structure becoming an international issue and concern rather than a regional one. This paper starts with the premise that one of the possible solutions to state fragility is development from within which is achieved partly through civil society and states’ self-help. It tries to establish first and very briefly the relationship between civil society and state fragility and the definitions used in this paper. Then, it tries to determine what civil society could do to reconstruct fragile states in general. Finally, it applies parts of the latter to Angola examining the successes and failures of its civil society focusing only on NGOs. Through this methodology, it tries to answer the question “To what extent is Civil Society successful in reconstructing/rebuilding Angola as a Fragile State?”. This topic is significant because as mentioned above state fragility is on the rise and it is hard to control. Once a country spirals down the fragility index, sometimes the damage is permanent and its threats are imminent. The paper argues that although Angolan civil society is rather weakened and limited by the state and international organizations, there are opportunities for increasing effectiveness. It might not be significantly successful today however, with all limitations considered, it is bringing about small positive changes that will impact the future of Democracy in Angola in the long run

Adult Acute Myeloid Leukemia – A Possible Relation to Disease Invasion and the Impact of Independent Prognostic Markers Associated with Survival Outcome

Over the past decade, leukemia exists and frequently occurs in adults. Radiation exposure, hereditary syndromes, smoking, age, and many other unknown factors are generally the major risk factors for leukemia. Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a hematological malignancy that is dispersed from its beginning and may be perceived as a prototype of metastatic cancer, yet leukemia is considered a highly malignant neoplasms responsible for a large number of cancer-related deaths. In addition, to uninhibited proliferation, leukemic cells dispense early from the bone marrow into the peripheral blood, followed by an infiltration of various organs such as lymph nodes, liver, spleen, lungs, intestinal tract, skin, or mucous membranes. Several studies are concerned with the critical role of angiogenesis in the development and growth of solid tumors and hematological malignancies. Moreover, angiogenic mediators created by AML cells act through external or internal autocrine loops, thereby directly indorsing cell survival, spread, and disease development. In recent years, many researchers focus on angiopioetins (Ang), an innovative family of angiogenic mediators, which have shown to be vital regulators of angiogenesis and vascular stability. Ang-1 and its antagonist Ang-2 act via the receptor tyrosine kinase sTie 2, which is expressed in endothelial cells (ECs) of the vasculature and in subset of hematopoietic stem cells. Binding of Ang-1 causes phosphorylation of sTie2 and ensures the integrity of the vasculature by stimulating interactions between ECs and endothelial support cells. This chapter reviews the incidence, mortality, pathogenesis, and diagnostic procedures of AML. As well as aims at evaluating serum levels of endostatin, MMP- 9, and uPAR in acute myeloid leukemia patients before chemotherapy and after achieving complete remission. At the same time, the chapter also assesses the pretreatment levels of plasma Ang-1, Ang-2, and sTie2, and the calculated ratio of Ang2/sTie2 receptor in a cohort of AML patients also studies their impact on the AML patients\u27 overall survival

New method for nonparaxial beam propagation

A new method for solving the wave equation is presented that is nonparaxial and can be applied to wide-angle beam propagation. It shows very good stability characteristics in the sense that relatively larger step sizes can be taken. An implementation by use of the collocation method is presented in which only simple matrix multiplications are involved and no numerical matrix diagonalization or inversion is needed. The method is hence faster and is also highly accurate

Dual Doping of MoP with M(Mn,Fe) and S to Achieve High Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Activity in Both Acidic and Alkaline Media

Rational design of cost‐effective, high performance and stable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrocatalysts in both acidic and alkaline media holds the key to the future hydrogen‐based economy. Herein, we introduce an effective approach of simultaneous non‐metal (S) and metal (Fe or Mn) doping of MoP to achieve excellent HER performance at different pH. The catalysts show remarkable overpotentials at −10 mA cm−2 of only 65 and 68 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4, and 50 and 51 mV in 1.0 M KOH, respectively, as well as much higher turnover frequencies compared to undoped MoP. Furthermore, the catalysts exhibit outstanding long‐term stability at a fixed current of −10 mA cm−2 for 40 h. The effects of both dopants, such as electronic structure modification and enhancement of the intrinsic activity, increase of the electrochemically active surface area, and formation of coordinatively unsaturated edge sites, act cooperatively to accelerate the HER at both pH media. Additionally, the presence of oxophilic Mn and Fe at the surface results in Mn or Fe oxide/hydroxide species that promote the dissociation of water molecules in alkaline electrolyte. This work introduces a facile and effective design principle that could pave the way towards engineering highly active HER catalysts for a wide pH range.Metal (Mn or Fe) and non‐metal (S) dual doped MoP catalysts were synthesiszed by reductive pyrolysis of the corresponding Mn,Mo‐ and Fe,Mo‐phosphonates precursors, in the presence of elemental S. The derived catalysts showed remarkable hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) activity in acidic and alkaline media. The dual doping process endowed MoP with proper hydrogen binding energy thus enhancing the HER in acidic media. In addition, Mn and Fe acted as surface oxides species in alkaline medium, which facilitated the water dissociation step. imageYousef Jameel Scholarship FundPeer Reviewe

Effect of Narrow-Band Ultraviolet B Phototherapy and Methotrexate on MicroRNA (146a) Levels in Blood of Psoriatic Patients

Background. Recently, some miRNAs have been proven to show aberrant expression in psoriasis and play a role in the pathogenesis of the disease. Objective. To find out whether NB-UVB or methotrexate treatment affects whole blood levels of human miRNA (146a) in patients with psoriasis and demonstrate its correlation with disease severity. Methods. Blood samples were obtained from healthy control and from psoriatic patients before and 12 weeks after treatment with NB-UVB, methotrexate. Quantification of human miRNA (146a) by Real Time PCR (RT-PCR). Results. Blood human miRNA (146a) levels were higher in patients with psoriasis than those in healthy controls (P=0.001); it had no significant positive relation with PASI scores in patients (r=0.2, P=0.107). Real Time PCR showed that, after 12 weeks of treatment with NB-UVB phototherapy or treatment with methotrexate, there was significantly decreased level of miR146a (P=0.001; P=0.002, resp.). Conclusion. The expression of miRNA146a is increased in whole blood samples from psoriasis patients, so we can evaluate its possibility to work as a future therapeutic objective in the treatment of psoriasis. With these markers, it is able to screen therapeutics effect or changes to a further aggressive treatment for psoriasis

Dual Doping of MoP with M Mn,Fe and S to Achieve High Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Activity in Both Acidic and Alkaline Media

Rational design of cost effective, high performance and stable hydrogen evolution reaction HER electrocatalysts in both acidic and alkaline media holds the key to the future hydrogen based economy. Herein, we introduce an effective approach of simultaneous non metal S and metal Fe or Mn doping of MoP to achieve excellent HER performance at different pH. The catalysts show remarkable overpotentials at 10 mA cm 2 of only 65 and 68 mV in 0.5 M H2SO4, and 50 and 51 mV in 1.0 M KOH, respectively, as well as much higher turnover frequencies compared to undoped MoP. Furthermore, the catalysts exhibit outstanding long term stability at a fixed current of 10 mA cm 2 for 40 h. The effects of both dopants, such as electronic structure modification and enhancement of the intrinsic activity, increase of the electrochemically active surface area, and formation of coordinatively unsaturated edge sites, act cooperatively to accelerate the HER at both pH media. Additionally, the presence of oxophilic Mn and Fe at the surface results in Mn or Fe oxide hydroxide species that promote the dissociation of water molecules in alkaline electrolyte. This work introduces a facile and effective design principle that could pave the way towards engineering highly active HER catalysts for a wide pH range

Tuning the activity of cobalt 2-hydroxyphosphonoacetates-derived electrocatalysts for water splitting and oxygen reduction: insights into the local order by pair distribution function analysis

Pyrophosphate- or phosphide-based iron/cobalt electrocatalysts were prepared from the metal (R,S)−2-hydroxyphosphonoacetates to evaluate the effects of metal composition, N-doping and P-enrichment on the electrocatalytic activity. Rietveld and Pair Distribution Function analysis were used to determine phase composition. Irrespectively of the amorphous or crystalline nature, all pyrolyzed solids transformed under OER operation into biphasic Fe/CoO(OH), composed of discrete clusters (size ≤ 20 Å). Carbon paper-supported Fe0.2Co0.8O(OH) electrocatalysts displayed the best OER performances (overpotentials of 270–279 mV at 10 mA·cm−2), attributable to the formation of highly active bimetallic intermediate species. For HER, increased concentration of o-CoP in phosphide-based electrocatalysts resulted in improved performance, up to an overpotential of 140 mV. Employed as anode in alkaline water splitting, amorphous Fe-doped cobalt pyrophosphate and phosphide-derived electrocatalysts showed a cell voltage of 1.58 V at 10 mA·cm−2, with comparable stability to that of RuO2 and requiring lower voltage demand at high current densities.This work was funded by the PID2019-110249RB-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033; TED2021–129836B-I00/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/Unión Europea NextGenerationEU/PRTR (MICIU, Spain) and P20-00416 (Junta de Andalucia, Spain/FEDER) research projects. Synchrotron X-ray powder diffraction studies were performed at MSPD04 beamline at ALBA Synchrotron Light with the collaboration of ALBA staff. A.V.C. thanks MICIU for PRE2020-094459 student grant. R.M.P.C. acknowledges funding by project acknowledges B1_2022-23 (Plan Propio UMA). M.B.G. thanks PAIDI2020-DOC_00272 research grant (Junta de Andalucia, Spain). Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Málaga / CBUA