EFFICIENCY OF ULTRAFILTRATION CERAMIC MEMBRANES FOR TOXIC ELEMENTS REMOVAL FROM WASTEWATERS

The preparation and characterization of porous ceramics multilayer ultrafiltration membrane is described. The first step consisted to prepare high-quality macroporous support in Moroccan clay. The choice of this material is based on its natural abundance and thermal stability.The microporous interlayer was then prepared by slip casting from zirconia commercial powders and finally the active UF toplayers was obtained by sol-gel route using ZnAl2O4 and TiO2 mixed sols. The performance of ultrafiltration membrane (TiO2 (50�20– ZnAl2O4 (50� was evaluated by pores diameter, water flux, thickness and molecular weight cut off (MWCO). The water permeability measured for this composite membrane is 9.42 L/(m2•h•bar), the thickness is less than 700 nm, the pore diameter is centered near 5 nm and the MWCO was about 4500 Da

Commercial and industrial implication of the variability of oil and protein content and of the nut and kernel physical traits of almond in Mediterranean climates

Se determinaron los caracteres físicos y la composición química de los frutos de 11 cultivares de almendro cultivados en dos zonas distintas, Zaragoza (España) y Meknès (Marruecos). Independientemente de la variabilidad entre cultivares para todos los parámetros medidos, el efecto del año fue significativo para todos los parámetros físicos, excepto para el espesor de la pepita. Igualmente fue significativo el efecto de la localidad para todos los parámetros físicos, excepto para la longitud y el índice de esfericidad del fruto, la longitud y la anchura de la pepita, y el rendimiento en pepita. La calidad física de las pepitas producidas en Zaragoza fue mayor que las producidas en Meknès, probablemente por el diferente sistema de cultivo y las condiciones ambientales que fueron más extremas en Meknès. Estos resultados muestran que las condiciones de cultivo adecuadas favorecen el aumento de los caracteres conducentes a una mayor calidad física del fruto y de la pepita. En cuanto al contenido en aceite y en proteína, se encontraron diferencias significativas entre los genotipos y las localidades. Las condiciones ambientales y de cultivo de Zaragoza favorecieron la acumulación de aceite en la pepita, mientras que las de Meknès favorecieron la acumulación de proteína. Ello apunta a que la utilización industrial de los distintos cultivares estudiados no sólo depende del propio cultivar, sino también de las condiciones ambientales y de cultivo, lo que debe tenerse muy en cuenta para la valorización de la producción en las distintas zonas de cultivo del almendroThe fruit physical traits and the chemical composition were determined for 11 almond cultivars grown in two different regions: Zaragoza (Spain) and Meknès (Morocco). Independently of the variability among cultivars for all traits measured, the year effect was significant for all physical traits except for kernel thickness. The location effect was significant for all physical traits except for fruit length and sphericity, kernel length and width, and kernel percentage. The physical quality of the kernels produced in Zaragoza was higher than that of the kernels produced in Meknès, probably because of the different growing system and the environmental conditions, more extreme in Meknès. These results show that adequate growing conditions favour the increase of traits leading to increased physical quality of nuts and kernels. The cultivar and the location effects were significant for the contents of oil and protein. The environmental and growing conditions of Zaragoza led to a higher oil accumulation, whereas those of Meknès to a higher protein accumulation. These results indicate that the industrial utilization of the different almond cultivars does not only depend on the cultivar, but also on the environmental and growing conditions, a fact to be considered when marketing the production of the different growing region

Flowering and pollination time affect fruit set of foreign almond cultivars in Morocco

The associations ‘Marcona’-‘Fournat de Brézenaud’ and ‘Ferragnès’-‘Ferraduel’ are the cultivar combinations mostly planted in commercial almond orchards in Morocco. The blooming times and effective pollination period (EPP) were determined for these associations to determine the effect of blooming and pollination times on the irregular yields observed in Morocco with these cultivars. ‘Marcona’ bloom was earlier than that of ‘Fournat de Brézenaud’, but ‘Ferragnès and ‘Ferraduel’ coincided. Fruit set and percentage of pistils with pollen grains was maximized when pollination occurred at day 2 after emasculation. Fruit set and stigmatic receptivity decreased drastically by day 4 after emasculation. Fruit set in the open pollination treatment was lower than that obtained after hand pollination at days 0 and 2 after emasculation, especially in ‘Marcona’. These results emphasize the importance of early pollination and the selection of new cultivars with the same flowering period as ‘Marcona’ to improve almond yields in Morocco.Peer ReviewedPrunus amygdalusbloomeffective pollination periodstigmatic receptivityfruit setPublishe

Dermatomyositis revealing breast cancer: report of a case

Dermatomyositis (DM) is a rare connective corresponding to an inflammatory disease of skeletal muscles. Paraneoplastic origin must always be sought, primarily gynecological tumor in women, but the investigations are often made difficult by the fact that a primary tumor is often not detectable at the time of the cutaneous manifestations. This approach includes in addition to the monitoring report at regular intervals of 6 to 12 months for two years after diagnosis. We report a case of Dermatomyositis revealing breast cancer

Ab initio and Effective field Study of V doped TiO2

Using the effective field theory (EFT), the Curie temperature of V- doped rutile TiO2 has been determined. The exchange coupling used in the calculation has been deduced from first principal calculation based on the density functional theory with the local spin density approximation (LSDA). We also showed that V- doped rutile TiO2 is half metallic and the hybridization is between the V 3d states and the nearest-neighbouring O 2p states. The results from ab initio calculation showed that for weak holes concentrations the ferromagnetism is due to the double exchange, while, for higher hole concentration it comes from the RKKY exchange interaction. In addition, we show via effective field theory calculations that the transition from the nonmagnetic (NM) to the ferromagnetic (FM) phase is marked by the magnetic percolation. Magnetization as a function of the temperature for different values of the hole concentration, nc, is also given

Tumeurs rares de l’ovaire: à propos d’une série de 11 cas de tumeurs non épithéliales malignes de l’ovaire

Les tumeurs non épithéliales malignes de l'ovaire représentent environ 20% des cancers de l'ovaire. L'objectif de notre travail est de dresser lesparticularités diagnostiques cliniques et d'imagerie de ces tumeurs. Nous avons procédé à une étude rétrospective portant sur 11 cas de tumeursnon épithéliales de l'ovaire. Ces tumeurs ont été colligées au service de gynécologie et obstétrique I du CHU Hassan II de Fès sur une période de 4 ans, entre janvier 2009 et décembre 2012. Les tumeurs germinales représentant 54% (6 patientes) des cas alors que les tumeurs du cordonsexuel ont été représentées par 4 cas de tumeurs de granulosa de type adulte et nous avons colligés un cas de lymphome ovarien primitif. Lasymptomatologie clinique était dominée par la distension abdominale associée souvent à des douleurs abdominopelviennes chroniques. La tailletumorale moyenne était de 175 mm avec un aspect solido-kystique dans 54% des cas. Le dosage des marqueurs tumoraux (hormone chorioniquegonadotrope, lactate déshydrogénase, CA 125, alpha-foetoprotéine) a été réalisé chez toutes les patientes. La découverte d'une masse annexiellesuspecte chez une jeune femme doit, outre une tumeur frontière ou un cancer épithélial de l'ovaire, évoquer une tumeur non épithéliale, a fortiorisi cette masse est volumineuse, si elle est associée à des signes d'hyperestrogénie ou d'androgénie

Study of the genetic diversity of almond seedling populations in Morocco: application of chemometric approach

Almond (Prunus amygdalus Batsch) in Morocco is still propagated by farmers mostly from seed, generating a large genetic diversity. Evaluation of the almond diversity in Morocco from the point of view of kernel quality, oil and protein contents, and major fatty acid composition were determined. Principal component analysis (PCA) was used to compare the kernel components among 46 genotypes selected from different production regions, as well as five introduced cultivars. Oil and protein contents were highly variable between genotypes, ranging respectively from 48.29 to 65.19% and from 14.07 to 36.48% of the total kernel dry weight. Fatty acid composition of the oil fraction ranged between 5.6-8.34% for palmitic acid, 0.37-0.87% for palmitoleic acid, 1.3-3.3% for stearic acid, 57.95-81.97% for oleic acid, and 9.69-29.98% for linoleic acid. Clustering of genotypes from similar regions suggested the existence of parental relationship among these genotypes and, as a consequence, a common ancestral origin. The Moroccan genotypes did not cluster separately from the introduced varieties. Two genotypes had very high oil contents whereas four genotypes had exceptionally high protein contents (>30%). One genotype had a very high oleic content (82%). The large variability observed for oil and fatty acid composition and the presence of genotypes with higher oil and fatty acid contents than the foreign cultivars represent a very promising base to obtain new Moroccan almond cultivars with oil of higher quality.Peer ReviewedPrunus amygdalusOil contentFatty acidsGenetic resourcesBreedingPublishe