Energy Policy in the Context of Sustainable Development: Case of Morocco and Algeria

AbstractAt the dawn of the twenty-first century, one of the major problems of mankind is to combine the energy, the respect for environment. A problem of sustainable development has been clearly demonstrated in the Earth Summit in RIO (2012). Among the major battles to be fought in this century for the survival of the planet is to include energy efficiency as an international political priority, reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. Renewable energy, inexhaustible, clean, are needed in these conditions as a priority.As part of its energy strategy, Morocco gives priority to the development of renewable energy and to the sustainable development.The Moroccan Law on Renewable Energy aims to promote energy production from renewable sources, its marketing and its export by public or private entities.The Law of Energy Efficiency aims to integrate energy efficiency techniques in a sustainable manner.It is created under Law No. 57-09 “a Moroccan Agency for Solar Energy” aimed to achieve a developmentprogram of integrated projects for generating electricity from solar energy, with a minimum total capacity of 2000 MW

Kaposi sarcoma in an HIV-negative Tunisian patient: A rare cause of metatarsalgia

AbstractBackgroundKaposi sarcoma (KS) is an angioproliferative neoplasm that is commonly associated with human herpes virus-8 (HHV-8) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). KS with osseous involvement is a rare occurrence, and is far more common in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related KS.Case presentationWe present a 32-year-old Tunisian man, HIV negative, who presented with a 4-year history of atraumatic mechanical metatarsalgia that progressively worsened with a limping gait. Physical examination revealed marked symmetrical forefoot lymphedema and a painful restricted left knee joint movement. Physical examination showed purple-blue plaques and nodules on the feet and ankles. Serologic tests for HIV and syphilis were negative. Plain radiography of the feet revealed numerous small lytic lesions. There were also scattered lytic lesions in the metaphysis of the proximal tibia and fibula. Osteolysis was predominantly left. Magnetic resonance imaging of the feet showed abnormal bone marrow signal of metatarsals and phalanges. Skin lesion biopsy yielded the diagnosis of Kaposi sarcoma. The disease was managed with chemotherapy including vinblastine.ConclusionIn a patient presenting with metatarsalgia without a commonly detected cause, it is mandatory to search for other lesions that may point to a rare diagnosis as KS which is famous for involvement of the metatarsal bone

A Graphical Method to Study Electrostatic Potentials of 25 nm Channel Length DG SOI MOSFETs

To determine electrostatic potentials in silicon channel of undoped DG SOI MOSFET devices, a graphical approach is proposed. The method keeps close to experimental reality by taking into account flat band potential at reduced channel lengths up to 25 nm. This graphical method solves a transcendental equation of Poisson’s equation to obtain electrostatic potentials at center and surface of device as a function gate and drain bias voltages

Spondylodiscite tuberculeuse : 12 ans d'expérience dans un centre hospitalier en Tunisie

Objectifs : Décrire les particularités épidémiologiques, cliniques et paracliniques des spondylodiscites tuberculeuses et déterminer les facteurs prédictifs d’une évolution défavorable. Patients et Méthode: Etude rétrospective sur une période de 12 ans. Le diagnostic a été porté sur des preuves bactériologiques, anatomopathologiques ou sur un faisceau d’arguments. Résultats : Il s’agissait de 49 patients (26F/23H), âgés en moyenne de 51,84 ans. Le délai moyen de diagnostic était de 6,65 mois. Un facteur prédisposant à l’infection a été relevé chez 38,7% des patients. L’étage lombaire était le plus touché (67,3%). L’imagerie par résonnance magnétique était pathologique dans tous les cas où elle a été effectuée. Le diagnostic de certitude a été porté dans 9 cas sur une preuve histologique. La ponction biopsie disco-vertébrale a permis de confirmer le diagnostic dans 6/36 cas. Tous les patients ont reçu un traitement anti-tuberculeux d’une durée moyenne de 13,59 mois associé à un geste interventionnel dans 8 cas. L’évolution était favorable dans 84,2% des cas. Nous avons identifiés quatre facteurs prédictifs d’une évolution défavorable: une hyperleucocytose initiale ≥11500 éléments/mm3 (p=0,031), la présence d’abcès ou de collection à l’imagerie (p=0,018); un tassement vertébral à l’IRM (p=0,018) et l’existence de déformation osseuse avant correction chirurgicale (p<0,001). Conclusion: La spondylodiscite tuberculeuse devrait être suspectée devant toute rachialgie inflammatoire. Une prise en charge précoce est la clé pour éviter les complications neurologiques et ostéo-articulaires

γ-rays irradiation effects on dielectric properties of Ti/Au/GaAsN Schottky diodes with 1.2%N

Dielectric properties of As grown and irradiated Ti /Au/GaAsN Schottky diodes with 1.2%N are investigated using capacitance/conductance-voltage measurements in 90–290 K temperature range and 50–2000 kHz frequency range. Extracted parameters are interface state density, series resistance, dielectric constant, dielectric loss, tangent loss and ac conductivity. It is shown that exposure to γ-rays irradiation leads to reduction in effective trap density believed to result from radiation-induced traps annulations. An increase in series resistance is attributed to a net doping reduction. Dielectric constant (ε’) shows usual step-like transitions with corresponding relaxation peaks in dielectric loss. These peaks shift towards lower temperature as frequency decrease. Temperature dependant ac conductivity followed an Arrhenius relation with activation energy of 153 meV in the 200–290 K temperature range witch correspond to As vacancy. The results indicate that γ-rays irradiation improves the dielectric and electrical properties of the diode due to the defect annealing effect

Effect of Co-60 gamma-ray irradiation on electrical properties of Ti/Au/GaAs1-xNx Schottky diodes

Current-voltage (I-V), capacitance-voltage-frequency (C-V-f) and conductance-voltage-frequency (G/ω-V-f) measurements at room temperature are used to study 50 kGy 60Co γ-ray electrical properties irradiation dependence of Ti/Au/GaAs1−xNx Schottky diodes with 0.2%; 0.4%; 0.8% and 1.2% nitrogen dilution. This γ-ray irradiation induces a permanent damage that has increased ideality factor and series resistance for all samples. It was accompanied by a decrease in Schottky barrier height with nitrogen content up to 0.4%N and remained constant thereafter. Radiation was also found to degrade the reverse leakage current. At high frequency (1 MHz), capacitance and conductance decreased after radiation due to a decrease in net doping concentration. Interface state density and series resistance were determined from C-V-f and G/ω-V-f characteristics using Hill-Coleman methods. Interface states density exponentially decreased with increasing frequency confirming the behavior of interface traps response to ac signal. Series resistance increases after irradiation is attributed to carrier's removal effect and mobility degradation. It has two peaks in the accumulation and inversion region for some diodes (0.4%N, 0.8%N). γ-ray irradiation produced traps levels and recombination centers that reduce relaxation time. An increase in %N content can impede irradiation damage with even some compensation when the percent of diluted nitrogen is high (1.2%N)

SiC polytypes and doping nature effects on electrical properties of ZnO-SiC Schottky diodes

Electrical properties of ZnO/SiC Schottky diodes with two SiC polytypes and N and P doping are investigated. Characterization was performed through I–V and C–V–f measurements. Schottky barrier height (Φb), ideality factor (n), and series resistance (Rs) were extracted from forward I–V characteristics. (Φb), carrier’s concentrations (Nd-Na) and (Rs) frequency dependence were extracted from C–V–f characteristics. The extracted n values suggest that current transport is dominated by interface generation-recombination and/or barrier tunneling mechanisms. When changing SiC polytypes, the rectifying ratio of ZnO/n-4HSiC is found to be twice that of ZnO/n-6HSiC. A change in doping nature gave a leakage current ratio of 40 between ZnO/p-4HSiC and ZnO/n- 4HSiC. These results indicate that ZnO/p-4HSiC diodes have a complex current transport compared to diodes on n-type SiC. From I-V measurements, barrier height values are 0.63eV, 0.65eV and 0.71 eV for heterojunction grown on n-6HSiC, n-4HSiC and p-4HSiC, respectively. C-V measurements gave higher values indicating the importance of interface density of states. Nss values at 1MHz frequency are 4.54×1011 eV-1 cm-2, 3×1012 eV-1 cm-2 and 8.13×1010 eV-1 cm-2 for ZnO/n-6HSiC, ZnO/n-4HSiC and ZnO/p-4HSiC, respectively. Results indicate the importance of SiC polytypes and its doping natur

Efflux in Fungi: La Pièce de Résistance

Pathogens must be able to overcome both host defenses and antimicrobial treatment in order to successfully infect and maintain colonization of the host. One way fungi accomplish this feat and overcome intercellular toxin accumulation is efflux pumps, in particular ATP-binding cassette transporters and transporters of the major facilitator superfamily. Members of these two superfamilies remove many toxic compounds by coupling transport with ATP hydrolysis or a proton gradient, respectively. Fungal genomes encode a plethora of members of these families of transporters compared to other organisms. In this review we discuss the role these two fungal superfamilies of transporters play in virulence and resistance to antifungal agents. These efflux transporters are responsible not only for export of compounds involved in pathogenesis such as secondary metabolites, but also export of host-derived antimicrobial compounds. In addition, we examine the current knowledge of these transporters in resistance of pathogens to clinically relevant antifungal agents

TLM representation of the hyperbolic heat conduction equation

Many heat transfer situations are adequately described by the parabolic thermal diffusion equation. However, in situations in which very rapid heating occurs or in slower heating regimes for particular materials, the hyperbolic heat conduction equation is a better representation. Here, a parameterized nodal structure for transmission line modelling (TLM) representation of hyperbolic heat conduction processes is devised. A TLM model based on the nodal structure is implemented and temperature field predicted by the model are compared with analytical results for the same physical situation