Étude des blooms toxiques à cyanobactéries dans trois lacs réservoirs du Maroc : résultats préliminaires

Dans le cadre du programme de recherche sur les blooms toxiques à cyanobactéries dans certains lacs de barrage du Maroc, une étude de ce phénomène a été entreprise sur trois retenues : Lalla Takerkoust, Oued Mellah et Al Massira. L'étude taxonomique montre que dans les lacs Lalla Takerkoust et Al Massirra, l'espèce responsable des blooms est Microcystis aeruginosa alors que dans la retenue saumâtre et hypereutrophe Oued Mellah, c'est Microcystis ichthyoblabe.En complément, une étude toxicologique et toxinologique a permis d'évaluer les risques sanitaires potentiels qui peuvent être engendrés par ces blooms. L'hépatotoxicité, pour l'ensemble des blooms récoltés en 1999, a été confirmée par le biotest " souris ". L'application de ce test a montré que le bloom de LallaTakerkoust est hautement toxique (DL50 500 mg/kg) et celui d'Al Massira est intermédiaire (DL50 comprise entre 100 et 500 mg/kg). Les teneurs en microcystines (hépatotoxines) déterminées par ELISA révèlent des concentrations beaucoup plus importantes pour le bloom de Lalla Takerkoust. L'utilisation de la chromatographie liquide haute performance avec détecteur à barrette photodiode, (CLHP-DBP) a permis la détection et l'identification de 2, 4 et 11 variantes de microcystines, respectivement à partir d'extraits du bloom naturel d'Al Massira, Lalla Takerkoust et Oued Mellah. Cependant, la Microcystine-LR n'a été détectée que dans les extraits d'Al Massira et de Takerkoust. L'apparition des blooms toxiques à cyanobactéries dans ces plans d'eau impose dorénavant la prise en considération des nuisances écologiques et des risques sanitaires liés à la présence des microcystines dans ces eaux.During the first part of the toxic cyanobacteria survey program carried out since 1994, Microcystis blooms which periodically occurred in Al Massira, Lalla Takerkoust and Oued Mellah reservoirs were studied. These reservoirs were located at a different hydrographic basin and have a various trophic status. The water was used for irrigation, recreational purpose and/or drinking water supply. The bloom-forming species was identified as Microcystis aeruginosa in Al Massira and Takerkoust freshwater reservoirs whereas in brackish water Oued Mellah reservoir, the bloom-forming species is Microcystis ichthyoblabe.In complement to this ecological studies and in order to assess the potential health risk, a toxicology and toxinology of these Microcystis blooms were undertaken. The hepatotoxicity of lyophilized bloom material collected during bloom periods in 1999 was confirmed by (i. p) mice bioassay. The toxicity assessment revealed that Microcystis Takerkoust bloom was highly toxic with LD50 < 100 mg/kg whereas those from Al Massira and Oued Mellah were respectively characterized by a medium and a low toxicities.The content of microcystins (MCYST) determined by the Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent assay (ELISA) show that MCYST content ranged between 0.37 to 496 µg/g dry weight. It appears that Takerkoust bloom contain 600 to 1300 fold more MCYST than Oued Mellah and Al Massira blooms. The isolation and identification of microcystins variants from bloom extracts were performed using the high performance liquid chromatography with photodiode array detection (HPLC-PDA). This technique provided the separation and identification of at least two microcytins variants from each bloom material. The most number of 11 microcystins were detected from Microcystis ichthyoblabe bloom of Oued Mellah. However, only two and four variants of microcystins were respectively detected from Al Massira and Takerkoust blooms. Among these variants of microcystins solely Microcystin-LR was identified according to the Mcyst-LR authentic sample from extract of Al Massira and Takerkoust blooms.The occurrence of toxic cyanobacteria bloom in these drinking and/or recreational water reservoirs lead us to take into consideration the real health hazard which will be induced by these harmful cyanobacterial blooms

Application de certains indices diatomiques à un cours d'eau marocain : Oued Hassar

Les eaux de l'Oued Hassar (Maroc) sont caractérisées par une forte minéralisation. La conductivité, variant entre 3470 et 7210 µS.cm-1, est due essentiellement aux fortes teneurs en chlorures. L'examen de l'Indice de Pollution Organique (IPO) montre que l'effluent d'eaux usées provenant de la ville de Mediouna constitue la principale source de pollution des eaux de l'Oued Hassar.Concernant l'étude des diatomées épilithiques, 61 espèces et variétés de diatomées ont été inventoriées. Ces taxons sont liés particulièrement à la salinité (Pleurosira laevis, Fragilaria pulchella,…) et à la charge organique (Nitzschia palea, Gomphonema parvulum,…).Quatre indices diatomiques ont été testés pour l'évaluation de la qualité des eaux de l'Oued Hassar : l'Indice Diatomique Pratique (IDP), l'Indice Diatomique Générique (IDG), l'Indice de Sládecek (SLA) et l'Indice Diatomique Trophique (IDT). La variation spatio-temporelle de ces indices reflète bien la dégradation de la qualité de ce cours d'eau, particulièrement en aval du rejet de la ville de Mediouna (IDP=3,86 ± 1,84 ; IDG=6,05 ± 1,95 ; SLA=4,35 ± 1,93 ; IDT=5,80 ± 1,31). Parmi ces indices testés, seul l'IDP présente une corrélation significative (0,63 ; α<5%) avec l'IPO (indice de référence) tandis que l'IDG, le SLA et l'IDT montrent des corrélations non significatives avec cet indice (0,38 ; 0,27 et -0,11 respectivement).The water quality in Moroccan rivers and streams becomes more and more injured because of the important amount of pollutants discharged in these aquatic ecosystems without any treatment in the most cases. A physical, chemical and microbiological analyses are regularly done by public institutions (office national des eaux potables, direction de l'hydrolique). However, these analyses become insufficient facing the big diversity of chemicals and the intermittence of pollution sources at the time. So, methods using a biotic indicators as a complement of the chemical analyses become a requirement in the water quality assessment. In the present study, besides the physical and chemical analyses, we have tested the use of benthic diatoms as indicators of the oued Hassar water quality and diatom indices as a tool for the evaluation of this quality.Oued Hassar is a canalized stream situated on the valley of oued Mellah river. It drains a part of the Berrechid groundwater as sources. Its main source (station SC) is situated to 3 km in the Northeast of Mediouna (155 m). Along this water course, in sections of various degrees of water pollution, six sites (SC, SB, HP, OM, SH and CA) were sampled on four different dates (august 1997 and january, june and august 1998). The station OM belongs to oued Mouileh stream which is a unique tributary of oued Hassar. The main source of pollution; the wastewater effluent of Médiouna agglomeration entered the stream between The oued Hassar source and the station SB (Sidi Brahim). This region has a Mediterranean semi-aride bioclimate. The influence of the ocean results in a summer temperatures generally varying between 25 and 30°C and winter temperatures varying between 12 and 19°C.The physical and chemical analysis data of the oued Hassar waters show particularly elevated values of water conductivity essentially due to the high contents in chlorides. These values were understood between a minimal value recorded at station SH in August 1998 (3470 mS.cm-1) and a maximal value signalled at station OM in January of the same year (7210 mS.cm-1). Concentrations in sulphates vary according to stations. The most elevated values were recorded in january 1998 at stations SC and OM (231 and 218 mg.l-1 respectively). The hardness values are very important especially at the source of oued Hassar (SC) where the concentration reaches 25,2 meq.l-1. This excessive mineralization of waters, particularly at stations SC and OM, is essentially due to the Permo-triasique saliferous sedimentary layers which crop out in the area.The oued Hassar stream receives, to 100 ms downstream the station SC, the wastewater effluent of Médiouna agglomeration, highly loaded with organic matters, ammonia, orthophosphates and suspended matters. The impact of this effluent results on the elevated values of these parameters downstream the wastewater input (SB). On January 1998 (rainy period), the important contents in orthophosphates and sulphates recorded at all stations were essentially due to the high amounts of superphosphates and ammonia sulphates used as amendment of the cultivated lands situated a long the sides of oued Hassar stream.Outside of this period, contents in orthophosphates and ammonia at stations SC and OM are very low. However, the elevated content in nitrates at the oued Hassar's source (maximal value: 93,3 mg.l-1) gives an idea on the deterioration of the groundwater quality.To put in evidence the evolution of the global organic pollution of waters, the "Indice de Pollution Organique" (IPO) have been calculated. The exam of this index shows that the wastewater effluent constitutes the main source of pollution. Indeed, water quality goes from a mean pollution state (3,88 ± 0,14) at the oued Hassar's source to a very strong pollution state (1,96 ± 0,31) at the station SB. Downstream the swampy zone, at the station HP, the water quality of oued Hassar improves remarkably (3,50 ± 0,74) due to the auto-purification phenomenon and the dilution of these waters by those coming from the secondary sources situated between stations SB and HP. At the stations SH and CA, the IPO mean values (3,50 ± 0,79 and 3,75 ± 0,41 respectively) show that the water quality remains rather identical as at the station HP.Concerning the survey of epilithic diatoms, 61 species and varieties of diatoms have been inventoried. These taxa are bound especially to the salinity (Amphora coffeaeformis, Fragilaria fasciculata, Fragilaria pulchella, Pleurosira laevis,…) and to the organic load (Gomphonema parvulum, Navicula subminuscula, Nitzschia palea,…). In the most collected samples, particularly at the stations SB, SH and CA, diatom communities are essentially dominated by N. palea and the complex N. inconspicua / N. frustulum. At the station SB, the relative abundance of N. palea reaches 71% in august 1997 and august 1998, and goes beyond 45% in January and june 1998. giving evidence of the important organic pollution. this species is substituted, at stations SH and CA, essentially by Navicula subminuscula, N. veneta and Nitzschia inconspicua / N. frustulum complex. Diatom communities at the stations SC, HP and OM don't show an exclusive dominance of one or two species, but several species dominate and form a more varied communities.Four diatom indices have been tested to assess the water quality in Oued Hassar (Morocco) : the "Indice Diatomique Pratique" (IDP), the "Indice Diatomique Générique" (IDG), the Sládecek Index (SLA) and the Trophic Diatom Index (TDI). These indices are different by the assigned indicative values and pollution sensitivity coefficients relative to every species and by the taxonomic list integrated in the calculation of every index. The spatio-temporal variation of these indices reflects clearly the deterioration of water quality downstream the wastewater input of Mediouna agglomeration (IDP=3,86 ± 2,30; IDG=6,05 ± 2,31; SLA=4,35 ± 2,62; IDT=5,80 ± 1,85) and its recovery after the swampy zone at the station HP (IDP=9,37 ± 2,35; IDG=11,83 ± 1,77 ; SLA=7,19 ± 3,05 ; IDT=6,76 ± 2,48). Among these indices, only the IDP presents a significant correlation (0,63 ; α<5%) with the IPO (reference index). While the IDG, the SLA and the TDI don't show a significant correlation with this index (0,38 ; 0,27 and -0,11 respectively). The IDT shows nearly the same water quality in the different stations and rather inform on the high level of eutrophication in these water courses.The physical and chemical analyses, the composition of diatom communities as well as the relative results of diatom indices, show that the oued Hassar stream is submitted to an important pollution, particularly downstream the wastewater input. Among the tested indices, the IDP appears more adapted to the assessment of water quality in oued Hassar. However, more work is required in order to finalize a new diatom index which is more adapted to characteristics of the Moroccan water courses

Premier rapport sur la prolifération de marées jaunes ichthyotoxiques à Prymnesium parvum Carter (Haptophyceae) dans le lac hypereutrophe Oued Mellah (Maroc)

Les algues Prymnesiophyceae ou Haptophyceae (Chrysophyta) renferment des espèces capables de pullulations spectaculaires nommées " marées jaunes ". Parmi les Haptophycées, les plus communes sont : Prymnesium parvum, Prymnesium patelliferum et Chrysochromulina polylepis. Ces microalgues ont été souvent incriminées dans des cas de mortalité aiguë de poissons et d'invertébrés aquatiques. P. parvum est connue depuis cent ans comme responsable de blooms toxiques ayant entraîné des mortalités catastrophiques de poissons dans diverses régions du monde.Au Maroc, ces blooms à Prymnesiophyceae n'ont, jusqu'à présent, jamais été signalés. Nos recherches sur les successions phytoplanctoniques du lac hypereutrophe et saumâtre de Oued Mellah (33°30'N-07°20'W), ont mis en évidence la prolifération périodique en automne de l'Haptophycée P. parvum occasionnant des blooms spectaculaires. Les densités cellulaires de P. parvum, espèce dominante, atteignent des maxima de 148·106 cellules·L-1 en 1998 et 169·106 cellules·L-1 en 1999, représentant 34 à 80 % de la biomasse totale. Ces " marées jaunes " coïncident régulièrement avec des mortalités catastrophiques de poissons et d'invertébrés aquatiques dans le lac laissant présager une toxicité aiguë de cette souche de microalgue.Dans ce travail sont présentés les premiers résultats concernant la dynamique interannuelle des blooms à P. parvum et l'influence des conditions physicochimiques particulières des eaux du lac sur leur développement est discutée.The Prymnesiophyceae or Haptophyceae (Chrysophyta) contain species-forming spectacular blooms named yellow tides. Among Haptophyceae, Prymnesium parvum, Prymnesium patelliferum and Chrysochromulina polylepis are the most common. These microalgae were often involved in acute fish and aquatic invertebrates mortality cases. P. parvum, known since hundred years as being responsible for toxic blooms, has induced catastrophic fish mortality in various areas throughout the world.In Morocco, blooms of Prymnesiophyceae have never been reported up till now. Studies on phytoplankton successions in the hypertrophic brackish Oued Mellah lake (33°30'N-07°20'W) show a periodic autumnal proliferation of P. parvum. This species, which cellular densities reach a maxima of 148·106 cells·L-1 in 1998 and 169·106 cells·L-1 in 1999, dominates the other phytoplanctonic species with 34 to 80% of the total biomass. The yellow tides coincide regularly with dramatic fish and aquatic invertebrates mortality in the lake leading to the prediction of an acute toxicity due to this microalgae.The principal aim of this study was to present the first results concerning the interannual dynamics of P. parvum blooms and to discuss the influence of the particular physical and chemical water characteristics on their development

Paralytic Shellfish Toxins Occurrence in Non-Traditional Invertebrate Vectors from North Atlantic Waters (Azores, Madeira, and Morocco)

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are potent alkaloids of microalgal and cyanobacterial origin, with worldwide distribution. Over the last 20 years, the number of poisoning incidents has declined as a result of the implementation of legislation and monitoring programs based on bivalves. In the summer of 2012 and 2013, we collected a total of 98 samples from 23 different species belonging to benthic and subtidal organisms, such as echinoderms, crustaceans, bivalves, and gastropods. The sampling locations were Madeira, São Miguel Island (Azores archipelago), and the northwestern coast of Morocco. The samples were analyzed using post-column oxidation liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detection method. Our main goal was to detect new vectors for these biotoxins. After reporting a total of 59 positive results for PSTs with 14 new vectors identified, we verified that some of the amounts exceeded the limit value established in the EU. These results suggest that routine monitoring of saxitoxin and its analogs should be extended to more potential vectors other than bivalves, including other edible organisms, for a better protection of public health.This research was partially funded by the Portuguese Fundation of Science and Technology (FCT) project UID/Multi/04423/2013 and by the projects ALERTOXNET (EAPA_317/2016), funded by the Interreg Atlantic program. The Spanish research leading to these results has received funding from the following European Fund for Economic and Regional Development (FEDER) cofunded-grants: Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) and Technological Funds, supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, AGL2012-40185-CO2-01, AGL2014-58210-R, and Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, GRC2013-016; CDTI under India&Spain Innovating Program (ISIP) Programme, Spain, IDI-20130304 APTAFOOD; the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA—Research Executive Agency (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement 312184 PHARMASEA. Acknowledment to project EMERTOX (grant 734748), funded by H2020-MSCA-RISE 2016

Exogenous WNT5A and WNT11 proteins rescue CITED2 dysfunction in mouse embryonic stem cells and zebrafish morphants

Mutations and inadequate methylation profiles of CITED2 are associated with human congenital heart disease (CHD). In mouse, Cited2 is necessary for embryogenesis, particularly for heart development, and its depletion in embryonic stem cells (ESC) impairs cardiac differentiation. We have now determined that Cited2 depletion in ESC affects the expression of transcription factors and cardiopoietic genes involved in early mesoderm and cardiac specification. Interestingly, the supplementation of the secretome prepared from ESC overexpressing CITED2, during the onset of differentiation, rescued the cardiogenic defects of Cited2-depleted ESC. In addition, we demonstrate that the proteins WNT5A and WNT11 held the potential for rescue. We also validated the zebrafish as a model to investigate cited2 function during development. Indeed, the microinjection of morpholinos targeting cited2 transcripts caused developmental defects recapitulating those of mice knockout models, including the increased propensity for cardiac defects and severe death rate. Importantly, the co-injection of anti-cited2 morpholinos with either CITED2 or WNT5A and WNT11 recombinant proteins corrected the developmental defects of Cited2-morphants. This study argues that defects caused by the dysfunction of Cited2 at early stages of development, including heart anomalies, may be remediable by supplementation of exogenous molecules, offering the opportunity to develop novel therapeutic strategies aiming to prevent CHD.Agência financiadora: Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) Comissão de Coordenação e Desenvolvimento Regional do Algarve (CCDR Algarve) ALG-01-0145-FEDER-28044; DFG 568/17-2 Algarve Biomedical Center (ABC) Municipio de Louléinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

African heritage sites threatened as sea-level rise accelerates

The African coast contains heritage sites of ‘Outstanding Universal Value’ that face increasing risk from anthropogenic climate change. Here, we generated a database of 213 natural and 71 cultural African heritage sites to assess exposure to coastal flooding and erosion under moderate (RCP 4.5) and high (RCP 8.5) greenhouse gas emission scenarios. Currently, 56 sites (20%) are at risk from a 1-in-100-year coastal extreme event, including the iconic ruins of Tipasa (Algeria) and the North Sinai Archaeological Sites Zone (Egypt). By 2050, the number of exposed sites is projected to more than triple, reaching almost 200 sites under high emissions. Emissions mitigation from RCP 8.5 to RCP 4.5 reduces the number of very highly exposed sites by 25%. These findings highlight the urgent need for increased climate change adaptation for heritage sites in Africa, including governance and management approaches, site-specific vulnerability assessments, exposure monitoring, and protection strategies

Paralytic shellfish toxins occurrence in non-traditional invertebrate vectors from north Atlantic waters (Azores, Madeira, and Morocco)

Paralytic shellfish toxins (PSTs) are potent alkaloids of microalgal and cyanobacterial origin, with worldwide distribution. Over the last 20 years, the number of poisoning incidents has declined as a result of the implementation of legislation and monitoring programs based on bivalves. In the summer of 2012 and 2013, we collected a total of 98 samples from 23 different species belonging to benthic and subtidal organisms, such as echinoderms, crustaceans, bivalves, and gastropods. The sampling locations were Madeira, São Miguel Island (Azores archipelago), and the northwestern coast of Morocco. The samples were analyzed using post-column oxidation liquid chromatography with a fluorescence detection method. Our main goal was to detect new vectors for these biotoxins. After reporting a total of 59 positive results for PSTs with 14 new vectors identified, we verified that some of the amounts exceeded the limit value established in the EU. These results suggest that routine monitoring of saxitoxin and its analogs should be extended to more potential vectors other than bivalves, including other edible organisms, for a better protection of public health. © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Department of Biology, Science Faculty, University of Porto, Rua do Campo Alegre, 4619-007 Porto, Portugal; [email protected] (A.B.); [email protected] (V.V.) Interdisciplinary Center of Marine and Environmental Research-CIMAR/CIIMAR, University of Porto, Novo Edificio do Terminal de Cruzeiros do Porto de Leixões, Avenida General Norton de Matos, 4450-208 S/N Matosinhos, Portugal; [email protected] Department of Analytical Chemistry, Science Faculty, University of Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain; [email protected] (V.R.); [email protected] (A.B.) Life Sciences Faculty, Madeira University, Marine Biology Station, 9000-107 Funchal, Madeira Island, Portugal Center of Interdisciplinary Marine and Environmental Research of Madeira-CIIMAR-Madeira, Edificio Madeira Tecnopolo, Caminho da Penteada, 9020-105 Funchal, Madeira, Portugal cE3c/GBA—Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes/Azorean Biodiversity Group and Department of Biology, Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Azores, 9501-801 Ponta Delgada, São Miguel, Azores, Portugal; [email protected] Phycology Research Unit-Biotechnology, Ecosystems Ecology and Valorization Laboratory, Science Faculty, University of Chouaib Doukkali, El Jadida BP20, Morocco; [email protected] (M.H.); [email protected] (B.S.) Department of Pharmacology, Veterinary Faculty, University of Santiago de Compostela, 27002 Lugo, Spain; [email protected] Correspondence: [email protected]; Tel.: +351-2234-01800; Fax: +351-2233-80609 This authors contributed equally to this work. Funding: This research was partially funded by the Portuguese Fundation of Science and Technology (FCT) project UID/Multi/04423/2013 and by the projects ALERTOXNET (EAPA_317/2016), funded by the Interreg Atlantic program. The Spanish research leading to these results has received funding from the following European Fund for Economic and Regional Development (FEDER) cofunded-grants: Centro para el Desarrollo Tecnológico Industrial (CDTI) and Technological Funds, supported by Ministerio de Economía y Competitividad, AGL2012-40185-CO2-01, AGL2014-58210-R, and Consellería de Cultura, Educación e Ordenación Universitaria, GRC2013-016; CDTI under India&Spain Innovating Program (ISIP) Programme, Spain, IDI-20130304 APTAFOOD; the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme managed by REA—Research Executive Agency (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement 312184 PHARMASEA

NASCaps: A Framework for Neural Architecture Search to Optimize the Accuracy and Hardware Efficiency of Convolutional Capsule Networks

Deep Neural Networks (DNNs) have made significant improvements to reach the desired accuracy to be employed in a wide variety of Machine Learning (ML) applications. Recently the Google Brain's team demonstrated the ability of Capsule Networks (CapsNets) to encode and learn spatial correlations between different input features, thereby obtaining superior learning capabilities compared to traditional (i.e., non-capsule based) DNNs. However, designing CapsNets using conventional methods is a tedious job and incurs significant training effort. Recent studies have shown that powerful methods to automatically select the best/optimal DNN model configuration for a given set of applications and a training dataset are based on the Neural Architecture Search (NAS) algorithms. Moreover, due to their extreme computational and memory requirements, DNNs are employed using the specialized hardware accelerators in IoT-Edge/CPS devices. In this paper, we propose NASCaps, an automated framework for the hardware-aware NAS of different types of DNNs, covering both traditional convolutional DNNs and CapsNets. We study the efficacy of deploying a multi-objective Genetic Algorithm (e.g., based on the NSGA-II algorithm). The proposed framework can jointly optimize the network accuracy and the corresponding hardware efficiency, expressed in terms of energy, memory, and latency of a given hardware accelerator executing the DNN inference. Besides supporting the traditional DNN layers, our framework is the first to model and supports the specialized capsule layers and dynamic routing in the NAS-flow. We evaluate our framework on different datasets, generating different network configurations, and demonstrate the tradeoffs between the different output metrics. We will open-source the complete framework and configurations of the Pareto-optimal architectures at https://github.com/ehw-fit/nascaps.Comment: To appear at the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Computer-Aided Design (ICCAD '20), November 2-5, 2020, Virtual Event, US

Inter-scan reproducibility of coronary calcium measurement using Multi Detector-Row Computed Tomography (MDCT)

Purpose: To assess inter-scan reproducibility of coronary calcium measurements obtained from Multi Detector-Row CT (MDCT) images and to evaluate whether this reproducibility is affected by different measurement protocols, slice thickness, cardiovascular risk factors and/or technical variables. Design: Cross-sectional study with repeated measurements. Materials and methods: The study population comprised 76 healthy women. Coronary calcium was assessed in these women twice in one session using 16-MDCT (Philips Mx 8000 IDT 16). Images were reconstructed with 1.5 mm slice thickness and 3.0 mm slice thickness. The 76 repeated scans were scored. The Agatston score, a volume measurement and a mass measurement were assessed. Reproducibility was determined by estimation of mean, absolute, relative difference, the weighted kappa value for agreement and the Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICCC). Results: Fifty-five participants (72.4%) had a coronary calcification of more than zero in Agatston (1.5 mm slice thickness). The reproducibility of coronary calcium measurements between scans in terms of ranking was excellent with Intra-class correlation coefficients of >0.98, and kappa values above 0.80. The absolute difference in calcium score between scans increased with increasing calcium levels, indicating that measurement error increases with increasing calcium levels. However, no relation was found between the mean difference in scores and calcium levels, indicating that the increase in measurement error is likely to result in random misclassification in calcium score. Reproducibility results were similar for 1.5 mm slices and for 3.0 mm slices, and equal for Agatston, volume and mass measurements. Conclusion: Inter-scan reproducibilility of measurement of coronary calcium using images from MDCT is excellent, irrespective of slice thickness and type of calcium parameter

Ampelisca lusitanica (Crustacea: Amphipoda): new species for the Atlantic coast of Morocco

Background This study reports for the first time the presence of the Lusitanian ampeliscid amphipod Ampelisca lusitanica Bellan-Santini & Marques, 1986 in the northwestern Atlantic coast of Morocco. Methods Specimens were collected in January 2015 from intertidal rock pools along the El Jadida shoreline associated with the brown algae Bifurcaria bifurcata and Sargassum muticum. Results Systematic description of the species is presented, as well as a discussion of its ecological and geographical distribution. Conclusion This new finding extends the geographical distribution from the Lusitanian (Europe) to the Mauritanian (Africa) region and increases knowledge of the ecology and the global distribution of A. lusitanica found, previously, only on Portuguese and Spanish coasts.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio