Global Solar Radiation Forecasting Based on Hybrid Model with Combinations of Meteorological Parameters: Morocco Case Study

The adequate modeling and estimation of solar radiation plays a vital role in designing solar energy applications. In fact, unnecessary environmental changes result in several problems with the components of solar photovoltaic and affects the energy generation network. Various computational algorithms have been developed over the past decades to improve the efficiency of predicting solar radiation with various input characteristics. This research provides five approaches for forecasting daily global solar radiation (GSR) in two Moroccan cities, Tetouan and Tangier. In this regard, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA), autoregressive moving average (ARMA), feed forward back propagation neural networks (FFBP), hybrid ARIMA-FFBP, and hybrid ARMA-FFBP were selected to compare and forecast the daily global solar radiation with different combinations of meteorological parameters. In addition, the performance in three approaches has been calculated in terms of the statistical metric correlation coefficient (R²), root means square error (RMSE), stand deviation (σ), the slope of best fit (SBF), legate’s coefficient of efficiency (LCE), and Wilmott’s index of agreement (WIA). The best model is selected by using the computed statistical metric, which is present, and the optimal value. The R² of the forecasted ARIMA, ARMA, FFBP, hybrid ARIMA-FFBP, and ARMA-FFBP models is varying between 0.9472 and 0.9931. The range value of SPE is varying between 0.8435 and 0.9296. The range value of LCE is 0.8954 and 0.9696 and the range value of WIA is 0.9491 and 0.9945. The outcomes show that the hybrid ARIMA–FFBP and hybrid ARMA–FFBP techniques are more effective than other approaches due to the improved correlation coefficient (R2)

Molecular characterisation of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase- and plasmid AmpC-producing Escherichia coli strains isolated from broilers in Bejaia, Algeria

International audienceThis study aimed to characterise the molecular support of antibiotic resistance in expanded-spectrum cephalosporin (ESC)-resistant Escherichia coli isolates recovered from healthy broilers in Bejaia, northeast Algeria. A total of 61 intestinal swabs from slaughtered broilers from four regions in Bejaia locality, Algeria, were collected between February and April 2014, from which 20 ESC-resistant E. coli strains were isolated. Escherichia coli isolates were identified by classical biochemical and MALDI-TOF methods. Antibiotic susceptibility testing was performed using disk diffusion and Etest methods. Screening for beta-lactamases, aminoglycoside-modifying enzyme (AME)-encoding genes and qnr determinants was performed by PCR and sequencing. Clonal relatedness was determined using molecular typing by multilocus sequence typing (MLST). Antibiotic susceptibility testing revealed that the isolates showed high rates of resistance (>90%) to amoxicillin, amoxicillin/clavulanic acid, piperacillin/tazobactam, aztreonam, ceftazidime, streptomycin, tobramycin, nalidixic acid and ciprofloxacin. Low rates of resistance were observed for kanamycin (35%), amikacin (30%), cefoxitin (20%) and cefotaxime (15%). Molecular characterisation revealed that all of the isolates expressed the bla(TEM-1) gene. Fourteen of them harboured the bla(SHV-12) gene, two harboured the bla(CTX-M-1) gene and four isolates harboured bla(CMY-2). Screening for AME-encoding genes demonstrated that all isolates contained the aadA gene. In addition, qnrA was detected as the quinolone resistance determinant in 13 isolates. MLST revealed four known sequence types (STs), including ST744, ST38, ST1011 and ST2179, as well as one new sequence type (ST5086). Here we report the first study describing the clonal diversity of extended-spectrum beta-lactamase (ESBL)- and plasmid AmpC-producing E. coli isolated from healthy broilers in Algeria. (C) 2016 International Society for Chemotherapy of Infection and Cancer. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Extended Spectrum β-Lactamase-Producing Escherichia coli from Poultry and Wild Birds (Sparrow) in Djelfa (Algeria), with Frequent Detection of CTX-M-14 in Sparrow

Antimicrobial resistance is a global threat that is spreading more and more in both human and animal niches. This study investigates the antimicrobial resistance and virulence threats of Escherichia coli isolates recovered from intestinal and fecal samples of 100 chickens, 60 turkeys, and 30 sparrows. Extended spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL) producing E. coli isolates were recovered in 12 of the animals tested, selecting one isolate per positive animal: sparrow (eight isolates, 26.7%), turkey (three isolates, 5%), and chicken (one isolate, 1%). The E. coli isolates were ascribed to B1 and D phylogenetic groups. The blaCTX-M-14 gene was detected in all ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from sparrow. The blaCTX-M-15 (two isolates) and blaCTX-M-14 genes (one isolate) were detected in the isolates of turkey, and the blaCTX-M-1 gene in one isolate from broiler. Three lineages were revealed among the tested isolates (ST/phylogenetic group/type of ESBL/origin): ST117/D/CTX-M-1/broiler, ST4492 (CC405)/D/CTX-M-15/turkey, and ST602/B1/CTX-M-14/sparrow. All isolates were negative for stx1, sxt2, and eae virulence genes. Our findings provide evidence that the sparrow could be a vector in the dissemination of ESBL-producing E. coli isolates to other environments. This study also reports, to our knowledge, the first detection of blaCTX-M-14 from sparrow at a global level and in turkey in Algeria