The Impact of Liberalizing International Trade of Banking Services in Morocco

The purpose of this paper is to assess welfare effects of regulating the banking sector in Morocco along the European Union lines. The agreement between the EU and Morocco, signed in February 1996 and came into force in March 2000, provides for the gradual establishment of an industrial free-trade zone by 2012 and progressive liberalization of trade in agriculture. The agreement between Morocco and the EU foresees, in addition to that, to start negotiations for a free trade area in services. The agreement contains, however, no binding commitments. But Morocco is expected to deepen further its relationships with Europe within the framework of the Neighboring Policy. The relevance of the issue of banking services’ liberalization goes beyond Morocco’s agreement with the EU. On the one hand, Morocco’s free trade agreement with the US encompasses services, more specifically financial services, in addition to manufactured goods, agricultural products, intellectual property rights, and government procurement. This agreement is expected to come into force in 2006. On the other hand, under GATS, Morocco is projected to increase its commitments and opens up further its banking sector to foreign competition. The last commitments made by Morocco in Uruguay Round were mainly under commercial presence (mode 3) as compared to cross border supply (mode 1) and consumption abroad (mode 2). Except lending to finance investment in Morocco or commercial transactions with Morocco allowed under the mode 1, no commitment has been made in other items (Achy 2002). Hence, there is a real need to understand opportunities and challenges of liberalizing banking services on the Moroccan economy.Banking services, liberalization, Welfare effects, Morocco

The Impact of Liberalizing International Trade of Banking Services in Morocco

The purpose of this paper is to assess welfare effects of regulating the banking sector in Morocco along the European Union lines. The agreement between the EU and Morocco, signed in February 1996 and came into force in March 2000, provides for the gradual establishment of an industrial free-trade zone by 2012 and progressive liberalization of trade in agriculture. The agreement between Morocco and the EU foresees, in addition to that, to start negotiations for a free trade area in services. The agreement contains, however, no binding commitments. But Morocco is expected to deepen further its relationships with Europe within the framework of the Neighboring Policy. The relevance of the issue of banking services’ liberalization goes beyond Morocco’s agreement with the EU. On the one hand, Morocco’s free trade agreement with the US encompasses services, more specifically financial services, in addition to manufactured goods, agricultural products, intellectual property rights, and government procurement. This agreement is expected to come into force in 2006. On the other hand, under GATS, Morocco is projected to increase its commitments and opens up further its banking sector to foreign competition. The last commitments made by Morocco in Uruguay Round were mainly under commercial presence (mode 3) as compared to cross border supply (mode 1) and consumption abroad (mode 2). Except lending to finance investment in Morocco or commercial transactions with Morocco allowed under the mode 1, no commitment has been made in other items (Achy 2002). Hence, there is a real need to understand opportunities and challenges of liberalizing banking services on the Moroccan economy

Etude De La Contamination Par Les Métaux Lourds Des Eaux Et Des Sédiments Au Voisinage De La Mine De Tighza (Maroc Central Oriental)

The analyses performed on four stations upstream and eight downstream of the Tighzamine (Jebel Aouam) were carried out to assess the contamination degree from tailings discharges. From the standpoint of water and soil qualities, concentrations of trace and major elements (TME), including Cd, Mn, Pb and Zn which concentrations (µgL-1 ) reach respectively 82, 49918, 669, 36858 in water samples and 443, 161, 23607, 19459 in sediments, exceed greatly, in the vicinity of the mine, the international standards. Depending on the TME analyzes, all downstream stations shows different degrees of contamination, whereas it is less or absent at the upstream stations. Downstream stations thus require water and soil treatment, since the contents TME are quite large and clearly present a danger not only in the surrounding environment for population, fauna and flora, but also over long distances especially as the waters of Tighza river flow into the oued Bouregreg and thus reach the Sidi Mohammed ben Abdellah Dam (Rabat) which is used as drinking water for urban consumption. It is therefore imperative to treat these waters, so that they become drinkable and avoid bad impacts to the population

New insight into the chemical composition, antimicrobial and synergistic effects of the Moroccan endemic Thymus atlanticus (Ball) roussine essential oil in combination with conventional antibiotics

This study reported the volatile profile, the antimicrobial activity and the synergistic potential of essential oil (EO) from the Moroccan endemic Thymus atlanticus (Ball) Roussine, in combination with the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and fluconazole for the first time, to the best of our knowledge. The EO chemical composition was determined by gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis and the antimicrobial activity assessed by the disc diffusion method against three Gram positive (Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus) and three Gram-negative bacteria (Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli and one clinical isolate, Klebsiella pneumonia). The antifungal activity was evaluated in four pathogenic yeasts (Candida albicans, C. glabrata, C. krusei and C. parapsilosis). The minimum inhibition concentration (MIC) and the synergistic effect with ciprofloxacin and fluconazole were determined by the two-fold dilution technique and checkerboard test, respectively. Twenty-one constituents were identified by GC-MS in the EO, including carvacrol (21.62%) and borneol (21.13%) as the major components. The EO exhibited a significant antimicrobial activity with inhibition zones ranging from 0.7 mm to 22 mm for P. aeruginosa and B. subtilis, respectively, and MIC values varying from 0.56 mg/mL to 4.47 mg/mL. The fractional inhibitory concentration index (FICI) values ranged from 0.25 to 0.50 for bacteria and from 0.25 to 0.28 for yeasts. The maximum synergistic effect was observed for K. pneumonia with a 256-fold gain of antibiotic MIC. Our results have suggested that EO from T. atlanticus may be used alone or in association with antibiotics as a new potential alternative to prevent and control the emergence of resistant microbial strains both in the medical field and in the food industry.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A comparative study of the in vitro antimicrobial and synergistic effect of essential oils from Laurus nobilis L. and Prunus armeniaca L. from Morocco with antimicrobial drugs: new approach for health promoting products

Laurus nobilis L. (laurel, Lauraceae) and Prunus armeniaca L. (apricot, Rosaceae) are important industrial crops and display significant biological properties, including antimicrobial activity. In this work, essential oils (EOs) prepared from the leaves of both species from Morocco were evaluated for the first time for possible synergistic in vitro antibacterial and antifungal effects with some conventional antimicrobial drugs, namely fluconazole, ciprofloxacin and vancomycin. Samples were further evaluated for chemical composition by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The main volatile compounds detected in L. nobilis were eucalyptol (40.85%), α-terpinyl acetate (12.64%) and methyl eugenol (8.72%), while P. armeniaca was dominated essentially by (Z)-phytol (27.18%), pentacosane (15.11%), nonacosane (8.76%) and benzaldehyde (7.25%). Regarding antimicrobial activity, both EOs inhibited significantly all the microorganisms tested. The EO from L. nobilis had the highest activity, with minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) ranging from 1.39 to 22.2 mg/mL for bacteria and between 2.77 and 5.55 mg/mL for yeasts. Conversely, the combination of the studied EOs with ciprofloxacin, vancomycin and fluconazol resulted in a noteworthy decrease in their individual MICs. In fact, of the 32 interactions tested, 23 (71.87%) demonstrated total synergism and 9 (28.12%) a partial synergistic interaction. The EO from L. nobilis exhibited the highest synergistic effect with all the antibiotics used, with fractional inhibitory concentration (FIC) index values in the range of 0.266 to 0.75 for bacteria, and between 0.258 and 0.266 for yeast. The synergistic interaction between the studied EOs and standard antibiotics may constitute promising anti-infective agents useful for treating diseases induced by antibiotic-resistant pathogens.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Resistance to and Accumulation of Heavy Metals by Actinobacteria Isolated from Abandoned Mining Areas

Accumulation of high concentrations of heavy metals in environments can cause many human health risks and serious ecological problems. Nowadays, bioremediation using microorganisms is receiving much attention due to their good performance. The aim of this work is to investigate heavy metals resistance and bioaccumulation potential of actinobacteria strains isolated from some abandoned mining areas. Analysis of mining residues revealed that high concentration of zinc "Zn" was recorded in Sidi Bouatman, Arbar, and Bir Nhass mining residues. The highest concentration of lead "Pb" was found in Sidi Bouatman. Copper "Cu, " cadmium "Cd, " and chromium "Cr" were found with moderate and low concentrations. The resistance of 59 isolated actinobacteria to the five heavy metals was also determined. Using molecular identification 16S rRNA, these 27 isolates were found to belong to Streptomyces and Amycolatopsis genera. The results showed different levels of heavy metal resistance; the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) recorded was 0.55 for Pb, 0.15 for Cr, and 0.10 mg⋅mL −1 for both Zn and Cu. Chemical precipitation assay of heavy metals using hydrogen sulfide technic (H2S) revealed that only 27 isolates have a strong ability to accumulate Pb (up to 600 mg of Pb per g of biomass for Streptomyces sp. BN3)

Orthodontic Management of Adult Sleep Apnea: Clinical Case Reports

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a serious public health problem that has important impacts on the quality and life expectancy of affected individuals. It is characterized by repetitive upper airway collapse during sleep. OSA requires a multidisciplinary plan of treatment. There is increasing interest in the role of the orthodontist both in screening for adult obstructive sleep apnea and its management. Dental appliances and orthognathic surgery are two strategies that are currently used in the treatment of sleep apnea. This chapter focuses on the orthodontic management of sleep apnea in adults through three clinical cases with varying degrees of severity of sleep apnea. It provides a background on OSA treatment approaches and discusses the potential risks and benefits of each

Treatment and reutilization of effluents: one Mediterranean project

The problematic of effluent treatment from olive oil industry as been the subject of an European Commission funded project (INCO-MED programme): “Mediterranean Usage of Biotechnological Treated effluent Water”. The potential that effluent offers to increase the availability of water, in mediterranean regions, was the final goal of the project, co-ordinated by INETI with partners from EU and MPC. In the project different systems for the treatment of this effluent had been studied: reactors systems (Intensive type) based on the jet-loop principle (JACTO) and an anaerobic UASB hybrid type reactor technology; lagoons (extensive type) for municipal wastewater treatment were also applied. The aerobic JACTO system demonstrated high unit capacity for biological conversion and operation at different loadings, allowing the removal of the pollutant organic load and the toxicity associated with this effluent. The use of this type of reactor for pre-treatment of OOWW prior to disposal on a lagoon system was tested at FSS (Morocco). Use of fungi as a pre-treatment was tested by UNITUS (Italy), EBC (Turkey) and CBS (Tunisia). In this way the effluent could be “improved” as demonstrated in the case of anaerobic digestion and biogas production (CBS). Effluent improvement and enrichment with phosphate was also tested by UNITUS. Analytical monitoring methodologies were developed at IA (Spain) and treated effluents were tested for a number of agricultural applications in different countries. The different alternatives studied will be analysed and compared taking account of technological and socio-economical criteria in relation with the project objectives