Effect of Pinus halepensis Mill. Reforestation on the Above-Ground Biomass and Internode Elongation and Leaf Size of Native Species in Morroco

This study aims to determine the effect of the reforestation of Pinus halepensis Mill. on the above-ground biomass and morphological characteristics of native species (internode elongation and leaf size) in the Beni Sohane forest. Plant biomass of the herbaceous layer was harvested on randomly selected 2 m2 quadrats in reforested plots of ± 12, ± 25, and ± 45-year-old, and native forest controls. The internode length and leaf size (length and width) were measured on plants randomly selected belonging to four native species Quercus ilex L., Pistacia lentiscus L., Phillyrea angustifolia L., and Cistus creticus L.. The results showed that P. halepensis reforestation had no significant effect on the above-ground biomass and the leaves and internodes dimensions in the young plantations ± 12-year-old. However, as the pine trees mature, the average dry matter weight decreases, especially in stands 45 years old, where this weight was significantly lower than that of natural forests. This fact has led to herders abandoning important pastures previously used by their cattle. In addition, the fast growth of P. halepensis trees formed a canopy above all indigenous species resulting in changes in the dimensions of internodes and leaves. For the two oldest plantations, the internode length, leaf width, and length of the 4 species have been significantly increased. However, the leaf length-to-width ratio decreased significantly, with leaves in reforested plots being larger rather than longer compared to control samples in native forests. Planting P. halepensis can negatively impact the long-term growth of native plants, so we recommend periodically removing some of the pines (thinning) to restore the balance of these ecosystems. Thus, species selection for reforestation should consider maximizing rather than destroying ecological and socioeconomic services

Evaluation De La Dégradation De La Chamaeropaie Du Versant Sud Du Mont « jbelLakraa » (Maroc) Etudes Floristique Et Morphométrique

Our study is devoted to the chamaeropaie degradation assessment of the jbel Lakraa southern slope, located in the northern Middle Atlas in the Ribat Al Khair region. The floristic study revealed a specific richness of 124 species belonging to 95 genera and 33 vascular plants families, as well as a specific diversity relatively high with a Shannon-Weaver index of 3.88. A relatively high specific diversity with a Shannon-Weaver index of 3.88 was observed. However, the floristic composition showed a disturbance expressed by the index of equitability which is 0.58 and a strong therophytisation of 63% with a very high perturbation index of 69%. This disturbance is also illustrated by the toxic or spiny species proliferation such as Asphodelus ramosus, Drimia maritima and Scolymus hispanicus. The morphometric study was carried out on two strata (stratum 1 anthropized - stratum 2 wooded). The Statistical analysis showed that the diameter and height of the foliage, as well as the number of leaves per individual of the tree stratum are significantly higher than those of the anthropized stratum. Furthermore, an absence of correlations between the morphometric variables was recorded in the anthropized stratum. The chamaeropaie degradation state is alarming as indicated by the floristic and morphometric results, urgent measures must be taken to regulate its exploitation and preservation

Techno-economic evaluation and comparison of the optimal PV/Wind and grid hybrid system with horizontal and vertical axis wind turbines

Applications for alternative energy sources range from very small scale to large scale grid-coupled hybrid energy systems. In addition, hybrid energy systems are safer to generate power and cheaper to produce than single-source energy systems. The main goal of this study is to determine whether renewable energy hybrid system with horizontal axis wind turbine (HAWT) or vertical axis wind turbine (VAWT) is more efficient and cost effective in terms of energy, economics, and environmental performance. The use of the Multi Objective Genetic Algorithm (MOGA) in MATLAB software for the sizing of hybrid sustainable energy system with wind turbine (horizontal and vertical axis), solar photovoltaic, and grid connection is evaluated in this study. The results revealed that the cost of energy, NPC and system total cost for the case where HRES consists of HAWT is $0.02 /kWh,$85,905, and $332,240, respectively, while for the case when VAWT is used, these values are$0.06 /kWh, $129,932 and$502,511, respectively. The renewable fraction and CO2 emission saving are 80.5% and 73.2% for cases 1 and 2, respectively. The use of renewable energy sources will spread more widely and there will be less air pollution as a result of less reliance on grid electricity. The findings from both situations show that adopting HAWTS-based HRESs is more cost effective and efficient for electrifying rural areas. This study paves the way for researchers to focus on types of wind turbines while designing HRESs

Fertiledatepalm – a transdisciplinary collaboration project to ameliorate date palm cultivation via microbial inoculation, organic matter management and mixed cropping using nurse plants

Date palm is an important crop in Morocco, Tunisia and other drylands with a high agricultural, economic and cultural value. Harsh environmental conditions of those areas, further accelerated by climate change and the spread of root diseases, threaten date palm cultivation. To overcome limitations in productivity, high inputs of mineral fertilizers and pesticides are applied. However, these external inputs strongly affect the environment and livelihoods. The project aims at establishing an integrated microbe-assisted fertilization approach, combining the inoculation of native soil microbes, namely arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) during the different date palm growth stages, with adapted agricultural management practices using organic amendments and mixed-cropping in Morocco and Tunisia. As initial step, we established a culture collection of native microbes, isolated from date palm roots and rhizosphere composed of 24 AMF isolates including eight species from six genera, twelve bacterial endophyte isolates composed of Paenibacillus, Mycobacterium, and Achromobacter species and 34 PGPR isolates. Functional characterization of PGPRs revealed that around 50 % can solubilize phosphorus and potassium and between 9 % and 68 % have the ability to produce siderophores, hydrogen cyanid, chitinase, cellulase, amylase and protease. Consortia of microbes were formed and used for inoculations. Experiments under nursery conditions revealed that inoculation with AMF and PGPR combined with compost significantly increased growth of date palms as compared to non-amended controls enabling farmers to decrease the time prior to field transplantation. On-farm trials performed in productive date palm groves have shown that PGPR inoculation with or without mixed-cropping with sorghum as nurse plants significantly increase fruit characteristics such as fruit flesh weight as well as fruit length and diameter for up to 14 % and leaf macronutrient concentrations for up to 200 % while in addition enhancing the mycorrhizal potential of the soil. Our integrated fertilization approach is developed in a participatory approach with key stakeholders in so-called innovation platforms, working at laboratory, on-station and on-farm scale to best tackle farmers’ needs in order to facilitate adoption and implementation

Оценка надежности высоконадежных систем с учетом ЗИП

Предложены приближенные верхние и нижние оценки коэффициента готовности высоконадежной восстанавливаемой системы со структурной избыточностью. Полученные расчетные соотношения могут использоваться для оценки надежности высоконадежных систем с учетом различных стратегий пополнения ЗИП

Effect of PGPR and mixed cropping on mycorrhizal status, soil fertility, and date palm productivity under organic farming system

A field study was carried out for two years at an organic farm under arid climate in Morocco to investigate the effect of an integrated biofertilization approach on Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal (AMF) abundance and infectivity, soil fertility, yield, and fruit quality of date palm. The biofertilization approach included three management practices namely application of compost, inoculation with a consortium of native PGPR strains originally isolated from date palms of Drâa-Tafilalet region (Pseudomonas koreensis, Serratia nematodiphila, S. marcescens, and Klebsiella sp.) and using mixed-cropping with sorghum. Accordingly, four treatments were established in this study: 1) mixed-cropping with sorghum, 2) PGPR inoculation, 3) sorghum + PGPR, and 4) control (without sorghum or PGPR). All treatments received compost as organic amendment. Results revealed that mixed-cropping with sorghum significantly increased AMF colonization intensity and spore density by more than 50% and 29%, respectively. Sorghum association also resulted in a significant increase in organic matter concentrations of up to 2.95% against 2.45% in monocropping soils. The integrated biofertilization approach resulted in the highest yield with an increase rate of 10.6% and 12.1% in the first and the second year, respectively compared to date palms receiving compost alone. Similarly, the mineral composition and quality characteristics of date fruits were significantly improved. The enhancement of soil fertility and date palm productivity under harsh environmental conditions represents a first step towards the adoption of sustainable practices in the region and in similar areas

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

A two-stage robust optimization approach for the master surgical schedule problem under uncertainty considering downstream resources

International audienc

A Multi-objective Approach for the Combined Master Surgical Schedule and Surgical Case Assignment Problems

International audienceIn this study, we propose a multi-objective approach to address the Master Surgical Schedule (MSS) and the Surgical Case Assignment (SCAP) problems for the common Operating Theater (OT) in an integrated hospital facility. The approach accounts for both surgeons' and Operating Rooms' (OR) availability and restrictions. We propose in this paper a multi-objective programming model that supports OT decision making to ensure patients' and surgeons' satisfaction and hospital quality of service by respecting surgeries due dates and balancing surgeons' workloads. The proposed approach determines the surgical discipline to perform on each session, the surgical cases assigned on each session, and the operations' start time on a weekly basis. The-constraint method is used to solve the multi-objective problem. The computational experiments are performed using ILOG CPLEX optimization studio. The model is tested on the empirical data archives of a medium-size French hospital and show the quality of solutions achieved using the proposed approach

A Three-stage Approach for the Multi-period Green Home Health Care Problem with Varying Speed Constraints

International audienceIn this paper, we address an environment-friendly approach to solve the Green Home Health Care (GHHC) routing and assignment problem. The approach aims to reduce fuel consumption to minimize carbon-dioxide emissions. The Home Health Care (HHC) routing and assignment problem is a very complex problem due to the multifactors and criteria that must be taken into consideration during the planning. The main of this work is to find an efficient working plan on a weekly basis, respecting continuity of care, with environmental concern, which ensures the satisfaction of both patients and caregivers and considers most of HHC constraints. The proposed approach is a threestage methodology; the first stage is a multi-objective programming model that minimizes the total traveled distance and fuel consumption with varying speed. In the second stage, we introduce an assignment heuristic, and the third stage is an Integer Linear Programming (ILP) model that aims to balance caregivers' workload. The small and medium instances are solved using CPLEX optimizer studio and show that better route planning and minimum fuel consumption is achieved with varying speed concept