Determination of the mineral profile of raw and roasted lentil flour after addition to yogurt

Introduction: Lentil (Lens culinaris) is a pulse largely consumed in the world, especially in Algeria. This legume can be consumed in different forms (pottage, soup), but also flour can be produced after roasting treatment of the lentils. Resulted flour can be used as a food or ingredient in the formulation of food products. Aims: The main objective of this study is to determine the variation in the main mineral content of lentil flour. The flour was analyzed at its native state (raw), after roasting, raw before addition to yogurt, and roasted after addition in yogurt as a functional ingredient at a rate of 4%. Material and Methods: The lentil flours analysis was carried out by means of Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) associated with Dispersive X-ray Energy (EDX) microanalysis (SEM-EDX). Results: The results show that the roasting treatment does not have a marked effect on the mineral content of lentil flours. However, the addition to the yogurt made it possible to raise the mineral content of the raw and roasted lentil flour remarkably. Conclusions: Adding lentil flour to yogurt is an effective way to increase the mineral content of yogurts made from these flours

Suivi De La Cinétique Du Développement Racinaire Des Plantes Destinées A La Stabilisation Des Talus Marneux De L’axe Autoroutier Fès-Taza (Nord Du Maroc)

Le passage de l’autoroute Fès-Taza (Maroc) à travers des substrats marneux a engendré des talus particulièrement sensibles à l’érosion hydrique. En effet, sitôt confectionnés, ces talus subissent différentes formes d’érosion avec des sévérités variant avec l’intensité des pluies. Vu que la stabilisation mécanique s’est révélée difficile et trop coûteuse, les auteurs ont envisagé de faire appel au génie biologique mettant en œuvre les plantes qui contribuent au maintien du sol grâce à leur système racinaire. Ce travail concerne l’évaluation de l’effet, sur la stabilité du sol, de plusieurs espèces végétales plantées sur des talus marneux de l’axe autoroutier Fès-Taza. Des espèces prometteuses ont fait l’objet d’un suivi sous conditions contrôlées pour mieux comprendre la cinétique du développement de leurs racines. Il s’agit de: Acacia cyanophylla, Arundo donax, Medicago arborea, Prosopis pubescens, Retama monosperma et Spartium junceum. Ce suivi a été réalisé sur un substrat prélevé à partir des talus marneux de l’autoroute Fès-Taza et mis dans des mini-rhizotrons pour suivre la croissance et l’architecture du système racinaire. Acacia cyanophylla et Arundo donax, sont les espèces qui ont montré les densités racinaires les plus élevées. Medicago arborea est l’espèce qui a enregistré la vitesse moyenne d’allongement racinaire maximale parmi les espèces testées (9,3 cm/mois). Ces six espèces ont montré des caractéristiques complémentaires nécessaires au maintien des talus. On les recommande comme composition floristique dans des conditions similaires

Effectiveness of bioengineering techniques for water erosion control of slopes of the Fez-Taza Highway (Morocco)

Topographie montagnarde, forts épisodes pluvieux et structure de sol dominée par des matériaux tendres essentiellement des marnes, sont toutes des contraintes environnementales qui ont fait des talus de l’autoroute Fès-Taza une zone très exposée à l’érosion hydrique. Ces talus ont présenté de sérieux problèmes d’érosion depuis la première année d’ouverture de ce tronçon. Les dégâts qui y ont été enregistrés et les interventions d’entretiens à chaque saison pluviale ont augmenté les coûts de construction de ce tronçon. Pour stabiliser ces terrassements, plusieurs techniques à base du génie civil ont été installées. Vu que ces installations sont très coûteuses voire même inefficaces pour certains talus, les auteurs ont envisagé d’évaluer l’efficacité de quelques techniques à moindre coût à base du génie biologique. Il s’agit des techniques suivantes: semis et plantations avec roseaux en maille, semis avec utilisation de la paille et semis en ligne. L’expérimentation a été menée en installant des collecteurs linéaires de sédiments de 4 m de longueur à la base des parcelles (4×18 m2; 4×28 m2) de traitements, sur des talus sud et nord d’un tronçon en déblai. Ces traitements ont engendré une réduction de l’érosion, par comparaison au témoin, de 65% avec l’utilisation du semis seul, 74% avec l’utilisation du semis et plantations avec roseaux et 78% avec l’utilisation du semis, paille et grillage. Les plus grandes quantités de sédiments sont issues des témoins, le charriage maximum est arrivé pour une seule parcelle témoin à 12,7 kg comme quantité sèche de terre pour 33 mm de pluie avec une intensité de 58 mm/h. La couverture végétale est plus importante sur les versants nord. Il faut donc choisir des espèces adaptées et peu consommatrices d’eau en ce qui concerne les versants sud. Mots clés: Érosion, marnes, génie biologique, semis, plantation, autoroute.Mountainous topography, intense rainfall events and marly soils are constraints that have made slopes of the Fez-Taza highway highly exposed to water erosion. As a matter of fact, soon after their construction, these slopes were subjected to various forms of erosion with varying severities depending on rain intensity. Since mechanical stabilization proved to be too costly or ineffective for some slopes, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of some low-cost techniques based on bioengineering. These techniques are sowing and planting with mesh bamboo, sowing with straw and wire mesh and just sowing. The experiment was conducted by installing linear containers (4 m) in the bottom of plots (4×18 m2; 4×28 m2) of bioengineering treatments, in north and south facing slopes. These bioengineering treatments led to a 65% reduction, compared to control plots, in erosion with the use of sowing, 74% with the use of sowing and planting with mesh bamboo, and 78% with the use of sowing with straw and wire mesh. The highest erosion sediments were from the control plots with 12.7 kg as a maximum of dry quantity of eroded soil for 33 mm of rain with an intensity of 58 mm/h for one plot. The vegetation cover is more important on the northern slopes. It is therefore necessary to choose adapted species that consume less water for southern slopes. Keywords: Erosion, marls, bioengineering, sowing, planting, highway

Effectiveness of bioengineering techniques for water erosion control of slopes of the Fez-Taza Highway (Morocco)

Topographie montagnarde, forts épisodes pluvieux et structure de sol dominée par des matériaux tendres essentiellement des marnes, sont toutes des contraintes environnementales qui ont fait des talus de l’autoroute Fès-Taza une zone très exposée à l’érosion hydrique. Ces talus ont présenté de sérieux problèmes d’érosion depuis la première année d’ouverture de ce tronçon. Les dégâts qui y ont été enregistrés et les interventions d’entretiens à chaque saison pluviale ont augmenté les coûts de construction de ce tronçon. Pour stabiliser ces terrassements, plusieurs techniques à base du génie civil ont été installées. Vu que ces installations sont très coûteuses voire même inefficaces pour certains talus, les auteurs ont envisagé d’évaluer l’efficacité de quelques techniques à moindre coût à base du génie biologique. Il s’agit des techniques suivantes: semis et plantations avec roseaux en maille, semis avec utilisation de la paille et semis en ligne. L’expérimentation a été menée en installant des collecteurs linéaires de sédiments de 4 m de longueur à la base des parcelles (4×18 m2; 4×28 m2) de traitements, sur des talus sud et nord d’un tronçon en déblai. Ces traitements ont engendré une réduction de l’érosion, par comparaison au témoin, de 65% avec l’utilisation du semis seul, 74% avec l’utilisation du semis et plantations avec roseaux et 78% avec l’utilisation du semis, paille et grillage. Les plus grandes quantités de sédiments sont issues des témoins, le charriage maximum est arrivé pour une seule parcelle témoin à 12,7 kg comme quantité sèche de terre pour 33 mm de pluie avec une intensité de 58 mm/h. La couverture végétale est plus importante sur les versants nord. Il faut donc choisir des espèces adaptées et peu consommatrices d’eau en ce qui concerne les versants sud. Mots clés: Érosion, marnes, génie biologique, semis, plantation, autoroute.Mountainous topography, intense rainfall events and marly soils are constraints that have made slopes of the Fez-Taza highway highly exposed to water erosion. As a matter of fact, soon after their construction, these slopes were subjected to various forms of erosion with varying severities depending on rain intensity. Since mechanical stabilization proved to be too costly or ineffective for some slopes, the authors evaluated the effectiveness of some low-cost techniques based on bioengineering. These techniques are sowing and planting with mesh bamboo, sowing with straw and wire mesh and just sowing. The experiment was conducted by installing linear containers (4 m) in the bottom of plots (4×18 m2; 4×28 m2) of bioengineering treatments, in north and south facing slopes. These bioengineering treatments led to a 65% reduction, compared to control plots, in erosion with the use of sowing, 74% with the use of sowing and planting with mesh bamboo, and 78% with the use of sowing with straw and wire mesh. The highest erosion sediments were from the control plots with 12.7 kg as a maximum of dry quantity of eroded soil for 33 mm of rain with an intensity of 58 mm/h for one plot. The vegetation cover is more important on the northern slopes. It is therefore necessary to choose adapted species that consume less water for southern slopes. Keywords: Erosion, marls, bioengineering, sowing, planting, highway

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Experimental Investigation of Fluid Flow through Zinc Open-Cell Foams Produced by the Excess Salt Replication Process and Suitable as a Catalyst in Wastewater Treatment

International audienceThe "excess salt replication process" is a new simple method of fabrication of open-cell metal foam based on the commonly known salt replication method. Porous materials with porosity between 46% and 66% result when the employed alloy is 25% antimonial lead alloy and when it is 58% to 65% zamak 5. These foams are proposed as structured catalysts instead of packed beds in the treatment of wastewater. The local regimes influencing macroscopic air flow behaviour through these foams are delimited and boundaries are analysed in terms of sample length. Most of the experimental tests in this work exhibited a general trend of air flow in ESR foams dominated by the "strong inertia regime". It was established that the law governing the unidirectional air flow through these foams was the full cubic law. The permeability and inertia coefficient of five samples with a cell diameter between 2.5 and 4.5 mm were calculated, and an empirical correlation was fitted. The irregular cuboid shape of salt grains used in the ESR foam was the origin of the special cell form of ESR foams leading to an anisotropic ordered porous media. This can explain the macroscopic turbulence of air flow because there were many dead zones present in the corner of each cubic cell, thus causing kinetic energy loss starting at earlier regimes

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Coagulation–Flocculation Treatment Using Aluminum Sulfate on a Polluted Surface Water Source: A Year-Long Study

International audienceSafeguarding drinking water is a major public health and environmental concern because it is essential to human life but may contain pollutants that can cause illness or harm the environment. Therefore, continuous research is necessary to improve water treatment methods and guarantee its quality. As part of this study, the effectiveness of coagulation–flocculation treatment using aluminum sulfate (Al2(SO4)3) was evaluated on a very polluted site. Samplings were taken almost every day for a month from the polluted site, and the samples were characterized by several physicochemical properties, such as hydrogen potential (pH), electrical conductivity, turbidity, organic matter, ammonium (NH+4), phosphate (PO43−), nitrate (NO3−), nitrite (NO2−), calcium (Ca2+), magnesium (Mg2+), total hardness (TH), chloride (Cl−), bicarbonate (HCO3−), sulfate (SO42−), iron (Fe3+), manganese (Mn2+), aluminum (Al3+), potassium (K+), sodium (Na+), complete alkalimetric titration (TAC), and dry residue (DR). Then, these samples were treated with Al2(SO4)3 using the jar test method, which is a common method to determine the optimal amount of coagulant to add to the water based on its physicochemical characteristics. A mathematical model had been previously created using the support vector machine method to predict the dose of coagulant according to the parameters of temperature, pH, TAC, conductivity, and turbidity. This Al2(SO4)3 treatment step was repeated at the end of each month for a year, and a second characterization of the physicochemical parameters was carried out in order to compare them with those of the raw water. The results showed a very effective elimination of the various pollutions, with a very high rate, thus demonstrating the effectiveness of the Al2(SO4)3. The physicochemical parameters measured after the treatment showed a significant reduction in the majority of the physicochemical parameters. These results demonstrated that the coagulation–flocculation treatment with Al2(SO4)3 was very effective in eliminating the various pollutions present in the raw water. They also stress the importance of continued research in the field of water treatment to improve the quality of drinking water and protect public health and the environment

Advancing Water Quality Research: K-Nearest Neighbor Coupled with the Improved Grey Wolf Optimizer Algorithm Model Unveils New Possibilities for Dry Residue Prediction

International audienceMonitoring stations have been established to combat water pollution, improve the ecosystem, promote human health, and facilitate drinking water production. However, continuous and extensive monitoring of water is costly and time-consuming, resulting in limited datasets and hindering water management research. This study focuses on developing an optimized K-nearest neighbor (KNN) model using the improved grey wolf optimization (I-GWO) algorithm to predict dry residue quantities. The model incorporates 20 physical and chemical parameters derived from a dataset of 400 samples. Cross-validation is employed to assess model performance, optimize parameters, and mitigate the risk of overfitting. Four folds are created, and each fold is optimized using 11 distance metrics and their corresponding weighting functions to determine the best model configuration. Among the evaluated models, the Jaccard distance metric with inverse squared weighting function consistently demonstrates the best performance in terms of statistical errors and coefficients for each fold. By averaging predictions from the models in the four folds, an estimation of the overall model performance is obtained. The resulting model exhibits high efficiency, with remarkably low errors reflected in the values of R, R2, R2ADJ, RMSE, and EPM, which are reported as 0.9979, 0.9958, 0.9956, 41.2639, and 3.1061, respectively. This study reveals a compelling non-linear correlation between physico-chemical water attributes and the content of dry tailings, indicating the ability to accurately predict dry tailing quantities. By employing the proposed methodology to enhance water quality models, it becomes possible to overcome limitations in water quality management and significantly improve the precision of predictions regarding critical water parameters. © 2023 by the authors

Low incidence of SARS-CoV-2, risk factors of mortality and the course of illness in the French national cohort of dialysis patients

International audienceThe aim of this study was to estimate the incidence of COVID-19 disease in the French national population of dialysis patients, their course of illness and to identify the risk factors associated with mortality. Our study included all patients on dialysis recorded in the French REIN Registry in April 2020. Clinical characteristics at last follow-up and the evolution of COVID-19 illness severity over time were recorded for diagnosed cases (either suspicious clinical symptoms, characteristic signs on the chest scan or a positive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction) for SARS-CoV-2. A total of 1,621 infected patients were reported on the REIN registry from March 16th, 2020 to May 4th, 2020. Of these, 344 died. The prevalence of COVID-19 patients varied from less than 1% to 10% between regions. The probability of being a case was higher in males, patients with diabetes, those in need of assistance for transfer or treated at a self-care unit. Dialysis at home was associated with a lower probability of being infected as was being a smoker, a former smoker, having an active malignancy, or peripheral vascular disease. Mortality in diagnosed cases (21%) was associated with the same causes as in the general population. Higher age, hypoalbuminemia and the presence of an ischemic heart disease were statistically independently associated with a higher risk of death. Being treated at a selfcare unit was associated with a lower risk. Thus, our study showed a relatively low frequency of COVID-19 among dialysis patients contrary to what might have been assumed

Rare predicted loss-of-function variants of type I IFN immunity genes are associated with life-threatening COVID-19

BackgroundWe previously reported that impaired type I IFN activity, due to inborn errors of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I interferon (IFN) immunity or to autoantibodies against type I IFN, account for 15-20% of cases of life-threatening COVID-19 in unvaccinated patients. Therefore, the determinants of life-threatening COVID-19 remain to be identified in similar to 80% of cases.MethodsWe report here a genome-wide rare variant burden association analysis in 3269 unvaccinated patients with life-threatening COVID-19, and 1373 unvaccinated SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals without pneumonia. Among the 928 patients tested for autoantibodies against type I IFN, a quarter (234) were positive and were excluded.ResultsNo gene reached genome-wide significance. Under a recessive model, the most significant gene with at-risk variants was TLR7, with an OR of 27.68 (95%CI 1.5-528.7, P=1.1x10(-4)) for biochemically loss-of-function (bLOF) variants. We replicated the enrichment in rare predicted LOF (pLOF) variants at 13 influenza susceptibility loci involved in TLR3-dependent type I IFN immunity (OR=3.70[95%CI 1.3-8.2], P=2.1x10(-4)). This enrichment was further strengthened by (1) adding the recently reported TYK2 and TLR7 COVID-19 loci, particularly under a recessive model (OR=19.65[95%CI 2.1-2635.4], P=3.4x10(-3)), and (2) considering as pLOF branchpoint variants with potentially strong impacts on splicing among the 15 loci (OR=4.40[9%CI 2.3-8.4], P=7.7x10(-8)). Finally, the patients with pLOF/bLOF variants at these 15 loci were significantly younger (mean age [SD]=43.3 [20.3] years) than the other patients (56.0 [17.3] years; P=1.68x10(-5)).ConclusionsRare variants of TLR3- and TLR7-dependent type I IFN immunity genes can underlie life-threatening COVID-19, particularly with recessive inheritance, in patients under 60 years old