Real Exchange Rate of Moroccan Currency: Appreciated or Depreciated?

In this paper, we measure and evaluate the real parity of the Moroccan dirham during the period 1980-2020. The objective is to highlight the evolution of the real exchange rate of the dirham, and in particular to show if whether it has been overvalued against currencies of the main trading partners and competitors of Morocco. Contrary to many studies which used a simple method to calculate the real parity which consisted of assigning each country of the main trading partners a relative weight equivalent to its share in Morocco's external trade, we calculate the weights by combining both bilateral import weights and a double weighting for export to reflect both importance of each country in Morocco's import and export as well as the degree of competition of exporters in usual third markets. Calculation of real parity of the dirham reveals three main periods: a strong depreciation during 1980-1990; an appreciation during the period 1991-2000; and a resumption of a weaker depreciation for the last period (2001-2020). These trends are related to both changes in nominal effective exchange rate and in relative prices. Results obtained in the present paper are generally close to those calculated by the International Monetary Fund for Morocco and are strongly correlated with them and the trends in both remain the same

A microarray-based method for the parallel analysis of genotypes and expression profiles of wood-forming tissues in Eucalyptus grandis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Fast-growing <it>Eucalyptus grandis </it>trees are one of the most efficient producers of wood in South Africa. The most serious problem affecting the quality and yield of solid wood products is the occurrence of end splitting in logs. Selection of <it>E. grandis </it>planting stock that exhibit preferred wood qualities is thus a priority of the South African forestry industry. We used microarray-based DNA-amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis in combination with expression profiling to develop fingerprints and profile gene expression of wood-forming tissue of seven different <it>E. grandis </it>trees.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>A 1578-probe cDNA microarray was constructed by arraying 768 cDNA-AFLP clones and 810 cDNA library clones from seven individual <it>E. grandis </it>trees onto silanised slides. The results revealed that 32% of the spotted fragments showed distinct expression patterns (with a fold change of at least 1.4 or -1.4 and a p value of 0.01) could be grouped into clusters representing co-expressed genes. Evaluation of the binary distribution of cDNA-AFLP fragments on the array showed that the individual genotypes could be discriminated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>A simple, yet general method was developed for genotyping and expression profiling of wood-forming tissue of <it>E. grandis </it>trees differing in their splitting characteristics and in their lignin contents. Evaluation of gene expression profiles and the binary distribution of cDNA-AFLP fragments on the chip suggest that the prototype chip developed could be useful for transcript profiling and for the identification of Eucalyptus trees with preferred wood quality traits in commercial breeding programmes.</p

Spontaneous vertebral artery dissection in an elder patient: a case report

Vertebrobasilar artery dissection (VBD) is a rare cause of posterior ischemic strokes. It is more likely to occur in young patients with a history of traumatism or hereditary connective tissue disorders. Spontaneous VBD is rare, especially in elder patients. This paper aims to report the case of an old patient that presented with a posterior ischemic stroke due to a spontaneous vertebral artery dissection (SVAD), linked to atherosclerosis. The diagnosis of SVAD was made by Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) which is the gold standard technique to diagnose this pathology in a short time so the patient could receive adequate treatment

Zinner Syndrome

Zinner syndrome is a developmental anomaly of the urogenital tract. This condition is defined by the triad of unilateral renal agenesis, ipsilateral seminal vesicle cyst and ipsilateral ejaculatory duct obstruction. The syndrome is due to malformation of the mesonephric duct during embryogenesis. The condition used to be rare but is now frequently encountered due to the advent of MRI and CT. MRI confirms the diagnosis by revealing the seminal vesicle cyst and its contents, and the ejaculatory duct obstruction, while CT confirms renal agenesis. We report the case of a young patient with Zinner syndrome

Bin mapping of tomato diversity array (DArT) markers to genomic regions of Solanum lycopersicum × Solanum pennellii introgression lines

Marker-trait association studies in tomato have progressed rapidly due to the availability of several populations developed between wild species and domesticated tomato. However, in the absence of whole genome sequences for each wild species, molecular marker methods for whole genome comparisons and fine mapping are required. We describe the development and validation of a diversity arrays technology (DArT) platform for tomato using an introgression line (IL) population consisting of wild Solanumpennellii introgressed into Solanumlycopersicum (cv. M82). A tomato diversity array consisting of 6,912 clones from domesticated tomato and twelve wild tomato/Solanaceous species was constructed. We successfully bin-mapped 990 polymorphic DArT markers together with 108 RFLP markers across the IL population, increasing the number of markers available for each S.pennellii introgression by tenfold on average. A subset of DArT markers from ILs previously associated with increased levels of lycopene and carotene were sequenced, and 44% matched protein coding genes. The bin-map position and order of sequenced DArT markers correlated well with their physical position on scaffolds of the draft tomato genome sequence (SL2.40). The utility of sequenced DArT markers was illustrated by converting several markers in both the S.pennellii and S.lycopersicum phases to cleaved amplified polymorphic sequence (CAPS) markers. Genotype scores from the CAPS markers confirmed the genotype scores from the DArT hybridizations used to construct the bin map. The tomato diversity array provides additional “sequence-characterized” markers for fine mapping of QTLs in S.pennellii ILs and wild tomato species

Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) for Pan-Genomic Evolutionary Studies of Non-Model Organisms

Background: High-throughput tools for pan-genomic study, especially the DNA microarray platform, have sparked a remarkable increase in data production and enabled a shift in the scale at which biological investigation is possible. The use of microarrays to examine evolutionary relationships and processes, however, is predominantly restricted to model or near-model organisms. Methodology/Principal Findings: This study explores the utility of Diversity Arrays Technology (DArT) in evolutionary studies of non-model organisms. DArT is a hybridization-based genotyping method that uses microarray technology to identify and type DNA polymorphism. Theoretically applicable to any organism (even one for which no prior genetic data are available), DArT has not yet been explored in exclusively wild sample sets, nor extensively examined in a phylogenetic framework. DArT recovered 1349 markers of largely low copy-number loci in two lineages of seed-free land plants: the diploid fern Asplenium viride and the haploid moss Garovaglia elegans. Direct sequencing of 148 of these DArT markers identified 30 putative loci including four routinely sequenced for evolutionary studies in plants. Phylogenetic analyses of DArT genotypes reveal phylogeographic and substrate specificity patterns in A. viride, a lack of phylogeographic pattern in Australian G. elegans, and additive variation in hybrid or mixed samples. Conclusions/Significance: These results enable methodological recommendations including procedures for detecting and analysing DArT markers tailored specifically to evolutionary investigations and practical factors informing the decision to use DArT, and raise evolutionary hypotheses concerning substrate specificity and biogeographic patterns. Thus DArT is a demonstrably valuable addition to the set of existing molecular approaches used to infer biological phenomena such as adaptive radiations, population dynamics, hybridization, introgression, ecological differentiation and phylogeography

Food, Nutrition and Agrobiodiversity Under Global Climate Change

Available evidence and predictions suggest overall negative effects on agricultural production as a result of climate change, especially when more food is required by a growing population. Information on the effects of global warming on pests and pathogens affecting agricultural crops is limited, though crop–pest models could offer means to predict changes in pest dynamics, and help design sound plant health management practices. Host-plant resistance should continue to receive high priority as global warming may favor emergence of new pest epidemics. There is increased risk, due to climate change, to food and feed contaminated by mycotoxin-producing fungi. Mycotoxin biosynthesis gene-specific microarray is being used to identify food-born fungi and associated mycotoxins, and investigate the influence of environmental parameters and their interactions for control of mycotoxin in food crops. Some crop wild relatives are threatened plant species and efforts should be made for their in situ conservation to ensure evolution of new variants, which may contribute to addressing new challenges to agricultural production. There should be more emphasis on germplasm enhancement to develop intermediate products with specific characteristics to support plant breeding. Abiotic stress response is routinely dissected to component physiological traits. Use of transgene(s) has led to the development of transgenic events, which could provide enhanced adaptation to abiotic stresses that are exacerbated by climate change. Global warming is also associated with declining nutritional quality of food crops. Micronutrient-dense cultivars have been released in selected areas of the developing world, while various nutritionally enhanced lines are in the release pipeline. The high-throughput phenomic platforms are allowing researchers to accurately measure plant growth and development, analyze nutritional traits, and assess response to stresses on large sets of individuals. Analogs for tomorrow’s agriculture offer a virtual natural laboratory to innovate and test technological options to develop climate resilience production systems. Increased use of agrobiodiversity is crucial to coping with adverse impacts of global warming on food and feed production and quality. No one solution will suffice to adapt to climate change and its variability. Suits of technological innovations, including climate-resilient crop cultivars, will be needed to feed 9 billion people who will be living in the Earth by the middle of the twenty-first century

hp-Adaptation for the FEM Analysis of Waveguides

Thesis (MScEng (Electrical and Electronic Engineering))--Stellenbosch University, 2008.The nite element method (FEM) is a powerful tool for the computational analysis of a wide range of electromagnetic problems. As the complexity of the problems is increased so are the demands in terms of the computational resources required to obtain a su ciently accurate solution. In an attempt to obtain a desired accuracy at a lower computational cost adaptive and higher order methods are often employed. These methods generally entail re ning the solution only in the areas where greater complexity is required, thus decreasing the total computational demand. The adaptive nite element method is implemented and used to analyse the transverse electric cuto eigenmodes of 2D waveguiding structures. The higher order hierarchical vector basis functions that form part of this implementation are automatically generated to very high orders, with the results presented in excellent agreement to analytical ones where applicable. Accuracy to the order of numeric precision is attained. Using these adaptive methods, it is also possible to achieve improved cost e ciency of the error metrics considered with respect to storage requirements and computational cost