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In this study, thirty yeast strains isolated from the gut of coprophagous “Gymnopleurus sturmi” and twenty-four from the dung of ruminants were shown to be producers of cellulases. Cellulolytic yeast isolates could also produce other hydrolytic enzymes such as pectinase, lipase, β-glucosidase, catalase, inulinase, urease, gelatinase, and protease. The oroduction of amylase was present in only one isolate of dung of ruminants. On the other hand, the production of tannase was absent in these isolates. All the yeasts isolated from two sources could utilize various carbon sources, including sorbitol, sucrose, and raffinose, and withstand high concentrations of glucose (300 g/L), salt (100 g/L), and exogenous ethanol. They could grow in a wide pH range of 3 to 11. The growth was stable up to a temperature of 40 °C for isolates from the gut of coprophage and 37 °C for the yeast from the dung of ruminants. These activities and growing conditions were similar to the diet of coprophagous insects and the composition of ruminant manure, likely because the adaptation and distribution of these microorganisms depend on the phenology and trophic preferences of these insects.

Many studies worldwide have shown that students and pre-service teachers have misconceptions about cell biology concepts. In most cases, teachers are the source of their students' misconceptions. In this regard, we conducted this study to investigate if Moroccan pre-service teachers of life and earth sciences have a good understanding of cell biology concepts, and to find which concepts they misconceive. We developed and validated a three-tier diagnostic test with 20 items concerning cell biology concepts. The test was based on knowledge related to cell biology included in the Moroccan secondary school life and earth sciences' curriculum, which the pre-service teachers will teach. The use of a three-tier test allowed us to differentiate incorrect answers due to misconceptions from those related to a lack of knowledge and correct answers related to strong knowledge, from lucky guess. This study shows that pre-service teachers share several cell biology misconceptions, and that they misconceive the following concepts: cell, gene, hormone, nerve impulse and immune response. Misconceptions detected may impede pre-service teachers' learning and may be transmitted to their students, which requires development of a training strategy to overcome these obstacles.

Several studies have been carried out regarding secondary school student's abilities in classifying plants in Latin-based countries, but never in the Arabic world. The aim of the current study is to measure Moroccan secondary high school students' abilities in classifying plants. The data were collected by administering a task individually to 230 Moroccan secondary school students aged between 14-16. The students were asked in the written task to determine the class of five plants and to give some commons names of gymnosperms and angiosperms classes. We provided students with an identification key in order to help them. The data was performed from a quantitative perspective in order to detect statistically significant about Moroccan students' abilities in classifying plants. We found that Moroccan secondary school students have poor botanical classification knowledge and serious problems towards botanical identification and recognition of species' morphological characters. Therefore, we conclude that they had difficulties to distinguish between gymnosperms and angiosperms plants and also between mosses and the ferns.

This work introduces a new, comprehensive dataset for Fault Detection and Diagnosis (FDD) in inverter-driven Permanent Magnet Synchronous Motor (PMSM) systems. Despite the increasing significance of AI-driven FDD techniques, the domain suffers from a lack of publicly accessible, real-world datasets for algorithm development and evaluation. Our contribution fills this gap by offering a comprehensive, multi-sensor dataset obtained from a bespoke experimental apparatus. The dataset includes different fault cases, such as open-circuit faults, short-circuit faults, and overheating conditions in the inverter switches. The dataset incorporates 8 raw sensor measurements and 15 derived features, recorded at 10 Hz, amounting to 10,892 samples across 9 operational conditions (one normal, eight fault types). By keeping this dataset publicly accessible, we seek to accelerate research in AI-driven fault identification and diagnosis for electric drive systems.

This study was conducted in the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Tetouan to detect the major difficulties that Moroccan students encounter in their learning of endocrinology and hormonal communication. To do this, we used semi-directive interviews to receive the opinions of these students in their learning of this subject. The final results of this survey have allowed us to identify the following difficulties according to the students: the inability to memorize the number of hormones, the complexity of the notions of endocrinology, the absence of material for practical work, the lack of supervised work sessions and the insufficiency of the time allocated to this subject. In conclusion, it turned out that the best way to help these students in their learning of endocrinology is to offer them a learning environment based on the diversified use of information and communication technologies. In other words, the well-thought-out use of tools such as digital animations could significantly increase the number of practical exercises to be performed.

Purpose: Dementia includes all the symptoms associated with declining mental and cognitive skills, resulting in an inability to perform daily activities. Objectives: We aimed to translate and adapt the Montréal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA) test into the Moroccan cultural context. We compared the sensitivity and specificity between MoCA and Mini-Mental State of Folstein (MMS) in the screening of dementia. Materials and methods: The participants in this study were residents in the Fez-Meknes region and over 50 years old. We performed translation and adaptation of the English MoCA 8.1 version into all Moroccan languages: Darija, Tamazight in its three variants (Tachelhit, Tarifit, Atlas Tamazight), and Arabic. We validated Moroccan MoCA according to the Beaton et al. instructions. Results: The sensitivity, specificity, and alpha Cronbach of the MoCA test were 88.5, 93.8%, and 0.87, while they were 90.2, 90.8%, and 0.79 for the MMS test. Conclusion: The Moroccan MoCA test had high sensitivity, specificity, and internal reliability compared to the MMS test. The availability of the MoCA in the Moroccan language will be helpful in the screening of dementia and research studies in Morocco and other countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Currently, in vitro embryo production (IVP) is successfully commercially applied in cattle. However, the high sensitivity of embryos to cryopreservation in comparison to in vivo (IVD) embryos slows the dissemination of this biotechnology. Reduced cryotolerance is frequently associated with lipid accumulation in the cytoplasm mainly due to in vitro culture conditions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the lipid composition of biopsied and sexed embryos, produced either in vivo or in vitro from the same Holstein heifers before and after a slow freezing protocol. Lipid extracts were analysed by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry, which enabled the detection of 496 features. Our results highlighted a lipid enrichment of IVP embryos in triglycerides and oxidised glycerophospholipids and a reduced abundance in glycerophospholipids. The slow freezing process affected the lipid profiles of IVP and IVD embryos similarly. Lysophosphatidylcholine content was reduced when embryos were frozen/thawed. In conclusion, the embryonic lipid profile is impacted by IVP and slow freezing protocols but not by sex. Lysophosphatidylcholine seemed highly sensitive to cryopreservation and might contribute to explain the lower quality of frozen embryos. Further studies are required to improve embryo freezability by modulating the lipidome.

Many studies worldwide have shown that students and pre-service teachers have misconceptions about cell biology concepts. In most cases, teachers are the source of their students' misconceptions. In this regard, we conducted this study to investigate if Moroccan pre-service teachers of life and earth sciences have a good understanding of cell biology concepts, and to find which concepts they misconceive. We developed and validated a three-tier diagnostic test with 20 items concerning cell biology concepts. The test was based on knowledge related to cell biology included in the Moroccan secondary school life and earth sciences' curriculum, which the pre-service teachers will teach. The use of a three-tier test allowed us to differentiate incorrect answers due to misconceptions from those related to a lack of knowledge and correct answers related to strong knowledge, from lucky guess. This study shows that pre-service teachers share several cell biology misconceptions, and that they misconceive the following concepts: cell, gene, hormone, nerve impulse and immune response. Misconceptions detected may impede pre-service teachers' learning and may be transmitted to their students, which requires development of a training strategy to overcome these obstacles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dung beetles are important ecosystem engineers as they bury manure produced by animals and contribute to nutrient cycling. This study assessed the impact of four dung beetle species, a roller (Gymnopleurus sturmi) and three tunnelers (Onthophagus vacca, Onthophagus marginalis subsp. andalusicus and Euonthophagus crocatus), on manure removal and soil fertility by using microcosms in a greenhouse setting. The four species contributed significantly to the removal of manure from the soil surface and increased the nutrient content of the soil, notably potassium, phosphorus, and nitrogen, but the amount varied depending on the species. These results highlight the importance of dung beetles in facilitating soil organic matter and nutrient flows and the need to preserve their populations to support the sustainability of grazing systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During an earthquake, strain-rate effects affect both the stiffness and damping behaviour of soils, yet existing constitutive models for ground response analysis are typically formulated within a rate-independent framework. In this paper, a one-dimensional (1D) viscoplastic stress-strain model is presented to introduce strain rate effects in ground response analysis. Its constitutive equations are based on a model that uses a cubic spline fit of the modulus reduction curve and a coordinate transformation technique to match any input modulus reduction and damping curve. A viscous stress component is added to model the effect of strain rate on the mechanical behaviour of soils using a single input parameter. The model is able to reproduce the linear increase in shear strength with the logarithm of shear strain rate and allows the introduction of viscous effects in 1D ground response analysis with control over damping and modulus reduction behaviour. The model is implemented in a software for ground response analysis and used to predict the results of a centrifuge test modeling 1D wave propagation. The results show that the model accurately predicts the amplification and attenuation of shear waves, in a context where strain rates impact the response of the model significantly. Key words: ground response analysis, constitutive model, viscoplastic, nonlinear analysis, centrifuge modelling. Lors d'un tremblement de terre, les effets du taux de deformation affectent a la fois la rigidite et le comportement d'amortissement des sols, mais les modeles constitutifs existants pour l'analyse de la reponse du sol sont generalement formules dans un cadre independant du taux. Dans cet article, un modele de contrainte- deformation viscoplastique unidimensionnel (1D) est presente pour introduire les effets du taux de deformation dans l'analyse de la reponse du sol. Ses equations constitutives sont basees sur un modele qui utilise un ajustement par spline cubique de la courbe de reduction de module et une technique de transformation des coordonnees pour correspondre a toute courbe de reduction de module et d'amortissement d'entree. Une composante de contrainte visqueuse est ajoutee pour modeliser l'effet de la vitesse de deformation sur le comportement mecanique des sols en utilisant un seul parametre d'entree. Le modele est capable de reproduire l'augmentation lineaire de la resistance au cisaillement avec le logarithme du taux de deformation en cisaillement, et permet d'introduire des effets visqueux dans l'analyse 1D de la reponse au sol avec controle du comportement d'amortissement et de reduction du module. Le modele est implemente dans un logiciel d'analyse de la reponse du sol et utilise pour predire les resultats d'un essai de centrifugeuse modelisant la propagation d'une onde 1D. Les resultats montrent que le modele predit avec precision l'amplification et l'attenuation des ondes de cisaillement, dans un contexte ou les taux de deformation ont un impact significatif sur la reponse du modele. [Traduit par la Redaction] Mots-cles: analyse de la reponse au sol, modele constitutif, viscoplastique, analyse non lineaire, modelisation par centrifugeuse., Introduction The potential for ground motion amplification at a site is best characterized through nonlinear one-dimensional ground response analysis. Such analyses are performed using a constitutive model that controls the [...]