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We report the synthesis of two novel halogenated nitro-arylhimachalene derivatives: 2-bromo-3,5,5,9-tetramethyl-1-nitro-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-benzo[7]annulene (bromo-nitro-arylhimachalene) and 2-chloro-3,5,5,9-tetramethyl-1,4-dinitro-6,7,8,9-tetrahydro-5H-benzo[7]annulene (chloro-dinitro-arylhimachalene). These compounds were derived from arylhimachalene, an important sesquiterpene component of Atlas cedar essential oil, via a two-step halogenation and nitration process. Characterization was performed using 1H and 13C NMR spectrometry, complemented by X-ray structural analysis. Quantum chemical calculations employing density functional theory (DFT) with the Becke3-Lee-Yang-parr (B3LYP) functional and a 6-31++G(d,p) basis set were conducted. The optimized geometries of the synthesized compounds were consistent with X-ray structure data. Frontier molecular orbitals and molecular electrostatic potential (MEP) profiles were identified and discussed. DFT reactivity indices provided insights into the compounds’ behaviors. Moreover, Hirshfeld surface and 2D fingerprint analyses revealed significant intermolecular interactions within the crystal structures, predominantly H–H and H–O contacts. Molecular docking studies demonstrate strong binding affinities of the synthesized compounds to the active site of protein 7B2W, suggesting potential therapeutic applications against various isolated smooth muscles and neurotransmitters.

Background Transcultural validation studies of depression scales are rare in Morocco. The Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) is commonly one of the most common and frequently used screening instruments for depressive symptoms, but the scale has not, up to date, been validated in dialect of Arabic in Moroccan contexts. Given the importance of assessing and preventing depressive symptoms in our Moroccan context, this study aims to validate the CES-D, translated, and adapted to the dialect of Arabic and Moroccan culture, in a sample with substance use disorder. Methods The data were analyzed in two successive phases. First, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to assess the factor structure in the pilot sample ( N  = 140). Then, this structure was confirmed in the validation sample ( N  = 205) using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). Results Exploratory factor analysis extracted three factors different from the four factors in the original version. Confirmatory factor analysis confirmed the structure of three factors. The fit indices level showed acceptable to good performance of the measurement model. The instrument showed sufficient reliability and convergent validity, as demonstrated by acceptable values of composite reliability (CR = 0.89–0.93) and average variance extracted (AVE = 0.64–0.66), respectively. The square roots of AVE were higher than factor-factor pairs correlations, and the Heterotrait-Monotrait ratio (HTMT) of correlations values was less than 0.85, indicating acceptable discriminant validity. Conclusions Overall reliability and both convergent and discriminant validity tests indicated that the Moroccan dialectal Arabic version of the CES-D had a good performance and may serve as a valid tool for measuring the severity of depression in people with substance use disorder.

The extensive application of fungicides in citrus packinghouses to mitigate economic losses has resulted in the emergence of fungicide-resistant biotypes of Penicillium spp. Furthermore, many countries have implemented strict monitoring of fungicide residues to protect consumer health and the ecosystem. Maximum residue limits (MRLs) have been established in accordance with Codex Alimentarius standards, which present challenges for exports, as exceeding MRLs may restrict market access. This study aimed to identify fungicide-resistant strains of Penicillium spp. in a Moroccan citrus packinghouse and to assess the efficacy of GRAS (Generally Recognized As Safe) salts as eco-friendly alternatives for controlling these resistant strains through in vitro and in vivo tests. A total of 31 Penicillium isolates, labeled H1 to H31, were collected; 10 were identified as P. digitatum and 21 were identified as P. italicum. Resistance to thiabendazole (61.3%) and imazalil (58.1%) was notable, with some isolates showing dual resistance. In vitro, potassium sorbate, sodium benzoate, and sodium tetraborate salts were highly effective at inhibiting the mycelial growth of resistant isolates, at a concentration of 0.3% (p < 0.0001). In vivo tests on ‘Nadorcott’ fruits demonstrated that 2% and 4% salt solutions effectively prevented the development of green and blue molds caused by Penicillium spp. and showed strong curative effects, resulting in nearly 100% inhibition of most fungal isolates. Additionally, preventive salt treatments increased the accumulation of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, while in fruits treated with sodium benzoate, chitinase and peroxidase activities were significantly enhanced.

Background The Cannabis Abuse Screening Test (CAST) is a widely used screening tool for identifying patterns of cannabis use that have negative health or social consequences for both the user and others involved. This brief screening instrument has been translated into multiple languages, and several studies examining its psychometric properties have been published. However, studies on the factorial validity and psychometric properties of a Moroccan version of the CAST are not yet available. The objective of this study is to validate the CAST, translated, and adapted to the Moroccan Arabic dialect among persons with cannabis use. Methods A total of 370 participants from an addictology center in Fez City, were selected over two phases to form the study sample. First, in phase I, exploratory factor analysis was employed to evaluate the factor structure in the pilot sample (n 1  = 150). Subsequently, in the second phase (Phase II), confirmatory factor analysis was utilized to confirm this structure in the validation sample (n 2  = 220). All statistical analyses were carried out using the R program. Results The CFA unveiled a three-factor structure that showed a good overall fit (χ2/df = 2.23, RMSEA = 0.07, SRMR = 0.02, CFI = 0.99, NFI = 0.98) and satisfactory local parameters (standardized factor loadings between 0.72 and 0.88). The model demonstrates satisfactory reliability and convergent validity, as evidenced by the acceptable values of composite reliability (CR) (0.76–0.88) and average variance extracted (AVE) (0.62–0.78), respectively. The square roots of the AVE exceeded the correlations of the factor pairs, and the heterotrait-monotrait (HTMT) ratio of the correlation values was below 0.85, indicating acceptable discriminant validity. Conclusion The reliability, convergent validity, and discriminant validity tests all demonstrated that the Moroccan version of the CAST performed well and can be considered a valid tool for screening of problematic cannabis use.

Water resources, particularly rivers, are increasingly exposed to pollutants, especially heavy metals of chemical origin, which are difficult to monitor and can pose risks to both ecosystems and human health. This study assesses heavy metal contamination in the Oued Fez River, focusing on the bioaccumulation by the invasive plant Pistia stratiotes . The methodology involves measuring and comparing metal concentrations in water and plant tissues. Results revealed that while aluminium (Al) slightly exceeded recommended levels at 0.2978 mg L −1 , other metals like zinc (Zn), iron (Fe), copper (Cu), lead (Pb) and cadmium (Cd) remained within acceptable limits. The study demonstrates P. stratiotes ’ effectiveness in heavy metal phytoremediation, with its roots showing high bioaccumulation up to 19,726 mg kg −1 for Fe and 15,128 mg kg −1 for Al, indicating its potential for water decontamination. Eco-toxicological assessments, including bioconcentration and translocation factors, confirm the plant’s capacity to mobilize toxic metals. Statistical analysis also points to possible industrial, urban, or agricultural contamination sources based on correlations between Al, Fe and Zn. The study underscores P. stratiotes ’ role in phytoremediation while emphasizing the need for monitoring and controlling contamination sources and managing the spread of this invasive species to ensure sustainable water resources.

The Mediterranean region, characterized by its unique climatic and ecological conditions, is experiencing significant impacts from climate change. Rising temperatures and altered precipitation patterns are exacerbating environmental stresses, this exploratory study aimed to investigate the potential of machine learning to improve the accuracy of temperature forecasts for Tangier, Morocco, using a comprehensive meteorological dataset from Visual Crossing, we assessed the performance of seven regression models: Decision Tree, Extra Trees, Random Forest, AdaBoost, Gradient Boosting, XGBoost, and LightGBM over a 13-year period from January 1st, 2010 to December 31st, 2022. The models were trained and validated on separate time periods after rigorous data preprocessing, which addressed missing values, outliers, extracted temporal features, and normalization. The results indicated that the Random Forest MSE = 0.0404, XGBoost MSE = 0.2515, and LightGBM MSE = 0.3708 models achieved superior accuracy, demonstrated by favourable Mean Squared Error (MSE), Mean Absolute Error (MAE) (MAE = 0.0377, MAE = 0.1484, MAE = 0.2276) respectively, and R² scores (R² = 0.9987, R² = 0.9918, R²= 0.9879). This study demonstrates that machine learning models, particularly tree-based regressors, improve temperature forecasting accuracy by capturing complex, nonlinear patterns in historical weather data. It highlights how sophisticated algorithms, such as ensemble methods and deep learning architectures, are increasingly capable of capturing complex atmospheric patterns and improving predictive performance. Additionally, it emphasizes the critical importance of meticulous data preprocessing, an essential step that involves cleaning, normalizing, and augmenting meteorological data.  

A novel pyrophosphate Na7Ni3Fe(P2O7)4 was synthesized in two distinct forms, single-crystal and powder. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction was used to determine the crystal structure, and powder X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to examine the purity and morphology of the elaborated powder. This phosphate crystallizes in the P1¯ space group of the triclinic system with a = 6.3677 (2) Å, b = 9.3316 (4) Å, c = 10.8478 (4) Å, α = 65.191 (1)°, β = 80.533 (1)° and γ = 73.042 (1)°. The crystal framework is assembled from the linkage of centro-symmetrical clusters Ni2(Ni/Fe)2P4O28. Each cluster consists of two (Fe1/Ni1)O6 octahedra, two Ni2O6 octahedra and two P2O7 units. The linkage of these clusters is provided by two other P2O7 units to generate a three-dimensional structure with distinct tunnels in the [100], [010] and [001] directions, housing the Na+ cations. The infrared and Raman analyses show the characteristic bands of the pyrophosphate anion P2O74−. Remarkably, the magnetic investigations revealed the coexistence of two magnetic transitions at ~29 K and ~4.5 K with dominating antiferromagnetic interactions.

Background Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) affects nearly 1.9 million people worldwide. Iodine deficiency (ID) remains a public health concern not only for pregnant women, but for women of reproductive age (WRA) as well. This study was planned to evaluate the iodine status and the prevalence of iodine deficiency in a nationally representative sample of Moroccan WRA according to their socio-economic data and living areas. Methods This study is a cross-sectional national survey conducted on 1652 WRA aged between 18 and 49 years. Iodine status was assessed by the evaluation of the urinary iodine concentration (UIC) on spot urinary samples, using the Sandell-Kolthoff reaction, and by the estimation of iodine-rich food consumption, using a food frequency questionnaire. The World Health Organization cutoff of a median UIC of < 100 μg/l was used to define ID in the population. Results The median UIC [20th- 80th] was 71.3 μg/l [37.5–123.1] and 71% of participants had UIC < 100 μg/L, indicating insufficient iodine status and mild iodine deficiency. WRA from urban and rural areas showed an UIC median of 75.94 μg/l [41.16–129.97] and 63.40 μg/l [33.81–111.68], respectively. Furthermore, ID prevalence was significantly higher in rural areas (75.6%) as compared to urban areas (67.9%) ( p  < 0.05). Food frequency questionnaires analyses highlighted that dairy products are the most commonly consumed iodine-rich food, reported to be consumed daily by 43.1% of WRA. Of particular interest, 83.5% of WRA reported a weekly consumption of fish. Conclusion ID is still a public health problem in Morocco highlighting the necessity to implement effective national program, including efficient salt iodization, effective nutritional education and awareness, to control iodine deficiency and prevent IDD development.

Background Since the advent of the massive prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing, prostate cancer has become a major public health problem. It is currently the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death in men. The diagnosis is based on the histopathological study of prostate biopsies. The aim of our work was to study the correlation of the grade group (GG) using the ISUP 2016 classification between the prostate needle biopsies and radical prostatectomy specimen. Methods This was a retrospective study of 30 patients. We studied the correlation of the grade group (GG) according to the new classification ISUP (2016) between prostate biopsies and radical prostatectomy specimen. Results The average age of our patients was 65 years, the diagnosis was discovered on an individual screening in 15% of the cases, and 65% of our patients were diagnosed with LUTS due to an associated benign prostatic hyperplasia. The average PSA level in our study was 11 ng/ml. In the biopsies group, the grade 1 and 2 groups were in the majority with 40% of the cases each of them. We noted that GG 3 (Gleason 4 + 3) was represented in 16.66% of cases, while GG4 was only present in 3% of cases. On the prostatectomy specimen group, GG1 was represented in 33.33% of cases, GG2 in 40% of cases and GG3 in 20% of cases. GG4 was represented in 6.66% of cases. Among GG1 patients, identical staging was noted in 75% of cases, and under-staging in 25% of cases. For GG2 patients, over-staging in 8.3% of cases, identical staging in 83.3% of cases and under-staging of 8.3%. Among GG 3 patients, there was an 80% identical staging, while an under-staging was present in 20% of cases. The GG 4 is perfectly correlated. Combining all groups in our study, we noted an exact staging in 80% of the cases, an under-staging in 16.33% of the cases, and an over-staging in 3.33% of the cases. The Kappa concordance index was 0.4. Conclusions The correlation of the grade group between the prostate biopsies and the radical prostatectomy specimen was imperfect; the more the cancer increases in the grade group, the better was the correlation.