Compared to other plant formations utilized as rangelands, the forest is characterized by its predominance of trees, shrubs, and bushy species with evergreen leaves that provide forage resources for all types of animals year-round via their branches and foliage. The forest stands of the Middle Atlas constitute an important grazing area for the pastoralists of this region. The objective of this study is to characterize the natural forages of the region in terms of chemical composition and determine their nutritional value. This study focused on some forest species of pastoral interest (Atlas cedar, green oak, juniper, and hawthorn). The forage analysis shows that these forages are rich in nitrogenous matter essential for the nutrition and productivity of ruminants, with a maximum for Atlas cedar (24.24% dry matter). The digestibility is average and inversely proportional to the content of cell walls. The nutritional value of all the species is appreciable. Atlas cedar is the most energetic forage resource (0.79 UFL/Kg dry matter), followed by Green oak (0.63 UFL/Kg dry matter). The nutritive values of Guniper and Hawthorn are similar and remain intermediate (0.60 UFL/Kg of dry matter). These forages can cover the maintenance needs of small ruminants, especially in times of shortage.

In this paper, a numerical study via TRNSYS of ground source heat pumps (GSHPs)coupled to a vertical water heat exchanger for domestic hot water production, in order to evaluate its dynamic performance and identify key control strategies to optimize its annual operation. Several parameters such as soil type, the tubes diameter, the burial of the exchanger depth, the storage tank volume, have a significant impact on the efficiency of geothermal energy system and thus an influence on the production of hot water. The numerical results showed that the maximum temperature at the outlet of the heat exchanger corresponds to a largest tube diameter. However, the coefficient of performance of the pump and the average temperature of the hot water produced in the tank decreases with increasing heat exchanger diameter. In addition, an increase in the storage volume leads to a decrease in the temperature of the water at the outlet of the exchanger. Results from our simulation also demonstrate that the soil type also influences the temperature of hot water produced and the best heat transfer for this effect corresponds to the highest surface temperature of the soil, where the coefficient of performance (COP) reached the highest value equal to 4.8

Plant density and water availability are the most important factors determining the yield of crops and medicinal plants. In order to investigate the effect of these two factors and their interaction on the yield and morpho-physiological characteristics of fenugreek, an experiment was conducted in the form of split plots based on randomized complete block design (RCBD) with three replications in 2025. Water availability (favourable conditions, mild stress and severe stress) were placed in main plots and plant densities (22, 44 and 66 Plants m-2) were placed in subplots. The results showed a three-fold increase in plant density under optimal moisture conditions increased grain yield from 998 to 1380 kg ha-1 and biological yield from 2600 to 3259 kg ha-1, respectively, while in mild and severe water stress, had no effect on grain yield and biological yield. In all three moisture conditions, a 3-fold increase in plant density reduced the number of seeds per pod and a 2-fold increase in plant density reduced the number of pods per plant. This indicates that increasing plant density in the absence of moisture has no advantage in improving yield. Increasing the density to medium (44 plants m-2) reduces the source strength and applying high density through sink restriction causes a decrease in yield. On the other hand, moisture limitation by reducing the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per pod and the number of seeds per plant reduced the size of the sink and the weight of 1000 seeds, which indicates the strength of the source, was not affected.

Thyroid cancer is considered as one of the most common cancers in the world. Some pesticides can play a role as a potentially important risk factor in thyroid cancer by affecting thyroid morphology and thyroid hormone homeostasis. The objective of this study was to systematically review the available epidemiological evidence for human exposure to pesticides and thyroid cancer. Articles were searched in PubMed, Scopus and Web of Science by suitable keywords from January 2024 to May 2025. Standard techniques for systematic reviews were followed in the current study and results reported according to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, finally seven studies including four cohort studies and three case-control studies were reviewed. Organochlorines (OCPs) in more cases, organophosphates (OPs) and carbamates insecticides, herbicides and fungicides were the studied pesticides. Inconsistent results were reported in the surveyed articles on the OCPs. Two articles on the carbamates (carbaryl and mancozeb) showed consistently an inverse association between exposure and thyroid cancer. Increased risk of thyroid cancer due to the exposure to the Malathion was reported in one article on the OPs. Due to the limited current knowledge about the effect of pesticides on thyroid cancer in humans, human health policies must be implemented to control individual’s exposure to pesticides in agricultural and residential environments. Also, more studies must be done to fill this gap of knowledge.

Introduction: Blackboard is a collaborative virtual learning tool use for higher learning that has been found to be an effective and efficient means of interactions between teachers and students and offers effective educational information management. Aim: To assess the perception of blackboard collaborate as a quality teaching and learning tool as well as to find out areas that might appear as barriers to quality teaching and learning among preclinical and clinical dental students. Materials and Methods: This was a cross-sectional study conducted online using survey monkey involving 245 dental students who had participated in the virtual classroom lectures during the pandemic with 18 students not completing the survey. Survey instrument was a 9-item questionnaire that included age, sex, and year of the study of the students as well as the previous exposure to online lectures. Data analysis: The data collated was analysed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) Statistics for windows version 22. Results: Of 245 respondents who were enrolled in the study, 227 respondents completed the survey of which 58.1% (n=132) were male while 41.9% (n=95) were females. Out of the 227 respondents in this study, 74.8% (n=170) of them experienced minimum to moderate technical problems regarding connectivity during the online sessions while 1.8% (n=4) of the respondents experienced very severe technical problems. Majority of the respondents 54.2% (n=123) supports continuation of online lecture even after the pandemic. Conclusion: We found a positive perception of our respondents to online lectures using blackboard collaborate.