Abdelkader Outzourhit

With the large-scale global deployment of photovoltaics (PV), traditional monitoring technologies face challenges such as wiring difficulties, high energy consumption, and high maintenance costs in remote or complex terrains, which limit long-term environmental sensing. Therefore, energy-harvesting systems are crucial for the intelligent operation of photovoltaic systems; however, their deployment depends on the accurate mapping of wind energy fields and solar irradiance fields. This study proposes a multi-scale simulation method based on computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to optimize the placement of energy-harvesting systems in photovoltaic power plants. By integrating wind and irradiance distribution analysis, the spatial characteristics of airflow and solar radiation are mapped to identify high-efficiency zones for energy harvesting. The results indicate that the top of the photovoltaic panel exhibits a higher wind speed and reflected irradiance, providing the optimal location for an energy-harvesting system. The proposed layout strategy improves overall energy capture efficiency, enhances sensor deployment effectiveness, and supports intelligent, maintenance-free monitoring systems. This research not only provides theoretical guidance for the design of energy-harvesting systems in PV stations but also offers a scalable method applicable to various geographic scenarios, contributing to the advancement of smart and self-powered energy systems.

Objectives: B vitamins are a group of eight essential nutrients involved in various biological processes, including energy production and the proper functioning of the nervous system. They play a critical role in certain inherited metabolic diseases (IMDs). Deficiencies in the metabolism of thiamine (B1), biotin (B7), and cobalamin (B12) can lead to serious health issues, including confusion, seizures, respiratory problems, encephalopathy, coma, hearing and vision loss, ataxia, and more. The main objective of our study is to highlight the role of Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (GC/MS) in detecting vitamin B-responsive IMDs in Moroccan patients. Case presentation: Urine samples from symptomatic individuals suspected of having intermediate metabolism deficiencies, excluding aminoacidopathies, were analyzed using GC/MS. Three cases of IMDs were identified: pyruvate dehydrogenase complex deficiency, biotinidase deficiency, and methylmalonic aciduria. Each patient presented with neurological symptoms and metabolic abnormalities. Following targeted vitamin supplementation (B1, B7, or B12), significant clinical improvement was observed, with resolution of neurological manifestations and normalization of brain CT findings. Conclusions: Urinary metabolite screening using GC/MS in patients with neurological and other symptoms indicative of IMDs can facilitate practical, reliable diagnosis and accessible management. GC/MS analysis is a highly sensitive, rapid, and precise technique for quantifying a wide range of metabolites in human urine. We recommend considering such analysis as a routine test for specific symptoms in the context of personalized and functional medicine practice.

The world’s attention is currently focused on the energy transition to sustainable energy. The drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming, energy security, and the generalization of access to energy have contributed to the adoption of the Moroccan Energy Strategy, with a strong focus on renewable energy (RE). Morocco is notoriously poor in conventional primary fossil energy resources, with energy dependence on the order of 90%. In addition, the energy crisis that resulted from the COVID-19 pandemic and geopolitical conflicts, compounded with steady increase in demand, has heavily affected the security and stability of the country’s energy situation. The transition to RE by strongly engaging in the implementation of several solar, wind, and hydro energy projects has made the country the leader in RE in Africa. These projects benefit from the country’s excellent solar and wind energy potential. As a consequence, by 2030, the share of RE in the installed capacity is expected to reach 52%. An overview of the current situation of RE (particularly solar energy) in Morocco is provided, including the potentials, obstacles, challenges, and future perspectives. Thanks to its high solar potential, it is predictable that Morocco’s effort will be focused on this field: the Erasmus plus INNOMED project is a virtuous example of international cooperation, aiming at promoting solar energy through capacity building and the creation of solar energy networks, in synergy with EU Partners.

This paper compares two mostly used maximum power point tracking (MPPT) methods, perturb and observe (P&O), and incremental conductance (INC), for a photovoltaic (PV) system integrated with a step-up converter and resistive load. The evaluation was conducted using MATLAB/Simulink under two specific environmental conditions: low irradiation and temperature levels. The results indicate that under irradiation levels below 200 W/m², the INC algorithm outperforms P&O by exhibiting minimal fluctuations and achieving higher efficiency. Conversely, under low temperature (below 25 °C) the P&O method reaches the highest efficiency, exceeding 99%. These findings highlight the importance of selecting the appropriate MPPT algorithm based on specific environmental conditions to optimize the energy output of PV systems.

It’s very well known that the world's attention is currently focused on the energy transition. The energy security, in addition to the drive to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming, and the generalization of the access to energy, have contributed to adoption of the Moroccan Energy Strategy with a strong focus on Renewable Energies (RE). Morocco is notoriously poor in conventional fossil primary energy resources with an energy dependence on the order of 90%. The energy crisis and that resulted from Covid-19 pandemic and the geopolitical conflicts, combined compounded with steady increase in demand have heavily affected the security and the stability of the country's energy situation. The transition to RE, by strongly engaging in the implementation of several solar, wind and hydro energy projects benefiting from the country's excellent solar and wind energy potential, has made the country the leader in RE in Africa. By 2030, the share of RE in the installed capacity is expected to reach 52%. In this work, an overview of the current situation of RE (particularly solar energy) in Morocco is provided, including, the potentials, obstacles and challenges, and future perspectives. Thanks to its high solar potential location, it’s predictable that Morocco effort will be focused on this field: the Erasmus Plus Innomed Project is a virtuous example of international cooperation, aiming at create a Solar Energy Network, in synergy with EU Partners.

Utilizing water resources rationally has become critical due to the expected increase in water scarcity. Cacti are capable of surviving with minimal water requirements and in poor soils. Despite being highly drought-resistant, cacti still faces limitations in realizing its full potential under drought-stress conditions. To this end, we investigated the interactive effect of humic substances (Hs) and arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on cactus plants under drought stress. In the study, a cactus pot experiment had three irrigation levels (W1: no irrigation, W2: 15% of field capacity, and W3: 30% of field capacity) and two biostimulants (Hs soil amendment and AMF inoculation), applied alone or combined. The findings show that the W1 and W2 regimes affected cactus performance. However, Hs and/or AMF significantly improved growth. Our results revealed that drought increased the generation of reactive oxygen species. However, Hs and/or AMF application improved nutrient uptake and increased anthocyanin content and free amino acids. Furthermore, the soil’s organic matter, phosphorus, nitrogen, and potassium contents were improved by the application of these biostimulants. Altogether, using Hs alone or in combination with AMF can be an effective and sustainable approach to enhance the tolerance of cactus plants to drought conditions, while also improving the soil quality.

Thin films of tungsten oxide were deposited on glass substrates by the radio frequency (RF) reactive sputtering from a high purity tungsten metal target (99.9%) with a diameter of 10 cm. The reactive sputtering was carried out in an argon-oxygen gas mixture containing 20% of O₂ and 80% of Ar. The used RF power is 200 W while fixing the deposition time at 120 min. Finally, the prepared films were annealed at different temperatures (350 °C, 400 °C, 450 °C, 500°C and 550 °C) for 1 hour under air and under vacuum. X-ray diffractograms showed that the deposited thin films crystallized in Hexagonal/Monoclinic WO₃ phase. It was found that the crystallite size varies with the annealing temperature and the lattice parameters is a= 7.3064Å, b = 7.5292Å, c = 7.6875Å and a=b= 7.3242Å, c= 7.6624 Å, for h-WO₃ and m-WO₃ structures, respectively. Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Raman spectra confirmed the formation of WO₃ thin films. In addition, optical transmittance data revealed that the optical bandgap of the films decreases with increasing the annealing temperature. Electrical measurements revealed that annealing in air results in more resistive samples, which should be taken into account in future investigations, especially as buffer layers for efficient photovoltaic solar cells. Keywords: Vacuum, Tungsten oxide, Raman spectroscopy, RF Sputtering method, RF Power, Annealing temperature.

Agricultural activities depend heavily on irrigation in arid and semi-arid climates, which are one of the most water-limited areas, reducing agricultural productivity. As the climate changes, the lack of precipitation is expected to aggravate in these areas, requiring careful management of water use. Subsurface water retention technology (SWRT) may hold promise as a management tool to save water use and improve crop drought resistance. In this context, the effect of SWRT on tomato yield, growth, physiology, and biochemical characteristics, as well as soil characteristics under two regimes of water (100% field capacity (FC) and 50% FC) in open field conditions, was investigated. The results here suggest that drought affected tomato performance. Nevertheless, SWRT application significantly increased tomato yield (38%), chlorophyll fluorescence (3%), gas exchange (39%), and chlorophyll total content (49%), as well as soil fertility characteristics, with significant increases in organic matter (23%) and assimilable phosphorus contents (25%) compared with the control. Furthermore, it resulted in a significant reduction in enzymatic antioxidant activities and polyphenol and significant improvement in fruit quality by increasing protein content. This technique should be used as a valuable strategy to save irrigation water and mitigate the negative effects of water deficiency on tomato plants in arid and semi-arid regions.