Impact du statut socio-économique sur le comportement et les performances scolaires des enfants scolarisés au Maroc

Parmi les facteurs principaux qui paraissent déterminer le cursus scolaire de l’enfant on cite principalement l’environnement socio-économique. L’objectif de cette étude est d’étudier l’effet des facteurs socio-économiques sur les performances scolaires des enfants âgées de 6 à 14 ans d’une école public primaire dans la province d’AZILAL (Maroc). Les informations concernant ces enfants sont collectées en utilisant un questionnaire enregistrant l’âge, les mesures anthropométriques, les facteurs socioéconomiques aussi que l’appréciation des déterminants des performances scolaires et comportementales de l’individu. Pour chaque déterminant, l'échantillon enquête a été groupé en deux afin d'adopter une étude comparative. Le traitement des résultats a été fait en utilisant le logiciel SPSS version 20.Les résultats montrent qu’il existe une dépendance significative entre l’assiduité et le comportement dans les activités scolaires d’une part et le niveau d’instruction du père d’une autre part (p<0,05). Les résultats montrent aussi qu’il y a une dépendance significative entre l’assiduité et le revenu du ménage (CHI2= 14,80). Les facteurs socio-économiques étudiés influencent négativement sur l’aptitude de l’élève à progresser dans son parcours scolaire

Chemical Profile of Lipophilic Fractions of Different Parts of Zizyphus lotus L. by GC-MS and Evaluation of Their Antiproliferative and Antibacterial Activities

Zizyphus lotus L. is a perennial shrub particularly used in Algerian folk medicine, but little is known concerning the lipophilic compounds in the most frequently used parts, namely, root bark, pulp, leaves and seeds, which are associated with health benefits. In this vein, the lipophilic fractions of these morphological parts of Z. lotus from Morocco were studied by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS), and their antiproliferative and antimicrobial activities were evaluated. GC– MS analysis allowed the identification and quantification of 99 lipophilic compounds, including fatty acids, long-chain aliphatic alcohols, pentacyclic triterpenic compounds, sterols, monoglycerides, aromatic compounds and other minor components. Lipophilic extracts of pulp, leaves and seeds were revealed to be mainly composed of fatty acids, representing 54.3–88.6% of the total compounds detected. The leaves and seeds were particularly rich in unsaturated fatty acids, namely, (9Z,12Z)-octadeca-9,12-dienoic acid (2431 mg kg−1 of dry weight) and (9Z)-octadec-9-enoic acid (6255 mg kg−1 of dry weight). In contrast, root bark contained a high content of pentacyclic triterpenic compounds, particularly betulinic acid, accounting for 9838 mg kg−1 of dry weight. Root bark extract showed promising antiproliferative activity against a triple-negative breast cancer cell line, MDA-MB-231, with a half-maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50 ) = 4.23 ± 0.18 µg mL−1 of extract. Leaf extract displayed interesting antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli, methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermis, presenting minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values from 1024 to 2048 µg mL−1 of extract. Our results demonstrate that Zizyphus lotus L. is a source of promising bioactive components, which can be exploited as natural ingredients in pharmaceutical formulationspublishe

Neurogenesis inhibition in the dorsal vagal complex by chronic immobilization stress in the adult rat.

International audienceThe dorsal vagal complex (DVC) is the brainstem integrative center that mediates the satiety reflex and relays autonomic neural responses to stress. The DVC displays adult neurogenesis, intrinsic neural stem cells and a high brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) content, effectors of plasticity that are modulated by stress in the hippocampus. In this study we asked whether neurogenesis and BDNF expression in the DVC are altered by stress, in parallel with food intake reduction. To this end, neurogenesis was assessed in adult rats in vivo by repetitive 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BrdU) administration without (controls) or with daily sessions of immobilization stress (1 h/day), and were allowed to survive for 2 weeks after the end of BrdU treatment. Neurogenic proliferation in the brainstem was detected by immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy mainly in the area postrema and the nucleus tractus solitarius; newly formed neurons amounted to about 35% of all BrdU-labeled cells in the DVC of control rats. Chronic immobilization stress induced a significant decrease in neurogenic proliferation in the DVC which reached 50% in the area postrema. The number of newly-formed neurons was also decreased by chronic immobilization stress in the DVC, and this effect was again maximal in the area postrema; the proportion of BrdU-labeled cells that were neurons was unchanged. In vitro neurosphere assay was then performed on microdissected DVC tissue from another cohort of chronically stressed and control rats. Chronic immobilization stress induced a significant decrease of the total neurosphere number per rat DVC in both primary and secondary cultures, indicating that intrinsic neural stem cell frequency was decreased by chronic stress in DVC tissue. Tissue BDNF concentration in the DVC, as assessed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, was not significantly altered when compared with controls after 3, 6, 9 or 13 days of chronic immobilization stress. These results further characterize neurogenesis in the DVC and suggest its involvement in the long-term regulation of food intake

Prevalence and Predictors of Gestational Hypertension: a Cross-Sectional Study among Moroccan Pregnant Women

The objective of this study was to assess the prevalence of gestational hypertension, and to determine its predictors among pregnant women attending primary health care facilities in Beni Mellal city in Morocco. The prevalence of gestational hypertension was 18.7%. The low monthly household income (Adjusted Odds Ratio (AOR) = 7.874; IC 95% = [1.788–34.67]), gestational age less than 37 weeks (AOR = 6.860; IC 95% = [1.285–36.626]), limited knowledge on gestational hypertension (AOR = 12.719; IC 95% = [3.386–47.785]), and primigravidity (AOR = 9.047; IC 95% = [1.595–51.324]), were significantly associated with gestational hypertension.</jats:p

Eating habits, lifestyle factors and body weight status among Moroccan school adolescents (12–19 years): The case of Beni Mellal city

BACKGROUND: Overweight and obesity among children and adolescents are serious public health issues worldwide. A better understanding of the relationships between obesity and lifestyle factors is necessary for effective prevention and management of obesity in youth. AIMS: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of overweight/obesity and associated factors among schoolchildren aged 12–19 years at Beni Mellal city, Morocco. METHODS: A school based cross sectional study was carried out. A total of 516 children were included in the study. The nutritional status was classified according to the reference curves of WHO (2007). Multivariable logistic regression analysis was used to identify factors associated with overweight/obesity. The association between dependent and independent variables were assessed using odds ratio with 95% confidence interval and p value &lt; 0.05 was considered statistically significant. RESULTS: The prevalence of overweight was 12.40% and that of obesity was 5.20%. Overweight and obesity were statistically associated with gender (Odds Ratio (OR) = 10.15[95% CI 1.37–3.81], p = 0.001); skipping breakfast (OR = 9.19 [95% CI 1.42–5.17], p = 0.002) and eating cake, pastry and biscuit 1 to 3 times per week (OR = 4.14 [95% CI 1.02–3.25], p = 0.04) and 4 or more times a week (OR = 7.83 [95% CI 1.31–4.66], p = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that prevalence of overweight/obesity among school-aged children in Beni Mellal city was high. Thus, promoting healthy dietary practices, particularly improving fruit and vegetable intake is essential to reduce the burden of overweight and obesity. Furthermore, it is important to strengthen nutrition education about avoiding junk food consumption and encouraging regular physical activity.</jats:p

Burnout and School Performance: A Study among Students in The Region of Beni Mellal (Morocco)

To maintain a good school performance, students must generally make sustained efforts over a long period of time considering frequency of evaluations. Thus, their desire to maintain or achieve good grades can lead them to stressful situations. This study aims at assessing the level of the school burnout and its relationship with the studentsrsquo school performance in the Moroccan region of Beacuteni-Mellal. nbspnbspnbspnbspnbspnbspnbspTo do this, a total of 400 students (54% girls and 46% boys) at different grade levels and branches were invited to complete questionnaires on a voluntary basis and anonymitynbsp: a Burnout Inventory questionnaire (School Burnout Inventory) adapted to the school environment, a school performance record and a listing of clinical information. As a result, the findings are twofold: First, the prevalence of school burnout is High by taking into account the mean of burnout scores (3,8 for exhaustion at school, 3,2 for Cynism and 3,6 for inadequacy at school) and by taking account the level of exhaution (40% Heavily exhausted). Second, the burnout leads to a reduction in the studentsrsquo school performance, and the later, in its turn, can influence the feeling of school burnout. Third, school burnout varies by gender, so girls are at higher risk than boys. nbspIn this respect, it is hoped that further studies should be conducted so as to explore other factors that may have an impact on school performance, such as the parentsrsquo educational level or the studentsrsquo reduplication