The duties of the Head of Government in the 2011 Moroccan Constitution

El marco actual de la institución del jefe de Gobierno en Marruecos es reciente, aparece por primera vez con la Constitución de 2011, sus nuevas funciones fueron interpretadas por la nueva Ley Orgánica del Gobierno nº 065-13. A pesar, del desarrollo político mencionado, el monarca, además de sus exclusivas competencias religiosas, continúa conservando importantes atribuciones que conviene poner en relación con las del jefe de Gobierno, lo que ha establecido por primera vez un sistema de poder ejecutivo compartido, y eso se irá aclarando a la hora de estudiar las funciones del jefe de Gobierno en relación con los demás Poderes del EstadoThe current framework of the institution of the Head of Government in Morocco is recent, first appeared with the Constitution of 2011, their new roles were interpreted by the new Organic Law No. 065-13 Government. Despite of the aforementioned political development, the monarch, in addition to his exclusive religious competences, continues to hold important powers that should be to put in relation to the Head of Government, which has first established a system of shared executive power, and that will become clearer at the time of studying the functions of the Chief Government in relation to the other Powers of Stat

Rapid ecotoxicological tests using bioassay systems: a review

The rise in pollution cases globally is expected to increase in line with industrialization. Monitoring activities for pollutants have been hampered by the astronomical costs of instrumental-based approach. This has resulted in the intense research on low cost biomonitoring systems using enzymes, organisms including microorganisms. Only positive samples are sent for instrumental analysis; dramatically cutting the cost of instrumental analysis. This review attempts to outline and give due recognition to several selected bioassay systems that have been tested for their applicability using polluted water samples as a routine first line-of-defense. This includes small aquatic organisms-based assays, enzymes especially proteases and bacterial-based systems using respiratory dye or luminescence systems as a method for toxicant detection

Chemistry, biochemistry, toxicity and pollution of molybdenum: a mini review

Molybdenum is used in various industries. Its pollution has been recorded globally and is an emerging pollutant. Molybdenum is poorly represented in the literature as compared to heavy metals such as mercury, chromium, arsenic, lead and cadmium for instance, due to the metal’s low toxicity to humans. It has now been reported that molybdenum is very toxic to embryo and spermatogenesis of fish and mice and this worrying trend would place molybdenum at the forefront of toxicology and bioremediation studies in the future. This mini review attempts to summarize what we know on its chemistry, biochemistry, toxicity and pollution with the hope that this knowledge would be useful for future studies on molybdenum’s removal from the environment

Fatigue performance of thermal spray coatings on carbon steel: a review

This paper contributes to a review of the research of the fatigue behaviour of thermal spray coatings on carbon steel. Previous studies provide the experimental characterization of the fatigue resistance of coated carbon steel. Different coating powders were deposited to a different type of carbon steels. Also, S-N curves were drawn from axial- and rotating bending fatigue test to determine the fatigue strength or fatigue limit of the samples. Thermal spray coatings showed great improvement to the work hardening effect but worsen the fatigue life due to the inclusion of oxide and pores, the presence of stress concentrators, and high microcrack density. Moreover, the effects of the surrounding environment have also resulted in pros and cons towards the fatigue strength. An improvement, however, can be done with the shot peening treatment, which significantly increases the compressive residual stress at interfaces of coating/substrate. The high compressive residual stress could delay the crack nucleation, thus increasing the fatigue life of the coated part

Effect of high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) coatings on fatigue behaviour of carbon steel

Nowadays, the application of high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) spraying is widely used in various industries. This is due to its ability to improve the wear, erosion and corrosion resistance of components. However, by taking consideration of mechanical properties and fatigue behaviour into cognisance, the consequence of the HVOF thermal spraying coating on the components remain debatable. In this research, the main objectives are to obtain the mechanical properties, investigate the fatigue behaviour and observe the microstructure of the uncoated and coated carbon steel. The morphology, chemical composition and the phase of the specimen were characterized using an optical microscope (OM), scanning electron microscope (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) and x-ray diffraction (XRD). The microhardness of the specimen was tested with loads of 0.05 HV within dwell time of 10 s. Tensile test was carried out with a strain rate of 0.5 mm/min and a dog bone shaped specimen in accordance with ASTM-E8 standard. Fatigue test was performed under the stress ratio, R = -1 in accordance with ASTM-E466 by tension-compression cyclic loading (sine wave) with a frequency of 20 Hz. The results showed that the microhardness of the coated steel decreased by 40% and the yield strength of the coated steel decreased by 9.5% due to the increment of the substrate´s grain size resulting from the high HVOF flame temperature (2750 ˚C). The increment of coating thickness from 0.15 to 0.35 mm decreased the yield strength of the coated by 4.4% as due to the long-time exposure to high HVOF flame temperature. From the grit-blasting treatment, the embedment of the grit particles, cracks and notches on the substrate´s surface are the main reasons for the reduction of the tensile strength of the substrate by 9.1%. Similar behaviours are shown by the fatigue properties, as the HVOF coated steel showed a fatigue strength’s reduction of 17% due to the increment of the substrate’s grain size. These findings conclude that HVOF spraying process gives negative impact on the mechanical properties and fatigue properties

Effects of high velocity oxy-fuel coatings on the tensile properties of S50C steel

High-Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) coating is a thermal spray coating technique involving the carriage of coating powder into a flame mixture of oxygen and fuel ejected through a nozzle. The molten or semi-molten powder is propelled at high-velocity gas stream towards the surface to produce a strong and dense coating which enhances erosion resistance, wear resistance, and corrosion protection. However, the effect of the coating towards other mechanical properties such as tensile behaviour is uncertain. Therefore, this paper provides an assessment of the effect of HVOF coatings, coatings thickness and grit blasting on tensile behaviour of S50C steel. The tensile test was carried out according to the ASTM-E8/E8M standard and the tensile fracture surface was examined by using a Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM). Micro-hardness and grain size analysis was used to identify the different properties between coated and uncoated steels. Results showed that micro-hardness, yield- and tensile strength decreased due to the high-temperature effect of HVOF coating. Also, as the coating thickness increases, the yield- and tensile strength reduced because of the longer time-expose of the high temperature of the HVOF process. Besides that, grit blasting treatment lowered the yield- and tensile strength of the steel due to the embedment of the grit blasting. The fractographic analysis shows clear voids, spherical dimples and cleavage facets which indicate that both coated and uncoated steels underwent a “moderate” ductile fracture during the tensile loading

Transcribing with ATLAS.ti

Most qualitative studies engage interviews and/or observations in their data collection phase, which comprise of audio and/or video data. These data are usually transcribed into a written form for further analysis. Since transcribing takes considerable amount of time, an efficient tool is required to prepare for the transcription. In fact, there are many software available in the market to facilitate transcription including Inqscribe, Express Scribe and F4 Transkript. These transcription programs, however, were developed solely for transcribing purpose. ATLAS.ti, in addition to its superior tool set for the analysis of qualitative data, also can be used for transcription. In this paper, the authors emphasize the importance of the transcription process in qualitative studies, and share their experiences in using ATLAS.ti for transcribing audio and video data for a design study project

Heavy metals (mercury, arsenic, cadmium, plumbum) in selected marine fish and shellfish along the Straits of Malacca

Level of heavy metals in marine ecosystem has been intensively studied during recent years as these hazardous substances could be accumulated in the biota. Generally, the presence of contaminants in fish is a result of human activities such as industrial and agricultural wastes. In this study, the marine fish and shellfish from the Straits of Malacca were analyzed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrophotometer (ICP-OES) and Flow Injection Mercury System (FIMS) for Cd, As and Pb and Hg, respectively. The Straits of Malacca is one of the busiest shipping routes in the world that make the level of heavy metals potentially high besides the various industrial activities along the west region of Peninsular Malaysia. The range of heavy metals in samples were 1.0-3-6.5-3 μg/ g wet sample for Hg, 0.5-2-47-2 μg/ g wet sample for Cd, 0.01-0.39 μg/ g wet sample for Pb and 0.14-6.57 μg/ g wet sample for As. Most part of the values was below the permitted limit set by FAO/WHO 2004 as well as Food Act 1983 and Food Regulations 1985. Therefore it can be generalized that fish and shellfish from the Straits of Malacca are safe to consume in terms of these heavy metals concentration and do not constitute a risk for human health

Blood profile of rusa deer (Cervus timorensis).

The objective of the study was to establish the reference range for blood and coagulation parameters in normal, healthy male and female rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) of different ages. The study was conducted at Taman Pertanian Universiti, Universiti Putra Malaysia. The sample population comprised of 40 rusa deer, which was divided into 4 groups of 13 young (≤1-year-old) males, 5 young females, 13 adult males and 9 adult females. Jugular venous blood samples were collected to determine concentrations of blood and coagulation parameters. The data obtained were normally distributed. However, the analytical results revealed that significant (p0.05) in blood or coagulation parameters was observed between sex in the young deer. Between age group, adult deer had significantly (p<0.05) higher mean cell volume, plasma protein and globulin concentrations than young rusa deer. Thus, it is necessary to take into account the age and sex when using blood reference values for the diagnosis of diseases in the rusa deer

Treatment of POME final discharge using Napier grass in wetland system

POME is the most expensive and difficult waste to manage since it was generated in large volume in tons at a time. POME usually will discharge to nearby land or river since it is the easiest and cheapest method to disposal. Since the POME final discharge quality still not meet the river water quality, the approach that will use is the wetland system. This wetland system is more compatible compare to another system to treat the POME final discharge since it is more cost efficient and fewer side effects compared to the biological and chemical approach. The system in this study contains a few ponds that is connected to serial form. Each stage serves a different purpose like the phytoremediation pond. Phytoremediation is a process that uses plants to degrade and remove contaminants from the environment. Phytoremediation can degrade, remove, transform, or immobilize toxic compounds located in soils, sediments, and more recently in polluted ground water and wastewater in treatment. The plant that been use in this system is the Napier Grass. At the end of the experiment, this system shows good quality water by reducing the level of COD by 71.57%, TSS by 83.59% and ammonia by 85.97%. From this research, it has been prove that the wetland system can reduce the contamination from the final discharge to meet the river water quality