Marrakech City Research Articles

Trends in the breakfast habit in 6-12-year-old primary school children in Marrakech city, Morocco

ABSTRACT Breakfast is crucial for children, with numerous scientific studies demonstrating its impact on cognitive performance. This study examines the breakfast habits of children aged 6 to 12 years in three public primary schools in Marrakech. Data were collected through a questionnaire, and breakfast quality was evaluated using the breakfast quality index (BQI). All the children’s height and weight were measured. The study analysed factors such as breakfast frequency, family influence, and school performance. Results indicate that 66.1% of children eat breakfast regularly, but the quality is moderate for 61.8% of them. Family encouragement influences 54.5% of children, with 58.7% viewing family as the main source of information. Other factors affecting breakfast frequency include waking time (47.9%) and cravings (28.1%). Children who consistently eat a moderate (p = 0.042) or high-quality breakfast perform better academically (p = 0.03). Promoting healthy breakfast habits within the family can enhance children’s well-being and academic performance.

THE TOURISM SECTOR AND TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT IN MARRAKECH CITY - MOROCCO

The tourism sector has had a significant impact on the territorial development of Marrakech city. Although it brings economic benefits, it is important to manage the social and environmental challenges associated with this growth wisely. An integrated approach, the participation of territorial actors, and the preservation of cultural identity are key elements for sustainable territorial development of the city. This article aims to contribute to the reflection on the phenomenon of tourism and its impact on the territorial development of Marrakech city. To achieve this, we will first present the geographical and economic situation of this territory. We will then discuss the data and statistics that position this city as the top tourist destination in Morocco. The final section of this article will examine the effects of tourism on the standard of living and economic sectors of the city's population

Thermal performance and energy efficiency of the composite clay and hemp fibers

The purpose of this research is to demonstrate that incorporating hemp fibers into earth bricks can provide an adequate level of thermal comfort by enhancing the material's dynamic thermal characteristics. The main goal is to find the optimal thickness of a clay-hemp wall to attain the highest thermal inertia values. First, the flash method was used to estimate thermal diffusivity, and the state hot plate method was used to measure the thermal conductivity of a clay brick. Using the experimental data as input, computational analysis is performed to investigate the relationship between the thermal performance of composite materials and their microstructures, with the goal of predicting the effective thermal conductivity of the composite clay-hemp. Using the Random Sequential Addition algorithm, a two-phase, three-dimensional composite clay-hemp microstructure was produced. The effective thermal conductivity of these composites was assessed using the finite volume method. The predicted thermophysical characteristics were then utilized to simulate the transient heat transfer across clay-hemp walls. The results demonstrate that when the hemp volume fraction increased, the thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and thermal volumetric capacity all decreased by approximately 52%, 27%, and 35%, respectively. Furthermore, incorporating hemp fibers improved the bricks' dynamic thermal characteristics. Finally, this study has revealed that a wall composed of clay-hemp bricks of 22 cm thick and an insulating layer of 6 cm thick allows for limiting the risk of overheating during the summer months (time lag between 10 and 12 h) while also satisfying the Moroccan Thermal Construction Regulation requirement for Marrakech city.

Energy-saving potential assessment of a classroom building envelope through sensitivity analysis and multi-objective optimization under different climate types

The present work aims to optimize the thermal behavior of a building envelope by combining sensitivity analysis (SA) and multi-objective optimization (MOO). An existing classroom located in Marrakech city was considered a case study building. The building model was analyzed under six Moroccan climate zones. The SA was applied on 16 design variables and performed using the Morris method implemented in the tool Simlab to rank each design variable based on its influence on the objective function (overall energy demand). The SA results showed that the solar absorptance of the internal roof, wall, and ground floor and the ground hollow core slab thickness impacted less the overall energy demand. Therefore, the only remaining variables showing the most relevant effect will be optimized afterward. The optimization phase was conducted by coupling the generic optimization tool GenOpt with TRNSYS. The optimum solution was selected based on the Pareto front approach. The obtained results assessed the effectiveness of the adopted methodological approach in significant minimization of the required thermal loads. Furthermore, the values of each optimum design variables set differ from one climate zone to another; leading to energy demand reduction varying from 30 to 42%, in comparison with the original design building.

Analyzing tourism reviews using an LDA topic-based sentiment analysis approach

It has become increasingly necessary to automate systems for organizing and classifying user reviews according to their domain-specific aspects and sentiment polarities, as online customer opinions have increased on specialized platforms and social networks. This study's methodology employs a combination of topic modeling and sentiment analysis, as well as human validation techniques of topic labels, to extract valuable insights about Marrakech city from TripAdvisor reviews. Through this technique, tourism practitioners and field specialists may dive deeper into online users generated content, leveraging aspect-based sentiment analysis to explore each destination's weaknesses and strengths.•Data collection and pre-processing.•Extracting latent topics using LDA algorithm (Latent Dirichlet Allocation) on collected reviews.•Applying sentiment analysis to each topic.

Behaviour and therapeutic itinerary of epileptic patients in Marrakech city and surrounding regions in South Morocco

BackgroundEpilepsy is a chronic, universal disorder with various etiologies and prognoses. It is still laden with myths in the majority of the Moroccan population. Despite the existence of well-established medicinal treatments and increasingly comprehensive care, access to antiepileptic care is still limited, especially for rural populations. We aim herein to identify the therapeutic itinerary of patients with epilepsy (or epileptic disorders) as well as the behaviour of patients and their families towards this disease in Marrakech and the surrounding region of Marrakech-Safi.MethodsWe carried out a retrospective study Questionnaire filled by 110 patients data was analysed with SPSS version 18.ResultsOur results showed that 69.96% of the patients believed in a supernatural origin of the disease and 76.4% attended for professional medical care after their first seizure. In addition, more than half of our patients (51.8%) consulted a religious leader for the initial consultation, 51.0% of whom were women and 49.0% were male. The low socioeconomic status of patients with epilepsy, 74.5% of whom were unemployed, impeded the effective management of this disease.ConclusionsThese results suggest that the management of patients with epilepsy (or epileptic disorders) in Africa, and particularly in Morocco requires, in addition to the reinforcement of human and material resources, an effort to educate and positively influence the family and the social environment as a whole.

Flouting Gricean Maxims for Comic Implicatures in Hassan El Fad’s Sitcom Comedy Tendance Forth Episode

This paper explores how the flouting of the Gricean maxims is used to bring about comedy and humorous effect in Hassan El Fad’s 4th episode of Tendance sitcom. Therefore, it aims at finding out what maxims are flouted the most to create comedy and what maxims the two main characters disobey for the sake of making people laugh. To reach the study objective, the paper is based on the analysis of the fourth episode transcription. That is, the study relies on a qualitative descriptive method as it aims at exploring the flouting of Grice’s cooperative principle in Moroccan Arabic comedy and describing how such flouting generates humour and comedy. The results show that the most frequently flouted maxim was the maxim of quantity (39.3%), followed by the maxims of quality (29.6%), manner (26.2%) and the least maxim flouted was relevance (4.9%). The results suggest that the use of flouts has to do with their different moods and personalities, which is why the main characters did not use as many flouts in order to create comedy, since it would not be in line with their personalities. Furthermore, the study shows that most of maxim flouts that create comic implicature are perceived via the use of obscure overstatement and personification, use of misleading conventional-coded expressions, irrelevant oddness of conversation-established ideas, and flouting of Moroccan communication patterns. The study concludes that the use of urban accent of Marrakech city alongside maxims flouting generated humorous effect.

Protective Role of Native Rhizospheric Soil Microbiota Against the Exposure to Microcystins Introduced into Soil-Plant System via Contaminated Irrigation Water and Health Risk Assessment.

Microcystins (MCs) produced in eutrophic waters may decrease crop yield, enter food chains and threaten human and animal health. The main objective of this research was to highlight the role of rhizospheric soil microbiota to protect faba bean plants from MCs toxicity after chronic exposure. Faba bean seedlings were grown in pots containing agricultural soil, during 1 month under natural environmental conditions of Marrakech city in Morocco (March–April 2018) and exposed to cyanobacterial extracts containing up to 2.5 mg·L−1 of total MCs. Three independent exposure experiments were performed (a) agricultural soil was maintained intact “exposure experiment 1”; (b) agricultural soil was sterilized “exposure experiment 2”; (c) agricultural soil was sterilized and inoculated with the rhizobia strain Rhizobium leguminosarum RhOF34 “exposure experiment 3”. Overall, data showed evidence of an increased sensitivity of faba bean plants, grown in sterilized soil, to MCs in comparison to those grown in intact and inoculated soils. The study revealed the growth inhibition of plant shoots in both exposure experiments 2 and 3 when treated with 2.5 mg·L−1 of MCs. The results also showed that the estimated daily intake (EDI) of MCs, in sterilized soil, exceeded 2.18 and 1.16 times the reference concentrations (0.04 and 0.45 µg of microcysin-leucine arginine (MC-LR). Kg−1 DW) established for humans and cattle respectively, which raises concerns about human food chain contamination.

Metabolic Syndrome: What is the difference between the two definitions IDF and NCEP ATP III in Morocco? Case of the population of Marrakech

The purpose of this study was to determine the frequency of metabolic syndrome according to the two definitions: NCEP-ATP III and IDF 2005 and to analyze their differences in a population in Marrakech, Morocco. The study was carried out at Ibn Zohr hospital in Marrakech. The body mass index (BMI) was calculated to assess the degree of obesity of each subject. The blood parameters were measured by an appropriate biochemistry automaton. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was made according to the definitions of NCEP-ATP III and IDF 2005. All statistical analyzes were performed using SPSS software. A total of 300 subjects participated in the study, including 57.3% of women and 42.7% of men, with a sex ratio of 0.74. The mean age of our population was 51.6 ± 13.42 years. According to NCEP-ATP III, 79 of the participants (26.3%) had the metabolic syndrome, with a predominance of women: 60 women (20.0%) and 19 men (6.3%); according to the IDF, 139 or (46.3%) of the participants had MS, in which 31.0% were women and 15.3% were men. Waist circumference and hyperglycemia were the two predominant criteria according to both definitions. The study showed that all criteria were statistically associated with the presence of MS. The metabolic syndrome is common in our population regardless of the definition criteria used. The implementation of prevention strategies and the encouragement of a healthy lifestyle will minimize serious health problems in Marrakech city.

Thermal performance of new ecological material integrated into residential building in semi-arid and cold climates

New concepts and ecological material called Poncebloc are investigated in this paper. This material is proposed as structural and thermal insulation for building envelope due to its excellent mechanical and thermophysical properties. For this motive, an in-situ building constructed with classical material largely used in Moroccan construction is monitored during one year and then modelized numerically using TRNSYS to perform a comparison of thermal and energy performance of two buildings one constructed with Poncebloc and the second one with classical materials and this for two types of climate semi-arid represented by Marrakech city and cold represented by Ifrane. The proposed concept is economically efficient as the results show a reduction in cooling energy needs of 66% and 97% for Marrakech and Ifrane, respectively; it also decreased the heating need by 44% and 42% for Marrakech and Ifrane respectively. Consequently, the bioclimatic building leads to a net reduction in GHG emissions of 60% and 45% for Marrakech and Ifrane, respectively, compared to the reference case.

E-Recruitment in Morocco: Performance leverage or overrated mode (Qualitative study in Marrakech city)

E-Recruitment in Morocco: Performance leverage or overrated mode (Qualitative study in Marrakech city)

Flood Hazard Mapping Using Two Digital Elevation Models: Application in a Semi-Arid Environment of Morocco

The High Atlas of Morocco is a semi-arid mountainous environment that frequently suffers from natural hazards. For example, the watersheds upstream of Marrakech city are subject to extreme floods, caused by heavy rains. These episodes are frequent and often devastating, as was the August 1995 event that caused hundreds of deaths in the Ourika Valley. The purpose of this work is to characterize the risk of flooding in this valley, by simulating the water levels and the floodplain extension. This watershed of the Ourika is characterized by a high relief, a rugged topography and a low permeability substratum. To perform this hydraulic simulation, the resolution and accuracy of Digital Elevation Models (DEM) can strongly impact the results in terms of water levels and flow velocities during floods. Two digital elevation models (DEM) were compared: a DEM ASTER with a spatial resolution of 30 m and a DEM derived from stereoscopic images of Pleiades with a resolution of 4 m. Using a hydraulic model (HEC-RAS) and the two DEM resolutions, flood areas corresponding to different return periods are simulated and compared. For the assessment of the two DEM, many areas are selected that are characterized by different types of exposure: highly frequented tourist areas near a regional road and agricultural areas on alluvial terraces, where cultivated fields and infrastructure are vulnerable. The results showed that the high-resolution Pleiades DEM allows for accurate mapping of floodplains in complex terrain, as it realistically representsthe topography and allows correct simulation of observed water levels. This study highlights the added value of a high-resolution remote sensing for flood modeling in areas where data are scarce.

Trace Elements in Soils and Vegetables from Market Gardens of Urban Areas in Marrakech City

The consumption of vegetables grown on soils polluted by trace elements can cause a serious threat for animal and human health and disturb the functioning of the ecosystem. The aim of this work is to determine the concentrations of As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Mn, and Zn in soils and different vegetables from market gardens of urban areas in Marrakech city in order to investigate human health risk through ingestion of contaminated vegetables. Plant transfer factor (TF), daily intake of metals (DIM), and health risk index (HRI) were calculated. The concentrations of all metals studied in the garden top soils were within the threshold values. The Cu, Zn, Co, Mn, and As concentration in the edible parts of vegetables were within the safe limits. However, Cd and Pb in Malva parviflora and Cd in Brassica rapa, and Cr and Ni in Coriandrum sativum exceeded their permissible limits. The TF for these nine metals varied between 0.01 and 1.35. The classification of TEs according to their TF is as follows: Cu > Zn > Cd > Ni > Cr > Pb > Mn > Co > As. The maximum value was recorded in Coriandrum sativum while the minimum value was recorded in Cynara cardunculus. The HRI values were within the safe limit (< one) except for Pb in Malva parviflora. This can lead to risks to the health of the human population, especially children, consuming contaminated plants. Thus, the monitoring and prevention of health risks related to the consumption of plants grown in (peri)urban areas are necessary and essential to propose recommendations to both gardeners and decision-makers.

Trace and major element contents, microbial communities, and enzymatic activities of urban soils of Marrakech city along an anthropization gradient

Due to their close proximity with the population, urban soils are extensively affected by human activities that release considerable technogenic inputs resulting in an overall soil degradation and leading to an increase of water-extractable fraction of trace elements. This work aimed to determine the influence of anthropization on trace and major element concentrations and to assess how it might also affect soil biochemical and microbiological parameters in an urban area of Marrakech city, Morocco. The work was carried out on nine topsoils located along an anthropogenic gradient from a suburban area to the city center. The percentage of technogenic fraction (TGF) (e.g., building material, plastic, wood, metallic material, bones, glass, paper, fabric) was used to quantify the degree of human interference in the different soils. Physicochemical parameters were measured: pH (in water solution), TOC (Anne method), TKN, and Olsen phosphorus. The total fraction of trace and major elements (ISO NF 11446) and their water-soluble fraction were analyzed with an ICP-OES. Enumeration of cultivable microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, actinomycetes) was conducted on culture media. Dehydrogenase, alkaline phosphatase, and urease activities were colorimetrically measured, and the structure and diversity of soil bacterial communities were determined by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) technique. In general, trace and major element concentrations showed increasing levels along the anthropogenic gradient, except for Ca, Mg, B, and Cd. However, trace element concentrations remained below the standard international limits for soils. Total numbers of microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and actinomycetes) varied significantly among sites, with bacterial counts directly related to the anthropogenic gradient, significantly increasing from suburban area to the city center. Dehydrogenase activity decreased throughout the anthropogenic gradient, while phosphatase and urease activities varied between sites independently of the gradient. DGGE profiles showed that bacterial diversity was higher in the most anthropized soils, where their community structure seemed to be influenced by the total concentrations of Zn, As, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, and the technogenic fraction. Overall, trace and major element concentrations and the technogenic fraction were higher with increasing levels of urbanization. Microbiological and biochemical parameters appeared significantly influenced by the anthropogenic inputs without being systematically inhibited along the anthropogenic gradient. Dehydrogenase activity decreased along the anthropization gradient, and thus may be used as a proxy to assess the effect of anthropization on soil biological functions.

Removal efficiency of metallic trace elements by slow sand filtration: study of the effect of sand porosity and diameter column

The removal potential of slow sand filtration was investigated in a continuous fixed-bed adsorption system as a replacement of current expensive methods for decontaminating water. This study was achieved on Tensift River water contaminated by metallic trace elements (Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn) that received directly wastewater of industrial unit of Zn and Pb extraction of Draa Lasfar mine near Marrakech city in Morocco. Results showed that removal efficiency of sand used in this process depends greatly on both sand porosity and diameter of column. Thus, higher decontamination efficiency was noted at higher column’s diameter and higher sand porosity. These results can be justified by the fact that higher diameter of column and sand porosity engenders a higher mass transfer zone due to an increase coefficient diffusion and longer contact time as well as shallow adsorption zone with exposition of new active binding sites to metallic pollutants on the sand surface. This result provides a larger service area leading to an increase in the volume of the treated solution water. In order to describe the column adsorption process used in slow sand filtration, it is crucial to predict the breakthrough curve (concentration-like profile) and adsorption capacity of sand under the given set of operating conditions (sand porosoty and diameter of column), based on the assumption that this process follows Langmuir kinetics of adsorption–desorption with no axial dispersion which describes that the rate driving force obeys the 2nd order irreversible reaction kinetics.

Thermal behavior and energy saving analysis of a flat with different energy efficiency measures in six climates

This article aims at studying the impact of many construction parameters of a flat on its energy performance and thermal comfort. The studied parameters are: the envelope thermal insulation, the orientation, the floor level, the ground coupling, the roof and the external walls absorption coefficient and the controlled mechanical ventilation. The TRNSYS based numerical study is performed in six different climates ranging from cold to desert one. The numerical model has been validated against experimental results obtained from summer and winter long term monitoring campaigns of the flat located in the Marrakech city, Morocco. The apartment’s heating and cooling loads as well as thermal discomfort indexes are calculated for the possible eleven configurations combining the studied parameters. The results show that high thermal insulation of the walls leads to an apparent summer overheating with an increase in the flat’s total thermal load by up to 18% in all the considered climates, except for the cold one. It was found that the walls’ light thermal insulation resulting from the cavity wall technique is sufficient to reach an acceptable level of thermal comfort thus preventing summer overheating. Similarly, thermal insulation of the slab-on-grade floor was found to perform an increase in thermal load for hot and moderate climates by at least 67%. The best combination of all the studied energy efficiency measures for each climate conditions was evaluated via comparison to a reference case that represents the actual apartment.

Inhibiting effect of textile wastewater on the activity of sludge from the biological treatment process of the activated sludge plant.

Textile industry represents an important source of toxic substances rejected in environment. Indeed, effluent of these industries contains dyes and chemicals. They are rejected in environment without any treatment. The aim of this work is to evaluate ecotoxicological effect of industrial textile effluents on the sludge harvested from activated sludge treatment plant of Marrakech city (Morocco). For this, we are interested in determining the inhibition condition that corresponds to 50% decrease of bacterial activity in sludge. Obtained results showed that inhibition percentage of bacterial activity depends narrowly on contact time and on added effluent volume, until a limit concentration where there is no degradation of substratum. In fact, substratum degradation speed shows about 65 times decrease when 80% (v/v) of textile wastewater is added, in comparison with the controlled one. Consequently the inhibition constant (Ki) that corresponds to 50% of bacterial inhibition activity is estimated to 0.65 mg l−1 of dye. These studies confirm a real ecotoxicological risk of these effluents. Therefore, a treatment is mandatory before their rejection in environment.

Spatiotemporal characterization of current and future droughts in the High Atlas basins (Morocco)

Over the past decades, drought has become a major concern in Morocco due to the importance of agriculture in the economy of the country. In the present work, the standardized precipitation index (SPI) is used to monitor the evolution, frequency, and severity of droughts in the High Atlas basins (N’Fis, Ourika, Rheraya, Zat, and R’dat), located south of Marrakech city. The spatiotemporal characterization of drought in these basins is performed by computing the SPI with precipitation spatially interpolated over the catchments. The Haouz plain, located downstream of these basins, is strongly dependent on water provided by the mountain ranges, as shown by the positive correlations between the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) in the plain and the 3, 6, and 12-month SPI in the High Atlas catchments. On the opposite, no significant correlations are found with piezometric levels of the Haouz groundwater due to intensified pumping for irrigation in the recent decades. A relative SPI index was computed to evaluate the climate change impacts on drought occurrence, based on the projected precipitation (2006–2100) from five high-resolution CORDEX regional climate simulations, under two emission scenarios (RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5). These models show a decrease in precipitation towards the future up to − 65% compared to the historical period. In terms of drought events, the future projections indicate a strong increase in the frequency of SPI events below − 2, considered as severe drought condition.

Microstructure and palygorskite neoformation in pedogenic calcretes of central Morocco

The aim of this research was the micromorphological and mineralogical characterization of calcrete outcrops located in central Morocco, with particular focus on microstructure development and palygorskite formation processes. Two study sites in the Al Haouz Plain (ca 30km west to Marrakech city) were identified, in an area dominated by Quaternary sedimentary formations including layers cemented by carbonate and widespread calcareous crusts at the surface. The calcrete samples were examined by means of polarizing microscopy from thin sections, scanning electron microscopy / energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM/EDX) from undisturbed samples, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) methods. The matrix of the calcrete material cementing the schist fragments composed of abundant calcite was associated mainly with palygorskite, quartz, and to a lesser extent illite/mica, feldspar, and chlorite. SEM observations indicated that palygorskite mainly occurred as fibres, fibre bundles and networks mainly grown on and/or enclosing calcite rhombohedrons. The EDX spectra of the palygorskite fibres exhibited strong silicon (Si) peaks followed by Al, Mg and Fe peaks. The EDX analysis of calcite rhombohedric crystals exhibited a strong Ca peak, followed by weak peaks of Si, Mg, Al and Fe possibly due to nearby or overlapped palygorskite crystals. One main palygorskite neoformation process was described. Palygorskite was authigenically formed (neoformed) during and after precipitation of calcite from percolating soil solutions in a near-surface setting. Peculiar sub-rounded microstructural units, here designated as pedogenic ooids/pisoids (according to the size), were determined in the matrix of the studied calcretes, associated to pendants and clay-rich rims surrounding them.

Climate change impacts on surface water resources in the Rheraya catchment (High Atlas, Morocco)

ABSTRACTThis study aimed to quantify possible climate change impacts on runoff for the Rheraya catchment (225 km2) located in the High Atlas Mountains of Morocco, south of Marrakech city. Two monthly water balance models, including a snow module, were considered to reproduce the monthly surface runoff for the period 1989‒2009. Additionally, an ensemble of five regional climate models from the Med-CORDEX initiative was considered to evaluate future changes in precipitation and temperature, according to the two emissions scenarios RCP4.5 and RCP8.5. The future projections for the period 2049‒2065 under the two scenarios indicate higher temperatures (+1.4°C to +2.6°C) and a decrease in total precipitation (−22% to −31%). The hydrological projections under these climate scenarios indicate a significant decrease in surface runoff (−19% to −63%, depending on the scenario and hydrological model) mainly caused by a significant decline in snow amounts, related to reduced precipitation and increased temperature. Changes in potential evapotranspiration were not considered here, since its estimation over long periods remains a challenge in such data-sparse mountainous catchments. Further work is required to compare the results obtained with different downscaling methods and different hydrological model structures, to better reproduce the hydro-climatic behaviour of the catchment.EDITOR M.C. AcremanASSOCIATE EDITOR R. Hirsch