Pesticides play an important role in the improvement of agricultural production, but their use may result in adverse effects on the environment, consumers, and farmers’ health. As there are limited data focusing on the factors influencing safety behavior toward pesticide use in Morocco, we conducted a cross-sectional survey in 15 rural communities of Morocco’s Fes Meknes region to assess the attitudes, knowledge, and practices regarding pesticide use. A structured questionnaire was completed, containing the data of the interviewed farmers, their behavior towards safety measures, the type of active ingredient used, as well as the perception of risks to their own health following exposure to pesticides by the existence of chronic, self-perceived symptoms. Non-probability (empirical) sampling with the quota method was carried out, which consists of constructing the sample. Results showed that most respondents have not been trained in the application of pesticides, with almost half of the farmers using a category of pesticides which are classified by the International Agency for Research on Cancer as probable human carcinogenic (i.e., Glyphosate, Malathion). In terms of pesticide storage, 40% of farmers said that they did not store pesticides in a separate room after purchasing or using them. The empty containers were buried or burnt by half of the responders, while the remainder were thrown at the edge of fields or in public dumps. Although the participants were aware of the negative effects on their own health and on the environment caused by the application of pesticides in use, the protection measures by individual equipment were insufficient. A canonical analysis indicates that these behaviors were influenced by the farming experience, the benefit of the agricultural council services, the follow-up of training, and the education level. These variables are important factors in explaining and understanding the dangers to both the environment and health caused by pesticides. The most recorded likely consequences of pesticide exposure were visual impairment (46%), followed by dizziness (44.3%), headache (39.4%), and excessive sweating (34.4%), and 30.2% of participants identified consequent respiratory problems. Extension services targeted at safety and protection measures should be developed and accompanied by educational programs to put farmers’ perceptions into practice and encourage them to adopt healthy and environmentally friendly behaviors.

Introduction. Acute kidney injury (PRAKI) continues to be common in developing countries. The aim of this paper is to study AKI characteristics in pregnancy and identify the factors related to the unfavorable evolution.Methods. This prospective study was conducted in the University Hospital Hassan II of Fez, Morocco, from February 01, 2011 to January 31, 2012. All patients presenting PRAKI were included.Results. 37 cases of PRAKI were listed. Their ages varied from 20 to 41 years old, with an average of 29.03 ± 6.3 years and an average parity of 1.83. High blood pressure was the most common symptom (55.6%). Thirty-nine percent were oliguric. PRAKI occurred during the 3rd trimester in 66.6% of the cases and 25% of the cases in the postpartum. Hemodialysis was necessary in 16.2% of cases. The main causes were preeclampsia, hemorrhagic shocks, and functional, respectively, in 66.6%, 25%, and 8.3% of the cases. The outcome was favorable, with a complete renal function recovery for 28 patients. Poor prognosis was related to two factors: age over 38 years and advanced stage of AKI according to RIFLE classification.Conclusion. Prevention of PRAKI requires an improvement of the sanitary infrastructures with the implementation of an obligatory prenatal consultation.

Chronic Kidney Disease of Unknown Etiology (CKDu) is a worldwide hidden health threat that is associated with progressive loss of kidney functions without showing any initial symptoms until reaching end-stage renal failure, eventually leading to death. It is a growing health problem in Asia, Central America, Africa, and the Middle East, with identified hotspots. CKDu disease mainly affects young men in rural farming communities, while its etiology is not related to hypertension, kidney stones, diabetes, or other known causes. The main suspected causal factors are heat-stress, dehydration, exposure to agrochemicals, heavy metals and use of hard water, infections, mycotoxins, nephrotoxic agents, altitude, and genetic factors. This review gives an overview of CKDu and sheds light on its medical history, geographic distribution, and worldwide prevalence. It also summarizes the suspected causal factors, their proposed mechanisms of action, as well as the main methods used in the CKDu prior detection and surveillance. In addition, mitigation measures to reduce the burden of CKDu are also discussed. Further investigation utilizing more robust study designs would provide a better understanding of the risk factors linked to CKDu and their comparison between affected regions.

The plant Saussurea costus (Falc) Lipsch has many biological activities and a strong curative and preventive power against a variety of diseases including cancer, diabetes, and hemorrhoids. In the current study, phytochemical screening was carried out as well as an investigation of the antilithiatic and antioxidant activities of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of this plant. The results showed that aqueous and ethanolic extracts were effective in reducing cystine stone mass and that the aqueous extract of Saussurea costus (Falc) Lipsch had the highest percentage of dissolution (6.756 ± 1.024) (p < 0.05). A turbidimetric method and a crystallization test were used to evaluate the antilithiatic activity of an aqueous and ethanolic extract of this plant on calcium oxalate crystallization. The results of these methods revealed that the ethanolic extract of this plant has a significant inhibitory effect on calcium oxalate crystallization, with a percentage inhibition of (91.017 ± 0.299) (p < 0.05) for a concentration of 2 mg mL⁻¹. The DPPH method revealed that the ethanolic extract of Saussurea costus (Falc) Lipsch with a concentration of (IC50 = 0.12325 mg mL⁻¹) had the highest IC50, whereas the FRAP method revealed that the aqueous extract of Saussurea costus (Falc) Lipsch with a concentration of 300 µg mL⁻¹ has the most significant reducing power with (OD = 0.56 ± 0.05). These findings indicate that aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Saussurea costus (Falc) Lipsch had a significant effect on whewellite and weddellite and a greater free radical scavenging effect but had no effect on cystine dissolution.

The present study is focused on the experimental verification of the efficiency of Arbutus unedo L. leaves against the crystallization of calcium oxalate. The inhibition of crystallization has been studied in vitro with the absence and the presence of the different concentrations of the infusion and hydroalcoholic extract of the plant. This study consists of measuring, using a UV-Visible spectrophotometer, the temporal evolution of the optical density at λ = 620 nm corresponding to the crystals formation. The latter have been characterized by microscopic observation using an optical microscope, and by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR). The results suggest a greater effectiveness of the plant infusion with respect to the hydroalcoholic extract against crystallization or nucleation at percentages of 69.41 ± 0.24 or 19.76 ± 0.27% and at 93.92 ± 2.61 and 45.16 ± 3.06% against the aggregation, for both the infusion and the hydroalcoholic extract respectively. A. unedo leaves is a very promising and effective remedy against the crystallization of calcium oxalate and especially in the aggregation stage.

The hemodialysis technique, used worldwide for patients with chronic kidney disease, is considered as a treatment with a high economic and ecological impact, especially for water consumption. Getting ultrapure water for the preparation of the dialysate to clean patient’s blood from toxins leads to high volumes of salt-enriched water that directly goes to sewage. The aim of this work is to propose operating conditions for electrodialysis to allow the reuse of reverse osmosis (RO) rejects. We first performed a parametric study to evaluate the influence of different parameters, such as flow rates, initial concentration, and applied voltage on the demineralization rate (DR) and specific energy consumption (SPC) with a NaCl model solution. The optimal conditions for desalination (i.e., a potential of 12 V, and flow rate of 20 L·h⁻¹) were then successfully applied to real samples collected from a dialysis center with total dissolved salts concentration of about 1.4 g/L (conductivity of 2.0 mS·cm⁻¹). We demonstrated that the choice of adequate conductivity targets allowed meeting the physico-chemical requirements to obtain water re-usable for either rehabilitation swimming pool, manual or machine washing of instruments before sterilization or irrigation. Saving this water could contribute in the reduction of the environmental impact of hemodialysis.