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In developing countries in Africa and Asia, meeting challenges of water scarcity and pollution has often been hampered by shortcomings in higher education, including insufficient research productivity and funding, lack of opportunity for university graduates, and a mismatch between university activities and societal needs. To address these issues, we developed novel programs integrating technical instruction and preparation for professional practice in hydrology for cohorts of graduate students from Morocco and Egypt (2012–2013) and from Türkiye and Indonesia (2013–2014). Students participated in an initial online course and a follow‐up workshop featuring geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, and hydrologic modeling with internet‐based data sets. Field activities in the USA (first cohort) and in the students’ home countries (second cohort) included stream gauging, measurement of water levels in wells, water sampling, and measurement of hydrochemical parameters. A subsequent online course focused on research ethics, preparing proposals and publications, and presenting findings to technical audiences and the public, culminating in presentations at conferences in the USA. Participants mentored other students at their home institutions and at K‐12 schools in Türkiye and Indonesia. Participant feedback during and after the programs tended to be strongly positive, and participants have continued to engage with project leaders and mentor students in their home countries and the USA. Our modular, hybrid approach offers a template for students in hydrology and related fields to develop relevant skills and engage internationally.

This work analyzes the relationship between heavy metal concentrations and other physical parameters, such as particle size and organic matter content, in sediment cores retrieved from the Oualidia lagoon. The samples were analyzed for Pb, Cd, As, Cr, Co, V, Zn, Al, Fe, and Mn using inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, while the particle size distribution was determined using a grain size analyzer (Malvern, Mastersizer) in CNESTEN. Correlation coefficient and principal component analysis were applied to the obtained data. The statistical analysis exhibited a strong relationship between fine particles and heavy metals, suggesting that the particle size mainly controls their accumulation in the studied samples. At the same time, organic matter content is negatively correlated with metals. Principal component analysis can effectively identify the comprehensive and single pollution levels of heavy metals in sediments, thus making it essential to measure heavy metal pollution in sediments. Besides, the recorded correlations between analyzed heavy metals and fine fractions suggest that hydrodynamic conditions along the lagoon are the main factors controlling the distribution and accumulation of pollutants. Such findings help in understanding the accumulation mode, deposition, and pollutant distribution along the lagoon.

Purpose: Morocco is facing climate change, as shown by national studies conducted to date. The purpose of our research work is, on one hand, to develop an experimental protocol; simulating the Moroccan climate, through exposing concretes to accelerated aging in different cycles of temperature variation (+5 to +40 C°) and humidity (60–98% RH) and on another hand, to determine the effect of exposure to temperature and humidity variation cycles on the durability indicators (of concrete [with and without thermal cure]). Design/methodology/approach: For this purpose, three classes of concrete were studied (C35, C40 and C55). Each class of concrete was considered first with no addition of silica fume (SF) and then with a 10% addition of SF. The concrete samples underwent three types of conditioning before performing the tests. The control concretes (Ct) were demoulated after 24 h and stored under stable temperature and humidity conditions (20 ± 2 °C and 80% ± 5 RH). Treated concretes (CV) demouled after 24 h and exposed to 300 cycles of 12 h of temperature and moisture variation in a climate chamber. And finally, concretes that have undergone a heat cure (CTV) for 5 h at 90 °C, were then removed from the mold and exposed to temperature and moisture variations cycles identical to treated concrete (CV). Findings: The results obtained show that aging accelerated by temperature change, and humidity improves durability indicators compared to Ct. Concretes that have undergone a thermal cure, followed by accelerated aging, show an improvement in durability indicators between 50 and 200 cycles, but the performance of concrete decreases after 200 exposure cycles. The addition of SF plays a beneficial role in the durability of concrete in the three exposure environments. Originality/value: The originality of the work is, to develop an experimental protocol, simulating the Moroccan climate, through exposing concretes to accelerated aging in different cycles of temperature variation (+5 to +40 C°) and humidity (60–98% RH) and on another hand, to determine the effect of exposure to temperature and humidity variation cycles on the durability indicators of conventional concrete (with and without thermal cure).

Graphic abstract:

Zn(II), Cd(II), and Cu(II) complexes with 1-(4-methoxyphenyl)-4-(2-(1-(pyridin-2-yl)ethylidene)hydrazinyl)-1H-pyrrole-3-carbonitrile (HP) were produced by using ball milling as a mechanochemical technique. The mode of chelation for the isolated complexes was illustrated by several spectroscopic techniques. Also, a computational study was estimated to prove the geometry of the isolated complexes by applying a density function theory method. In addition, its biological activity (antimicrobial and DNA binding) was evaluated.

Several pyridopyrimidine derivatives have been synthesized through different synthetic processes. The different physicochemical factors for their synthesis were also discussed. A comparison between the conventional and microwave-assisted synthesis was conducted by comparing total time of reaction and its yield percentage. Most of the produced uracils were established for their anti-inflammatory, analgesic, and antioxidant activities. Compounds 1and 3were demonstrated as the best results against DNA damage, whereas compounds 2aand 2bexhibited an effective anti-inflammatory activity. Moreover, the Lipinski rule parameters were calculated for the synthesized compounds. The results indicated that compounds 1, 2aand 5have good potential for subsequent development bioactivity.

This study involves a loss of soil modeling in the catchment basin of Tessaoute upstream (Central High Atlas, Morocco), the integration of the universal soil loss equation in Wischmeier (USLE) in a Geographical Information System (GIS). The model allows a qualitative and quantitative assessment of water erosion. The various factors of water erosion (climate, topography, soil, land use and erosion control practices) were mapped, processed, sorted and merged in order to quantify the water erosion rate per unit area. The result is a quantitative map, spatial reference, with an average loss of about 15.44 t/ha/year by runoff sheet and rill. This allowed us to better understand the impact of each erosive factor, assess its contribution to soil loss and establish the decisive factors that control water erosion in the watershed in order of importance, slope, soil erodibility and vegetation cover.

•Synthesis of Co(II), Pb(II), Hg(II) and Cd(II) complexes.•Spectroscopic characterization by 1H NMR, IR, UV–visible, MS.•Studying the geometry of isolated solid compounds by DFT method.•Studying the biological activity of the investigated compounds.•Cd(II) and Pb(II) metals were separated from aqueous solutions using flotation method.

TFAA‐induced cyclocondensation of compounds of type (I) yields isoindolines (II).