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Rockfalls can cause loss of life and material damage. In Northern Morocco, rockfalls and rock avalanche-deposits are frequent, especially in the Dorsale Calcaire morpho-structural unit, which is mostly formed by Jurassic limestone and dolostone formations. In this study, we focus exclusively on its northern segment, conventionally known as "the Haouz subunit". First, a rockfall inventory was conducted. Then, two datasets were prepared: one covering exclusively the source area and the other representing the entirety of the mass movements (source + propagation area). Two algorithms were then used to build rockfall susceptibility models (RSMs). The first one (Logistic Regression: LR) yielded the most unreliable results, where the RSM derived from the source area dataset significantly outperformed the one based on the entirety of the rockfall affected area, despite the lack of significant visual differences between both models. However, the RSMs produced using Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) were more or less similar in terms of accuracy, despite the source area model being more conservative. This result is unexpected given the fact that previous studies proved the robustness of the LR algorithm and the sensitivity of ANN models. However, we believe that the non-linear correlation between the spatial distribution of the rockfall propagation area and that of the conditioning factors used to compute the models explains why modeling rockfalls in particular differs from other types of landslides. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslide susceptibility indices were calculated and landslide susceptibility maps were generated for the Oudka, Morocco, study area using a geographic information system. The spatial database included current landslide location, topography, soil, hydrology, and lithology, and the eight factors related to landslides (elevation, slope, aspect, distance to streams, distance to roads, distance to faults, lithology, and Normalized Difference Vegetation Index [NDVI]) were calculated or extracted. Logistic regression (LR), multivariate adaptive regression spline (MARSpline), and Artificial Neural Networks (ANN) were the methods used in this study to generate landslide susceptibility indices. Before the calculation, the study area was randomly divided into two parts, the first for the establishment of the model and the second for its validation. The results of the landslide susceptibility analysis were verified using success and prediction rates. The MARSpline model gave a higher success rate (AUC (Area Under The Curve) = 0.963) and prediction rate (AUC = 0.951) than the LR model (AUC = 0.918 and AUC = 0.901) and the ANN model (AUC = 0.886 and AUC = 0.877). These results indicate that the MARSpline model is the best model for determining landslide susceptibility in the study area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The treatment of tuberculosis is associated with a high incidence of adverse reactions with different degrees of severity. The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of adverse reactions caused by first-line anti-tuberculosis drugs and to evaluate the treatment outcome of TB patients in a large region of Morocco. Methods: It is a multi-centric observational cohort study conducted from January 01, 2014 to January 01, 2016. A questionnaire was established for data collection from clinical charts of TB patients. The study was carried out in all the 18 centers located in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region of Morocco where tuberculosis is treated. Adverse reactions are evaluated from the start of TB treatment until its end by a specialist clinician. The treatment outcomes are evaluated, and the definitions and classifications of these outcomes are defined according to World Health Organization guidelines. Results: Among a total number of 2532 patients treated for TB, the average age is 37.3 ± 16.4 years, 10.0% of patients produced adverse reactions. 7.4% of adverse reactions are gastrointestinal, 3.7% are cutaneous, 2.0% are hepatic, 1.14% are articular, 1.07% are immunoallergic, 0.7% are neuropsychiatric, and 0.1% are ocular. The treatment outcome of TB patients is 79.1% rate for successful treatment and 15.6% for unsuccessful treatment. Conclusion: Adverse reactions caused by anti-TB drugs are frequent among patients with TB. These ADRs must be followed up by a closer monitoring during anti-TB treatment period. Treatment success outcome in our study is slightly lower than the success rate target of WHO of at least 85%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Drug resistant tuberculosis is a major public health problem in Morocco and worldwide. Treatment outcome of drug resistant tuberculosis is poor and requires a long period of treatment with many toxic and expensive antituberculosis drugs. The aim of this study is to evaluate treatment outcomes of drug resistant tuberculosis and to determine predictors of poor treatment outcomes in a large region of Morocco.Methods: It is a multi-centric observational cohort study conducted from January 01, 2014 to January 01, 2016. A questionnaire was established to collect data from clinical charts of patients with confirmed resistant TB. The study was carried out in all the 11 centers located in the Rabat-Salé-Kénitra region of Morocco where drug resistant tuberculosis is treated. Treatment outcomes were reported and the definitions and classifications of these outcomes were defined according to the WHO guidelines. Univariate and multivariate logistic regression were conducted to determine factors associated with poor drug resistant tuberculosis treatment outcomes in Morocco.Results: In our study, 101 patients were treated for drug resistant tuberculosis between January 01, 2014 and January 01, 2016. Patients' age ranged from 9.5 to70 years; 72patients (71.3%) were male and 80 patients (79.2%) were living in urban areas. Thirty two patients were smokers, 74 patients had multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, 25 patients had rifampicin resistance and 2 patients had isoniazid resistance. Treatment outcomes of tuberculosis patients were as follows: 45 patients were cured (44.5%), 9 completed treatment (8.9%), 5 patients died before completing the treatment, 35 patients were lost to follow up (34.6%) and 7 patients had treatment failure. In the multivariate analysis, being a smoker is an independent risk factor for poor treatment outcomes, (p-value = 0.015, OR = 4.355, IC [1.327-14.292]).Conclusion: Treatment success outcomes occurred in more than half of the cases, which is lower than the World Health Organization target of at least a 75% success rate. A significant number of patients abandoned their treatment before its completion. These dropouts are a serious public health hazard that needs to be addressed urgently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal landslides cause great economic damage to human installations along the Mediterranean shoreline. In the Alboran Sea, this phenomenon is very common and causes many problems for residential resorts and road infrastructures in coastal areas. In the last two decades, such slope instability processes were the subject of many studies, which employed multidisciplinary approaches to understand their underlying mechanisms and surficial kinematics in Southern Spain and elsewhere in the Mediterranean. However, advanced and new investigation methods and techniques used in these studies have never been performed in Northern Morocco despite the geomorphological, geological and climatic resemblance between the two regions. In this paper we analyze the mechanisms and processes controlling the Tamegaret slow-moving deep-seated landslide (Northern Morocco) in order to bridge this knowledge gap and to understand landslide slope dynamics on their regional context. To do so, Electrical resistivity Tomography, field investigations and multi-temporal Synthetic Aperture Radar Interferometry (InSAR) were performed to characterize slope instability processes at the study area. The interpretation of Historic aerial photographs and UAV surveys was also conducted to study the major redistribution of mass caused by recent road widening work at the landslide headscarp. Results show that the Tamegaret landslide owes its existence to deep creep processes controlled by a rock flow type gravitational deformation. Extensional tectonic structures and marine erosion processes that eliminate landslide deposits from the foot area constitute the most relevant control factors of this dynamic. InSAR results show that this deep-seated landslide is currently (2017–2019) characterized by very slow displacement rates (2–3 cm/year maximum). Yet, the substantial deformation observed both in the field and on aerial/satellite photographs suggests that the acceleration occurred during the road-widening work which caused major changes to the natural topography in the period (2009–2012). This deformation phase was manifested by local shoreline advancement at the landslide foot area. Such results show that studying historic shoreline variations can be an effective low-cost time-saving tool allowing the reconstruction of active landslide kinematics in coastal areas. On a regional scale, findings of this study highlight the resemblance between the coasts of Southern Spain and Northern Morocco in terms of (i) the geomorphological processes controlling the coastal slope dynamics at the region; (ii) the displacement rates measured in Tamegaret compared to other unstable slopes in the Northern shore of the Alboran Sea and (iii) the bad-engineering on old dormant landslides which compromises their stability. Therefore, we suggest limiting construction work on coastal hillslopes of Northern Morocco in order to prevent bad construction practices from causing economic losses in the Southern shoreline of the Alboran Sea as well. • Along the southern shoreline of the Alboran Sea, slope instability processes on coastal slopes are poorly studied. • Hence, a multidisciplinary approach is used in this work to study the Tamegaret coastal landslide. • Field surveys and ERT profiles show that the landslide is guided by a system of geological fractures. • The PSinSAR results for the period (24/09/2017 to 15/05/2019) demonstrate the very slow activity of the landslide, which was accelerated during road construction. • This period also corresponds to shoreline advancement at the landslide toe area as was proven by the historic shoreline variations map. • The same displacement rates, geomorphological processes and bad engineering on coastal landslides are observed in both shores of the Alboran Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]