During the history of civilizations, advanced wood decay results from exposure to various agents for long periods of time. Bio-deterioration, under the influence of living organisms like fungi, can cause massive damage to historical monuments. In this work, we found that fungi participating in wood degradation share a single strategy for degrading wood polymers by secreting enzymes that break down the main constituents of wood such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. While Penicillium commune, Penicillium granulatum and Penicillium chrysogenum showed the highest cellulase productivity and are therefore the most destructive for timber, other fungal species participate also in this biodegradation including Penicillium crustosum, Penicillium expansum Cladosporium cladosporioides and a cellulotic specie Thielavia hyalocarpa that we describe here for the first time.

Within the Mediterranean basin, pest infestation of the olive tree especially by Bactrocera oleae is a serious economic problem. In this study, we have isolated 115 bacterial strains from various ecological niches, and tested their ability to protect the olive fruits against Bactrocera oleae. Among these strains, culture supernatant (CS) of one bacterial strain displayed the highest rate of larval mortality, and was identified as Bacillus subtilis by 16S rRNA molecular analysis. Further characterization of the CS of the Bacillus sp. strain showed that the highest insecticidal activity against third instar larvae occurs at pH 7. Our results indicate that this bacteria strain may be a prospective alternative in pest control programs.

A formulation was developed from the metabolite(s) of Pseudomonas aeruginosa (IL5) and tested against 3 rd instar larvae of the olive fruit fly Bactrocera oleae, the most serious pest on olive cultivations in the world. In this study, we have isolated 115 bacterial strains from various ecological niches from the soil, water, dead insects and infested olives and tested their ability to protect the olive fruits against this pest. The results show a high mortality at pH = 6 observed 72 h later. The LC50 dosage for larvae of this insect species was 24.0784 µl/ml. Our results conclude that this bacterial strain may be used as natural biocides.

Computer science as a school subject has been a regular media subject for more than 20 years. Indeed, all the educational systems of the world are now convinced that today's learners, brought to live in a hyper-scientific society. This research aims to discover the sources of computer difficulties encountered by some nursing students. We used two well-known methods of analysis: the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) and the Pencil/Paper Questionnaire. Data obtained revealed that the prerequisites are overestimated because the notions learned in high school are forgotten and that the basic notions of computer science seem to present difficulties for these learners. The results of the questionnaire and the NGT are similar and complementary. It becomes clear that using NGT and the questionnaire are efficient tools to diagnose the difficulties and obstacles of nursing students. The NGT can be used not only in identifying students’ problems with scientific notions in computer science, but also in other subjects. Keywords: Questionnaire, difficulties, obstacles, computer science, nursing students.