Incidental neuroendocrine tumor of the appendiceal base less than20 mm in diameter: is appendectomy enough?

The appendixis the second primary site for neuroendocrine tumors. The management of incidentelly discovered neuroendocrine tumor of the appendiceal base less than 20 mm in diameter is still controversal. The aim of this study was to discuss the management of such tumors. Three patients were operated on for acute  appendicitis. Histopathologic examination of surgery specimens revealed neuroendocrine tumors of the appendiceal base less than 20 mm in diameter. Since no one presented with poor prognostic factors, no complementary right hemicolectomy was performed. No recurrence was observed. The existence of  poorprognostic factors at histopathologic examination should indicate complementary right hemicolectomy for incidental neuroendocrine tumor of the appendiceal base less than 20 mm in diameter.Key words: Neuroendocrine tumors, appendix, treatmen

Risk Assessment for Reimbursement of Microfinance Institutions

Purpose: Understanding the repayment behavior of the borrower is very important to the lending decisions of financial institutions and thus helps to promote the development of microfinance. This paper examines the factors that affect the repayment default of microfinance in Tunisia.   Theoretical framework: Some studies highlight the importance of incorporating macroeconomic conditions for the estimation of borrowers’ credit risk (Bellotti & Crook, 2013). However, IADB (2020) announced that after the start of the Covid-19 pandemic in the region, microfinance institutions had restricted liquidity, which affected the availability of credit.  Therefore, for the purpose of the present article, the literature on default in MFIs analyzes the credit risk and factors that influence granted loans   Design/Methodology/Approach:  We carried out a survey, with a non-stratified sample of 320 microcredit beneficiaries, during 2021 in Enda-inter-Arab agencies located in the region of Sousse- Tunisia. We introduce a binary logistic regression model  to predict the values taken by a discrete variable from a series of continuous or binary explanatory variables.   Findings: We show that borrowers’ socioeconomic characteristics, total loan, repayment period and past participation in microcredit loans have significant impacts, as special features, on their default rates.   Research, Practical & Social implications: This paper has been designed to provide some valuable contributions in improving the repayment performance and can be significant political involvement, derived from the strong relationship between the level of poverty and the success of loan repayments. Indeed, the level of borrowers’ poverty must be given considerable weight before the loan is disbursed.   Originality/Value: The results indicate that the qualification and age of the workforce should be considered a basic requirement before the granting of loan. In addition the microfinance institution's credit policy should also consider service projects a priority.

Semi-Random LDPC Codes for CDMA Communication over Nonlinear Bandlimited Satellite Channels

This paper considers the application of low-density parity check (LDPC) error correcting codes to code division multiple access (CDMA) systems over satellite links. The adapted LDPC codes are selected from a special class of semi-random (SR) constructions characterized by low encoder complexity, and their performance is optimized by removing short cycles from the code bipartite graphs. Relative performance comparisons with turbo product codes (TPC) for rate 1/2 and short-to-moderate block sizes show some advantage for SR-LDPC, both in terms of bit error rate and complexity requirements. CDMA systems using these SR-LDPC codes and operating over non-linear, band-limited satellite links are analysed and their performance is investigated for a number of signal models and codes parameters. The numerical results show that SR-LDPC codes can offer good capacity improvements in terms of supportable number of users at a given bit error performance

Semi-Random LDPC Codes for CDMA Communication over Nonlinear Bandlimited Satellite Channels

This paper considers the application of low-density parity check (LDPC) error correcting codes to code division multiple access (CDMA) systems over satellite links. The adapted LDPC codes are selected from a special class of semi-random (SR) constructions characterized by low encoder complexity, and their performance is optimized by removing short cycles from the code bipartite graphs. Relative performance comparisons with turbo product codes (TPC) for rate 1/2 and short-to-moderate block sizes show some advantage for SR-LDPC, both in terms of bit error rate and complexity requirements. CDMA systems using these SR-LDPC codes and operating over non-linear, band-limited satellite links are analysed and their performance is investigated for a number of signal models and codes parameters. The numerical results show that SR-LDPC codes can offer good capacity improvements in terms of supportable number of users at a given bit error performance

Effect of Noise in Optically-Fed Phased Array Antennas for CDMA Wireless Networks

The characteristics of an optically fed phased array antenna are affected by the amplitude and phase noise introduced by optical amplifiers (EDFA) used in the system. A theoretical derivation and a numerical computation of the effect of phase noise on antenna performance are given in this paper. The phase fluctuations make the main beam to jitter around a mean value directly related to the mean and the variance of the amplified spontaneous emission induced random phase change

Les tableaux de La Religieuse : du roman de Diderot au film de Nicloux

En 2013, presque un demi-siècle après l’adaptation polémique du roman posthume de Diderot par Jacques Rivette, Guillaume Nicloux revisite La Religieuse et fait découvrir au grand public l’histoire de Suzanne Simonin telle qu’il la voit. La réalisation du film oblige, inévitablement, à conférer aux tableaux de La Religieuse une coloration et un sens particuliers. C’est précisément à l’interprétation des tableaux du roman de Diderot proposée par Nicloux que cet article s’intéresse. L’étude porte principalement sur les tableaux qui mettent en scène le corps féminin : le corps hystérique qui se révolte et se soumet, succombant successivement à la déraison et à la mélancolie.In 2013, nearly half a century after Jacques Rivette’s polemical adaptation of Diderot’s novel, Guillaume Nicloux went back to La Religieuse and provided the public with his own view of the story of Suzanne Simonin. The film inevitably gives the scenes of La Religieuse a particular colour and meaning. This article studies Nicloux’s interpretation of the scenes of Diderot’s novel, in particular those which display the female body as a hysterical body which revolts and submits, giving in successively to folly and melancholy

AFM-Based Mechanical Nanomanipulation

Advances in several research areas increase the need for more sophisticated fabrication techniques and better performing materials. Tackling this problem from a bottom-up perspective is currently an active field of research. The bottom-up fabrication procedure offers sub-nanometer accurate manipulation. At this time, candidates to achieve nanomanipulation include chemical (self-assembly), biotechnology methods (DNA-based), or using controllable physical forces (e.g. electrokinetic forces, mechanical forces). In this thesis, new methods and techniques for mechanical nanomanipulation using probe force interaction are developed. The considered probes are commonly used in Atomic Force Microscopes (AFMs) for high resolution imaging. AFM-based mechanical nanomanipulation will enable arranging nanoscale entities such as nanotubes and molecules in a precise and controlled manner to assemble and produce novel devices and systems at the nanoscale. The novelty of this research stems from the development of new modeling of the physics and mechanics of the tip interaction with nanoscale entities, coupled with the development of new smart cantilevers with multiple degrees of freedom. The gained knowledge from the conducted simulations and analysis is expected to enable true precision and repeatability of nanomanipulation tasks which is not feasible with existing methods and technologies

The wave packet propagation using wavelets

It is demonstrated that the wavelets can be used to considerably speed up simulations of the wave packet propagation in multiscale systems. Extremely high efficiency is obtained in the representation of both bound and continuum states. The new method is compared with the fast Fourier algorithm. Depending on ratios of typical scales of a quantum system in question, the wavelet method appears to be faster by a few orders of magnitude.Comment: Latex 7 pages, 3 colored figures (Fig1 postscript, Fig2,3 gif) in files separate from the pape

Semi-Nonparametric Estimation of Energy Demand in Tunisia

In this paper, we have studied the possibilities of substitution between different forms of energy at the sectoral level in Tunisia. Indeed, we estimated a globally flexible functional form of Fourier type using the iterative Zellner’s seemingly unrelated regression (ITSUR). Contrary to several previous studies in the literature, we calculated the price (proper and crossed) and income elasticities, the elasticities of substitution in the sense of Allen, as well as the elasticities of substitution in the sense of Morishima for the period (1980-2017). The results show that price and income elasticities differ from one energy product to another and from one sector to another, depending on the destination (final or intermediate) and the nature of use. Additionally, the findings suggest that energy demand is more sensitive to changes in income rather than changes in price. It is noteworthy that the absolute value of price elasticity is lower than that of income elasticity. Implementing an appropriate pricing policy can help limit the income effect and encourage economic agents to make efforts to save energy. Our results also indicate that any pricing policy aiming to reduce energy consumption must consider the possibilities of substituting between products. Otherwise, this policy may yield results contrary to the intended objectives

New Technique For Improving Performance Of LDPC Codes In The Presence Of Trapping Sets

Trapping sets are considered the primary factor for degrading the performance of low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes in the error-floor region. The effect of trapping sets on the performance of an LDPC code becomes worse as the code size decreases. One approach to tackle this problem is to minimize trapping sets during LDPC code design. However, while trapping sets can be reduced, their complete elimination is infeasible due to the presence of cycles in the underlying LDPC code bipartite graph. In this work, we introduce a new technique based on trapping sets neutralization to minimize the negative effect of trapping sets under belief propagation ( BP) decoding. Simulation results for random, progressive edge growth ( PEG) and MacKay LDPC codes demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique. The hardware cost of the proposed technique is also shown to be minimal. Copyright (c) 2008 Esa Alghonaim et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited