Equilibrium real exchange rate and misalignments : Lessons from a VAR-ECM model applied to Tunisia

Tunisia has experienced a performance when pursuing a constant real exchange rate rule. The limitations of this rule are beginning to emerge in the context of a more open economy, which desire to relax capital controls. This paper estimates the equilibrium real exchange rate of the dinar vis 0076is the euro and the $US from 1983 to 2000, using quarterly data, based on the following fundamental variables: terms of trade, net capital inflows and the differential of productivity. Results show that Tunisian dinar was overvalued before the 1986 devaluation, becomes close to its equilibrium value over the 90s. In the beginning of this century (2000), authorities permit a larger fluctuation of the real effective exchange rate.Equilibrium real exchange rate, Misalignment, Cointegration

Cellulitis in aged persons: a neglected infection in the literature

Cellulitis is a frequent soft tissue and skin infection. The lower limbs are affected in 70 to 80% of cases. Cellulitis in aged persons is not yet well described in literature. A retrospective descriptive study conducted in the Internal Medicine Department of Sahloul hospital in Sousse in Tunisia. It included patients whose age was up to 65 years old admitted into hospital for cellulitis of the legs, the arms or the face. One hundred fifty eight patients with a mean age of 73 years old (range: 65 to 94 years old) were included. Female to male sex ratio was 0.68. Among them, we noted diabetes mellitus in 81 cases (50.6%). The infection was located in the lower limbs in 155 cases (98%), in the face in two cases (1.3%) and in the upper limb in one case (0.7%). Twenty one patients (13.3%) presented with severe cellulitis and one presented with necrotizing fasciitis. All patients received intra venous antibiotic therapy. Surgical treatment was indicated in 14 cases. Cefazolin was prescribed in 77 cases (48%). Favorable evolution was noted in 144 patients (91.1%). Forty four patients (27.8%) received prophylactic antibiotics. Prevention of skin and soft tissue infection is a crucial step to preserve health in aged persons.Keywords: Cellulitis, aged person, diabetes, necrotizing fasciitis, antibiotic, surger

Obésité, activité physique et temps de sédentarité chez des adolescents scolarisés, âgés de 15 à 18 ans de la ville de Sfax (Tunisie)

Introduction: Le but de notre étude était d'évaluer la prévalence du surpoids et de l'obésité chez des adolescents scolarisés dans la ville de Sfax mais aussi, d'étudier son association avec le temps de sédentarité et l'activité physique (AP). Méthodes: La population étudiée était composée de 1695 adolescents âgés de 15-18 ans. Tous les participants avait rempli un questionnaire porté sur leurs activités physiques et temps de sédentarité, donné lors d'un entretien direct. Le niveau d'AP était évalué avec l'International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) version courte. Résultats: Notre étude comportait 43,7% de garçons et 56,3% de filles. L'âge moyen était de 16,78 ± 1, 1 an. Dans notre échantillon, 23,4% des adolescents étaient en surpoids ou obèses. Le score de l'IPAQ nous a montré que le niveau d'AP de nos participants était faible dans 6,4%, modéré dans 65,4% et élevé dans 28,2% des cas. Nos résultats avaient démontré que l'augmentation du temps de sédentarité (plus de 2 h / jour) est associée à une augmentation significative de l'indice de masse corporelle (IMC) et du tour de taille (TT) (P <0,001). Alors qu'un niveau d'AP élevé et/ou la participation aux séances d'AP structurées dans le cadre scolaire et hors scolaire est accompagnée par une diminution significative de l'IMC et du TT (P <0,001). Conclusion: Nos résultats apportent une preuve supplémentaire sur la nécessité de promouvoir la vie active chez les jeunes Tunisiens.Pan African Medical Journal. 2015; 2

Euro / dollar : quelle stratégie de change pour la Tunisie ?

Tunisia makes 70% of its trade with euro zone. So, pegging to euro seems to be a suitable exchange rate policy. Giving that its external debt is denominated at the rate of 45% in US dollar, 30% in euros and 10% in Japanese yen, this policy may be painful if the dollar appreciates, because debt will be more expensive. The aim of this paper is to know if Tunisian authorities take into account of the external financing constraint in making their exchange policy. If it is so, is it suitable to peg to euro? For this purpose, we compared the actually exchange rate policy to the one that should be in targeting both competitiveness and external financing constraint. JEL Classification: F31; F37; O24.competitiveness, debt denomination, tunisian dinar, optimal peg

Impact of Wastewater Spreading on Properties of Tunisian Soil under Arid Climate

The environmental impacts of irrigating an olive field with olive mill wastewater (OMW) and treated wastewater (TWW) on soil properties were investigated. The effect of different irrigation treatments of OMW (50 m3 ha−1, 100 m3 ha−1, and 200 m3 ha−1) and TWW at different soil depths was studied. The obtained findings revealed that TWW application augmented soil pH; EC values; and P, K and Ca contents in all soil layers. However, Mg and Na concentrations, as well as organic matter content (OM), were proven to decrease with TWW irrigation throughout the experiment. Whereas soil adjusted with OMW showed a decrease in K, Ca, Mg and Na contents with soil depth, a significant increase was observed with the increase in applied OMW dose. On the other hand, total phenols and OM content increased significantly with the rise in OMW levels in all the investigated layers compared to the control sample

Graphical abstract_CoBiol_260922

With the static #global growth 🌏 of the #biomass-derived #fuel #supplychain, coupled with their inclusion in the long-term #decarbonization of many transport enterprises, the sector still addresses the following #questions: are the emerging technologies assessing the #sustainability and #scalability of biofuels? and if so, what are the #challenges in the implementation of the future global #energy– #water–#climate #nexus? Despite #hydrothermal #liquefaction (HTL) being a competitive technology and apart from #crudeoil as the target product, the major challenge limiting the economic viability and technical scalability of the HTL-related process is the safe disposal of generated by-products, including nearly 25 wt.% to 50 wt.% post-hydrothermal #aqueous #phase (HTL-AP 💧) and 5 wt.% to 20 wt.% solid #hydrochar residues (HCs). #Integrating #adsorbents such as commercially #activatedcarbon and #zeolites can be a potential step to the removal of xenobiotic and recalcitrant #organic and #nutrient compounds from HTL-AP. However, these expensive adsorbents require a substitute for adsorption sustainability. Solid HCs, which are generated from HTL with carbon as the major element, can be used as low-cost adsorbents. However, its #porosity of 0.058–0.082 cm3/g and BET-specific surface area of 1.56–17 m2/g remain comparatively low because of the formation and condensation of hydrocarbons on the surface, thereby clogging pores and reducing its #adsorption capacity. To the best of our knowledge, existing HTL studies have well-characterized crude bio-oils but have not focused on hydrochar except for primary details such as yield and ultimate analysis. Furthermore, the use of HTL hydrochar as an alternative low cost for #commercial adsorbents and #wastewater #remediation purposes is very less explored in comparison to pyrolytic char. Hence, the focus of our just available online accepted article is to contribute to the knowledge development of these #gaps

Video_CoBiol_280722

The storytelling of ICCE 2022: Audio Presentation This audio represents the outline of the presentation given at the 18th International Conference on clean energy - ICCE 2022.

Impact of Wastewater Spreading on Properties of Tunisian Soil under Arid Climate

The environmental impacts of irrigating an olive field with olive mill wastewater (OMW) and treated wastewater (TWW) on soil properties were investigated. The effect of different irrigation treatments of OMW (50 m3 ha−1, 100 m3 ha−1, and 200 m3 ha−1) and TWW at different soil depths was studied. The obtained findings revealed that TWW application augmented soil pH; EC values; and P, K and Ca contents in all soil layers. However, Mg and Na concentrations, as well as organic matter content (OM), were proven to decrease with TWW irrigation throughout the experiment. Whereas soil adjusted with OMW showed a decrease in K, Ca, Mg and Na contents with soil depth, a significant increase was observed with the increase in applied OMW dose. On the other hand, total phenols and OM content increased significantly with the rise in OMW levels in all the investigated layers compared to the control sample

<p>Nitrogen transfer mechanism research on the co- pyrolysis macroalgae with polyethylene</p>

This study unveiled the effect of co-pyrolysis and nitrogen transformation characteristics of macroalgae (Enter-omorpha prolifera (EP)) and waste plastics (polyethylene) by using Py-GC/MS experiment and density functional theory (DFT). The possible reaction pathways were designed by using composition and pyrolysis intermediates of EP including amino acids and cyclic acylamide as model compounds, respectively. Subsequently, the mechanism of nitrogen transformation during the pyrolysis of EP and the synergistic mechanism of co-pyrolysis with polyethylene (PE) were revealed by DFT. Py-GC/MS results showed that the nitrogen-containing products of EP pyrolysis were mainly Sarcosine, Imidazole, and (2E)-3-(2-Amino-1H-imidazol-5-yl) acrylic acid, and the co pyrolysis products were urea and cadaverine. Co-pyrolysis is beneficial to decreased the species and quantities of N-containing compounds, and the relative content of nitrogen-containing compounds decreased from 7.91% to 3.53%. The DFT results also verified the rationality of each possible pathway using the quantum chemistry calculation and through analysis of the activation energy (delta G*), the reaction heat (delta G) and the reaction enthalpy change (delta H). This study confirmed that there is a synergistic effect in the co-pyrolysis process of EP and PE in which the hydrogen radicals provided by PE can reduce the reaction energy barrier and then promote the mechanism of nitrogen during the pyrolysis process