Impact du passage aux normes IFRS pour le secteur des assurances : Cas de la Réévaluation de l’actif de placement d’une compagnie d’assurance Tunisienne

La transition attendue du secteur des assurances en Tunisie vers les normes International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), annoncée depuis 2018 par le conseil national de comptabilité, nécessite la préparation d’une feuille de route pour être à la hauteur des enjeux multiples et importants non seulement au niveau du reporting mais également sur les plans opérationnels, organisationnels et stratégiques. Ce travail vise à déterminer l’impact de la réévaluation de l’actif de placement selon les normes IFRS sur les résultats d’une compagnie d’assurance tunisienne en passant d’une évaluation basée sur le principe du « coût historique » à une évaluation basée sur la « valeur économique » des actifs. Il vise également à étudier l’impact de l’écart de réévaluation « IFRS-coût historique » sur les ratios en relation avec l’actif de placement de cette compagnie. Les résultats de la présente étude sont d’une grande utilité pratique pour les compagnies d’assurance tunisiennes. Ils ont montré l’existence des écarts de réévaluation touchant les différentes lignes réévaluées ce qui implique principalement qu’une réallocation stratégique et tactique de l’actif de placement de la compagnie devrait être engagée préalablement à la transition afin d’éviter les impacts susceptibles de peser lourdement sur l’équilibre financier de la compagnie

A rapid and easy method for the DNA extraction from Cryptococcus neoformans

DNA isolation from C. neoformans is difficult due to a thick and resistant capsule. We have optimized a new and rapid DNA isolation method for Cryptococcus using a short urea treatment followed by a rapid method using a chelex resin suspension. This procedure is simpler than previously reported methods

Pure dysgerminoma of the ovary: a study of 31 cases

Malignant germ cell tumors of the ovary are rare tumors characterized by their heterogeneity and occurring mostly in young women. Dysgerminoma is the most common type of these tumors. This was a retrospective study of 31 patients with pure dysgerminoma of the ovary diagnosed in Salah Azaiez institute of Tunis in Tunisia between 1970 and 2012.The median age was 22 years old. Abdominal pain was the most complaint in 45.1% of cases. An abdomino-pelvic mass was found in 83.8% of cases. Surgery was performed in all patients. The median tumoral size was 13.7 cm. Sixty four-point five percent of the patients underwent a conservative surgery. The tumor was classified stage I in 51.6% of the cases, stage II in 9.7% of the cases, stage III in 35.5% of the cases and stage IV in 3.2% of the cases. Fourteen patients received platinum-based adjuvant chemotherapy, and 10 patients had a radiotherapy. We have noticed 2 cases of recurrence and 2 cases of metastasis. Five-year and ten-year overall survival was 89.4%. Five-year disease free survival was 85.2% and ten-year disease free survival was 66.3%. Dysgerminomas of the ovary have a good prognosis. The two significant prognostic factors are the stage and the postoperative residual disease

BNO : An ontology for describing the behaviour of complex biomolecular networks

International audienceThe use of semantic technologies, such as ontologies, to describe and analyse biological systems is at the heart of systems biology. Indeed, understanding the behaviour of cells requires a large amount of context information. In this paper, we propose an ontology entitled ”Biomolecular Network ontology” using the OWL language. The BNO ontology standardises the terminology used by biologists experts to address issues including semantic behaviour representation, reasoning and knowledge sharing. The main benefit of this proposed ontology is the ability to reason about dynamical behaviour of complex biomolecular networks over time. We demonstrate our proposed ontology with a detailed example, the bacteriophage T4 gene 32 use case

Atividade moluscicida e larvicida das partes aéreas de Atriplex inflata contra o molusco Galba truncatula, hospedeiro intermediário da Fasciola hepatica

Fasciolose é uma parasitose generalizada que ocorre em animais de fazendas em muitos países em desenvolvimento. Por esta razão, é necessária a busca de novas substâncias contra as doenças parasitárias causadas por vermes. De fato, uma grande variedade de plantas terrestres foi objeto de testes farmacológicos e químicos a fim de descobrir o seu potencial para utilização em terapêutica humana. As atividades moluscicida e larvicida de Atriplex inflata foram testadas contra estágios larvários de Galba truncatula e Fasciola hepatica infectando este caracol na Tunísia. Testes fitoquímicos foram realizados com extratos a fim de estabelecer uma relação significativa com as atividades moluscicida e larvicida. A atividade moluscicida foi avaliada submetendo os caracóis a soluções aquosas. Conforme o caso, hexano, acetato de etilo, metanol e metanol-água (8:2, v-v) foram utilizados como solventes de extração. Como resultado, hexano e extratos de acetato apresentaram atividades potentes de acordo com a Organização Mundial de Saúde, resultando em LC50 = 7,59 mg/L e 6,69 mg/L para extratos de hexano de folhas e frutos, respectivamente. Extratos de acetato de etilo resultaram em LC50 = 5,90 mg/L e 7,32 mg/L para as folhas e frutos sucessivamente. Atividades moluscicidas das substâncias sob a forma de pó foram menos potentes em caracóis, mas ativas de acordo com a Organização Mundial de Saúde. Hexano e extratos de acetato de folhas e frutos apresentaram atividade larvicida potente, com uma taxa de atraso superior a 45,50% (45,50-98,92%). Testes fitoquímicos mostraram que estas atividades podem ser atribuídas à presença de triterpenóides e/ou esteróis.Fasciolosis is a widespread parasitosis of farm live-stock in many developing countries. For this reason, it is necessary to search for new substances against parasitic diseases caused by flukes. Indeed, a wide variety of terrestrial plants have been subjected to chemical and pharmacological screening in order to discover their potential for human medicinal use. The molluscicidal and larvicidal activities of Atriplex inflata were tested on Galba truncatula and Fasciola hepatica larval stages infecting this snail in Tunisia. Phytochemical tests were conducted on extracts in order to establish a meaningful relationship with molluscicidal and larvicidal activities. The molluscicidal activity was evaluated by subjecting snails to sample aqueous solutions. Accordingly, hexane, ethyl acetate, methanol and methanol-water (8:2, v-v) were used as extraction solvents. As a result, hexane and ethyl acetate extracts showed potent activity, according to the World Health Organization, giving LC50 = 7.59 mg/L and 6.69 mg/L for hexane extracts of leaves and fruits, respectively. Ethyl acetate extracts gave LC50 = 5.90 mg/L and 7.32 mg/L for leaves and fruits, successively. Molluscicidal activities of powders were less potent on snails, but active according to the World Health Organization. Hexane and ethyl acetate extracts from leaves and fruits gave potent larvicidal activities with a delay rate exceeding 45.50% (45.50- 98.92%). Phytochemical tests showed that these activities may be attributed to the presence of triterpenoids and/or sterols

Chemistry of Camel Milk Proteins in Food Processing

Camel milk and its extracted protein fractions were found to provide various potential techno-functional properties which can be used in the food industry. This chapter summarizes existing knowledge on camel milk protein’s chemistry to explain the different reactions and their control for the major processes utilized by the modern milk processing industry. The composition and chemical properties of camel milk proteins including caseins and whey proteins are investigated. The effect of processing upon denaturation, aggregation, and destabilization of milk proteins is updated. Technological consequences of thermal processing as well as techno-functional properties of camel milk proteins are also described in different techno-functional properties including foaming, emulsifying, and gelling properties. This chapter aims to improve camel milk production and consumption worldwide not only in the arid countries and the hot regions

Resectable gastric signet ring cell carcinoma: clinicopathological characteristics and survival outcomes

Background:Gastric signet ring cell carcinoma (SRCC) appears to have clinical features and survival rates particularly different from other histological types. The aim of this study was to investigate clinicopathological features and survival outcomes of SRCC and to compare them with non-signet ring cell carcinoma (NSRCC).Methods:We retrospectively studied 145 patients with non-metastatic gastric carcinoma who underwent gastrectomy in our institute from 2005 to 2015. Among them, 36 patients (9.4%) with SRCC were compared to 109 patients (90.6%) with NSRCC.Results:Patients with SRCC presented at a younger age (p=0.001) with more advanced stage III-IV disease (p=0.005) and advanced N stages with a higher rate of pN3 (p=0.0001), a higher number of invaded lymph nodes (p=0.002) and a higher rate of patients with a lymph node ratio exceeding 25% (63.9% vs 36.7, p=0.004). After a median follow up of 35.30 months, there was no significant difference in the 5 years overall (OS) survival between SRCC and NSRCC ((36.7% vs 45.7%, p=0.206).However, the 5 years progressive free survival (PFS) was significantly decreased in case of SRCC (38.7% vs 50.9%, p=0.038) with a higher rate of metastasis in (52.9% vs 29.5%, p=0.013) and peritoneal recurrence (35.3% vs 9.5%, p<0.0001). The main prognostic factors of PFS and OS in SRCC were tumoral stenosis, hypoprotidemia, tumor size, depth of invasion (p=0.001), perineural and lymphovascular invasion, the UICC stage and complete surgical resection.Conclusion:Gastric SRCC have a particular clinicopathological behavior compared to NSRCC suggesting its more aggressive character

Characteristics of epstein barr virus variants associated with gastric carcinoma in Southern Tunisia

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Backgroud</p> <p>EBV-associated Gastric Carcinoma (EBVaGC) has a distinct clinical features and its prevalence is variable worldwide.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>To determine the prevalence of EBVaGC in Tunisia, EBV-encoded small RNA (EBER) expression was assessed in 81 gastric carcinoma (GC) specimens. The nuclear EBER expression was detected in 12 out of 81 GC cases (14.81%) and concordance between the score range of EBER staining and the number of EBV DNA copies as estimate by QPCR is observed. On the other hand, we found that EBVaGC strongly correlated with age at diagnosis, and weakly with tumor differentiation and venous invasion.</p> <p>Furthermore, the EBVaGC specimens were subjected to determine the EBV DNA polymorphisms. Our results show a unique genetic profile of the EBV strains regarding the A and D types, the F prototype, the retention of <it>Xho</it>I restriction site and the 30 bp del-LMP1 variant. <b><it>According to our previous studies on nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), we suggested that EBV strains associated to GC and NPC shared some similarities in Tunisian patients</it>.</b></p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The prevalence of EBVaGC is of 14.81% in the southern Tunisia and that common EBV strain are associated with both NPC and GC which are likely to differ from Asian strains. Our findings support therefore a certain geographical distribution of EBV strains which is not restricted to EBV-associated malignancies.</p