The nonlinear impact of technologies import on industrial employment: A panel threshold regression approach.

This study aims to obtain empirical evidence of the existence of a nonlinear effect of imported technology on industrial employment, which has been largely overlooked in the literature. To achieve this objective, this article employed panel data models using non-linear panel threshold regression (PTR) approaches for a sample of developed and developing countries over the period of technological advancement from 2000 to 2019. Several conclusions were drawn from this study. Firstly, the use of a regime-switching test based on the Hansen approach confirmed the existence of a nonlinear relationship between technology imports and industrial employment. Secondly, the analysis demonstrated that the threshold and its impact vary depending on the level of economic development. In addition, the results showed a weak positive impact for both developed and developing countries. However, this positive effect was more pronounced in developed countries, mainly due to the relative efficiency of their compensatory mechanisms. This efficiency is dependent on the institutional and economic factors of the countries. Therefore, special attention should be given to these factors when formulating economic policies and innovation strategies.

The symmetric and asymmetric impacts of external debt on economic growth in Tunisia: evidence from linear and nonlinear ARDL models.

This paper aims to empirically examine the symmetric and asymmetric impact of external debt on economic growth in Tunisia between 1965 and 2019. The empirical methodology used is based on the one hand on the linear autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model of Pesaran et al. (Econ Soc Monogr 31:371-413. 10.1371/journal.pone.0184474, 2001), and on the other hand, on the nonlinear ARDL (NARDL) model of Shin et al. (Nucleic Acids Res 42(11):90. 10.1038/s41477-021-00976-0, 2014). The results show that the asymmetry assumption is valid for the long term. In addition, the empirical analysis shows a negative impact of positive external debt variation and a positive impact of negative external debt variation. This suggests that economic growth is more sensitive and favorable to decreases than to increases in external debt, which in turn means that maintaining debt at relatively high levels is detrimental to Tunisian economic growth.

[Gallbladder agenesis: about three cases]. / Agénésie de la vésicule biliaire: à propos de trois cas.

Gallbladder agenesis is a rare congenital anomaly. This study aimed to highlight the epidemiological aspects of this condition as well as the peculiarities of its diagnostic and therapeutic management through three case reports. Two adults were admitted to Hospital with hepatic colics and dyspepsia. Ultrasound showed multilithiasic scleroatrophic vesicle. In one of the two patients, CT scan results showed a stone at the level of scleroatrophic vesicle. These two patients were wrongly operated for vesicular lithiasis by using conventional method. The absence of gallbladder was detected during surgery. In order to confirm post-operative diagnosis, the first patient underwent biliary MRI. The other patient was lost to follow-up. The third patient was a 13-year old child hospitalized with acute pancreatitis. Vesicular agenesis was suspected based on its scannographic aspect and then confirmed using biliary MRI. This patient didn't underwent surgery.