The Impact of Board Characteristics on Firms Financial Performance - Evidence from the Egyptian Listed Companies

Board characteristics considered in this study include board size presence of outside directors CEO Chairman duality and gender diversity on the board Firm performance is measured by return on assets ROA and Tobin s Q This study includes firm age firm size and industry type as control variables The author tests the hypotheses on longitudinal sample of 70 firms over six-year period from 2005 until 2010 The sample includes the most active firms EGX 100 on the Egyptian stock exchange Empirical analysis is undertaken using pooled OLS and FGLS regressions after adopting the prerequisite tests and after detecting the absence of endogeneity between the variables This study makes a number of contributions to the existing literature First it provides a better understanding of the overall picture of Egypt s internal governance mechanisms The findings also contribute to our understanding of how corporate governance in Arab countries is practised in general and in Egypt in particular Second an important finding about Egyptian firms is that in the presence of the non-mandatory code the board of directors is not effective in implementing proper corporate governance practices This view is supported by the low level of compliance and the weak legal system Governance in Egyptian-listed firms is achieved spontaneously through other factors such as ownershi

Endometriosis and the Fallopian Tubes: Theories of Origin and Clinical Implications

Endometriosis is a common, oestrogen driven chronic condition, where endometrium-like epithelial and stromal cells exist in ectopic sites. At present, no curative treatments are available and the existing evidence for disease progression is conflicting. The pathogenesis is still unknown and evidently complex, as mechanisms of initiation may depend on the anatomical distribution of endometriotic lesions. However, amongst the numerous theories and plethora of mechanisms, contributions of the fallopian tubes (FT) to endometriosis are rarely discussed. The FT are implicated in all endometriosis associated symptomatology and clinical consequences; they may contribute to the origin of endometriotic tissue, determine the sites for ectopic lesion establishment and act as conduits for the spread of proinflammatory media. Here, we examine the available evidence for the contribution of the human FT to the origin, pathogenesis and symptoms/clinical consequences of endometriosis. We also examine the broader topic linking endometriosis and the FT epithelium to the genesis of ovarian epithelial cancers. Further studies elucidating the distinct functional and phenotypical characteristics of FT mucosa may allow the development of novel treatment strategies for endometriosis that are potentially curative

The Impact of Ownership Structure on Firms Financial Performance - Evidence from Egyptian Listed Companies

This study examines internal corporate governance mechanisms in the Egyptian securities market and aims to shed new light on understanding how the structure of internal governance mechanisms differs from that of the extensively studied governance mechanisms in developed countries It investigates the impact of state ownership private ownership managerial ownership and employee association ownership on financial performance The author tests the hypotheses on a sample of 70 Egyptian firms over a six-year period from 2005 to 2010 The sample includes the most Egyptian active firms EGX 100 listed on the Egyptian stock exchange To investigate the influence of ownership structure on performance this study adopts the agency theory and the resource-based view to develop the hypotheses The analysis shows the important role of private ownership and managerial ownership in firm performance However state ownership has provided inconsistent results with the two performance measures For employee ownership the inconsistency across the two performance measures can be justified by the positive investors perception about this type of ownership as it evolved as consequences of the privatisati on programme for state-owned companies In conclusion the findings of the study help stimulate further research into identifying the contingency conditions upon which ownership structure affect firm performance The empirical results also have some managerial implications for reforming ownership structur

Serum leptin in systemic lupus erythematosus patients: Its correlation with disease activity and some disease parameters

Aim of the work: To evaluate serum leptin levels in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and correlate these levels with clinical and laboratory parameters as well as disease activity using systemic lupus disease activity index (SLEDAI). Patients and methods: The study was conducted on sixty female subjects, forty SLE patients and twenty healthy controls. Patients were diagnosed according to the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) revised criteria for SLE. All patients were subjected to full history taking, thorough clinical examination, assessment of disease activity using SLEDAI and laboratory investigations including serum leptin levels (pg/ml) assessed by Enzyme Linked Immunosorbent Assay (ELISA). Patients were divided into two groups; group I with active SLE and group II with inactive SLE. Patients with SLEDAI ≥3 were considered active. Results: Significant statistical differences were found in serum leptin levels between SLE patients and controls (6229.65 vs. 2962.30 pg/ml, p < 0.001). Significant statistical correlation of serum leptin levels with body mass index (BMI) (p < 0.001) and total cholesterol (p = 0.014) in SLE patients. Non-significant statistical correlation between serum leptin levels and SLEDAI (p = 0.310). Non-significant statistical difference was found in levels of serum leptin between active and inactive SLE groups (p = 0.344). Conclusions: SLE patients had elevated serum leptin levels. Elevated leptin levels correlated significantly with BMI and total cholesterol. Serum leptin levels showed non-significant correlations with SLEDAI nor did they differentiate between active and inactive SLE patients