VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE PRACTICES IN EMERGING CAPITAL MARKETS: THE CASE OF EGYPT

Corporate governance is a crucial issue that is being addressed widely by regulators, and capital market participants around the world. Disclosure is identified as one of the challenges facing the implementation of corporate governance especially in developing countries. The current study aims to contribute to corporate governance and disclosure literature by oroviding empirical evidence of the relationship between corporate governance, ownership structure and the voluntary disclosure in an emerging capital market, namely Egypt. The study assesses the extent of total voluntary disclosure and its categories in the annual reports of the most active non financial companies m the Cairo and Alexandria Stock Exchange over four years that witnessed a remarkable initiatives to enhance transparency and corporate governance. It employs a wider theoretical framework based mainly on the political ach and benefits from institutional theory. Using a sample of 182 annual reports of the most active Egyptian listed companies, the findings indicate that while the extent of voluntary disclosure is low, there was a gradual increase in the extent of total voluntary disclosure and its categories over the examined period. However, there is no significant difference between the voluntary disclosure over the four years. This suggests that companies manage their voluntary disclosure policy which is not a random practice but subject to certain influences. The reRression results indicate the board characteristics; board size and board composition; do affect the extent of voluntary disclosure. Interestingly, the findings indicate that the existence of family members on the board has a positive association with the extent of total voluntary disclosure. This suggests that family led companies may have a litigation and reputation cost concern.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Dynamic MR-Mammography as the best method for diagnosis of invasive lobular breast carcinoma: A retrospective study

AbstractAim of the studyIt is a retrospective study aiming to provide diagnostic characterization of ILC in Dynamic MR-Mammography and to compare its diagnostic performance to mammography and ultrasonography.Material and MethodA total of 56 cases of ILC were selected in retrospective review of mammography, ultrasonography and Dynamic MRM of 420 patients with invasive breast cancer.ResultsAsymmetric density was the commonest mammography finding and the measured sensitivity of mammography in detecting ILC was 87.5% (9/56 FN).The most common US manifestation of ILC was focal shadowing without a discrete mass and its sensitivity in detecting ILC was 84.9% (10/56 FN). At MR imaging, the most common manifestation of ILC was a solitary irregular or angular mass with speculated or ill-defined margins (33.9%of cases [n=19]).The measured sensitivity is 96.5% (2/56 FN). Additional data such as those affected the patient management including the presence of multifocal or multicentric disease, chest wall involvement and contralateral breast cancer were encountered in 48.2% of cases [n=27]. ILC has a tendency to demonstrate delayed maximum enhancement with washout exhibited by only a minority of lesions (21.4% [n=12]).ConclusionMR imaging has proved to be superior to mammography and US in the detection and management of ILC. It provides useful information for further management and pre-surgical planning

The differential effects of high-fat and high- -fructose diets on the liver of male albino rat and the proposed underlying mechanisms

Background: The Western-style diet is characterised by the high intake of energy- -dense foods. Consumption of either high-fructose diet or saturated fat resulted in the development of metabolic syndrome. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the hepatic manifestation of the metabolic syndrome. Many researchers studied the effect of high-fat diet (HFD), high-fructose diet (HFruD) and high-fructose high-fat diet (HFHF) on the liver. The missing data are the comparison effect of these groups i.e. are effects of the HFHF diet on the liver more pronounced? So, this study was designed to compare the metabolic and histopathological effect of the HFD, HFruD, and HFHF on the liver. The proposed underlying mechanisms involved in these changes were also studied.  Materials and methods: Twenty four rats were divided into four groups: con- trol, HFD, HFruD, and HFHF. Food was offered for 6 weeks. Biochemical, light microscopic, immunohistochemical (Inducible nitric oxide synthase [iNOS] and alpha-smooth muscle actin [α-SMA]), real-time polymerase chain reaction (gene expression of TNF-α, interleukin-6, Bax, BCL-2, and caspase 3), histomorphometric analysis and oxidative/antioxidative markers (thiobarbituric acid reactive substances [TBARS], malondialdehyde [MDA]/glutathione [GSH] and superoxide dismutase [SOD]) were done.  Results: The HFD, HFruD and HFHF groups developed a cluster of liver disorders; steatosis, necrosis, inflammation, apoptosis, ballooning degeneration and cytopla- smic vacuolations. Internal metabolic impairments include elevated serum levels of glucose, triglycerides, low density lipoprotein and decreased serum levels of high density lipoprotein and albumin. The immunoreaction of the α-SMA and iNOS was strong in these groups. The oxidant markers (MDA and TBARS) were elevated, while the antioxidant markers (SOD and GSH) were decreased. The area per cent of collagen, inflammatory markers, caspase 3 and Bax were elevated, while the BCL-2/Bax ratio was decreased. The decrease in PAS, antioxidant markers and the elevation of the α-SMA, iNOS, inflammatory and oxidant markers were obvious in the HFHF when compared to that of the other groups.  Conclusions: High-fat diet, HFruD, and HFHF developed morphologic hepatic changes ranging from steatosis to necrosis and inflammation, besides the deve- lopment of internal metabolic impairments. The chief factors of hepatic injury were fat accumulation in the hepatocytes, oxidative stress and highly elevated iNOS. Compared to the other groups, HFHF’s effect was more prominent.

A Strategic Roadmap for Maximizing Big Data Return

Big Data has turned out to be one of the popular expressions in IT the last couple of years. In the current digital period, according to the huge improvement occurring in the web and online world innovations, we are facing a gigantic volume of information. The size of data has expanded significantly with the appearance of today's innovation in numerous segments, for example, assembling, business, and science. Types of information have been changed from structured data-driven databases to data including documents, images, audio, video, and social media contents referred to as unstructured data or Big Data. Consequently, most of the organizations try to invest in the big data technology aiming to get value from their investment. However, the organizations face a challenge to determine their requirements and then the technology that suits their businesses. Different technologies are provided by variety of vendors, each of them can be used, and there is no methodology helping them for choosing and making a right decision. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to construct a roadmap for helping the organizations determine their needs and selecting a suitable technology and applying this conducted proposed roadmap practically on two companies

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practice towards Occupational Health and Safety among Nursing Students in Gaza Strip, Palestine

Health and safety in the workplace are critical components in healthcare institutions. Unsafe working conditions are among the causes of poor  quality of care and burnout. This study aims to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practice of occupational health and safety among nursing  students at Al-Israa University. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a structured online questionnaire was distributed from March to May 2021. Of the 350 eligible students, 219  students answered the questionnaire (Response rate=62.6). Data were analyzed using the statistical software IBM-SPSS version 22. Descriptive  statistic, Independent- samples T-Test, and ANOVA tests were used. Results: The majority of participants were female (81.7%) and studying in a diploma program. 21% of nursing students have experienced a needle  stick injury. The mean scores for knowledge, attitudes, and practice were (M±SD:78.2% ±12.9, M±SD:80.6% ±7.1, and M±SD:81.2% ±7.6) respectively.  In terms of knowledge, attitudes, and practice the mean scores were statistically significant between nursing students who attended a safety  precautions course and those who didn not (P-value <.05). In terms of attitudes, the mean scores were statistically significant between diploma and  bachelor students (P-value =.026).In terms of practice, the means scores were statistically significant between males and females (P-value =.017),  nursing students who had experience with needle sticks and those who didn’t (P-value =.015). Conclusion: The authors recommend that clinical  training departments and universities continue to offer occupational health and safety courses and training for health science students. Since the  training had a positive impact on the students' practices.&nbsp

Safety Assessment of Hadithah Dam Under Extreme Operations and Collapsible Foundation Challenges

The present study involves a coherence steps to re-analyze the scenario of presence of collapsible gypseous layers in the foundation of Hadithah dam under extreme operating conditions. The motivation for such analysis was to explore the problem of construction and operation of large earth dams on collapsible soils if similar cases exist in Iraq. This study was carried out to evaluate the adequacy of the diaphragm wall and the safety level of the side slopes during the drawdown and rise period. The results were verified by the in situ design that confirmed the validity of the analysi

33% RZ-DPSK 10 Gb/s WDM Transmission

200 GHz-spaced 16-channel 40Gbit/s WDM signal transmission is proposed in Cband using 33% return-to-zero differential-phase-shift-keying (RZ-DPSK) format over a 5 spans of dispersion shifted-Anomalous fiber link. A parametric run on each span fiber length is performed (from 25 km up to 100 km). The performance of 16 40 Gb/s 33% RZ-DPSK WDM channels is analyzed using the “Optical Simulation “ software. While, the nonlinearity results related to optical fiber system have been simulated. Results that are given in this work are obtained using MATLAB R2009b (version 7.9.0.529)

Enhancement consistency and compaction characteristics of clayey soil using nano silica material

The use of stabilizing technologies has significantly expanded in recent years specially when sites are frequently construction in poor land locations. This study suggests using nano-silica to improve clayey soil's functionality. A range of nano-silica concentrations (0, 0.1, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.8) were used. Laboratory testing was used to identify Atterber's limitations, the optimum moisture content (OMC), the maximum dry density (MDD), and microstructural examination. According to the study, treating soil with 0.4-0.6% nano-silica yields the best results. According to the result, the liquid limit (LL) and plastic limit (PL) are reached maximum at 0.6% nano-silica, while the plasticity index is at its lowest point. The results showed that incorporating nano-silica into clay samples will lower the maximum

Role of Head Nurses in Managing the Safety of High Alert Medications in Critical Care Units

high-alert medication is a medication that bears a heightened risk of causing significant patient harm when used in error .Head nurses are responsible for managing and improving the safety of high alert medications within the critical care unit.  Nurses receive directions and cooperation with their head nurses to achieve this target. A total of 236 nurses were willing to participate in the descriptive cross-sectional study. The first aim of this study was to develop a new questionnaire to describe the role of head nurses towards the nurses during practices of the safety of high alert medications. A secondary aim was to identify the factors influencing these roles. The key results of this study were the establishment of the questionnaire to describe the head nurse role in managing the safety of high alert medications as a reliable and valid tool that can be used to assess nurses’ perception in this respect. Head nurses role in this study was generally mild. Evaluation role was lesser than management, patient care and supervision and development roles. These results can be attributed to a combination of factors, some related to an organizational system and the other to managerial factors. Keywords: head nurses, role, high alert, medication

NAKED EYE ESTIMATES OF MORNING PRAYER AT TUBRUQ OF LIBYA

Naked eye observations at Tubruq sky (φ = 32° 05´, λ = 23° 59´) in Libya at the Mediterranean coast (see-desert background) during the two years (2008 – 2009) of morning twilight have been recorded.  These observations led us to get some estimates about morning twilight, as it is necessary to determine the time of the True Dawn (Al-Fajr Prayer Time).  this research aims to determine the correct time of Al-Fajr Prayer by finding the accurate angle of the sun vertical depression below the horizon that is associated with legitimate mark. The Methode used in this research was field research while the observations have been recorded by monitoring the first white thread on the eastern horizon (True Dawn) that announces the time of the Morning Prayer (Al-Fajr Prayer).  The azimuthally range of observation about the solar vertical extends from 0° up to ±20°, while the phenomenon was followed from 0° up to 20° along the altitudinal range.  This research gives a result that a beginning of the morning twilight is estimated to be around 13.5° depression of the sun below the horizon.  This value can reach a minimum depression around 11.5° at low visibility and a maximum around 13.5° at a very god visibility