Using Agency Theory in Understanding Switching Behavior in B2B Service Industries “I”

Understanding switching behavior is a cornerstone in sustaining customer led marketing efforts especially in services which depend on long-term relationships with the customers and where the switching process is compound and costly for both the customer and the service provider. The issue of understanding the motives and barriers behind agency-brand switching behavior still needs further conceptual support and empirical investigation in service industries context, where the emphasis placed on investigating the actual switching motives without trying to conceptualize the issue, which if done will result in better understanding for the whole switching process. In this paper, the authors attempt to bridge this gap in the literature by examining the criterion validity of the switching behavior model using the agency theory, as the relation between the business company (principle) and an Advertising agency (the agent) could be described as agency relationship. Furthermore, this approach helps in supporting the efforts for retaining the business-to-business customers, strengthening the relationship with them, developing and adopting globally integrated customer led strategies in different countries, a trend which is expected to dominate the marketing field in the future due to the increasing role of the agency brand selection and switching in today’s world markets.Brand switching, agency theory, business to business marketing, service marketing, international advertising research

Identification and Determination of concentrations of some Toxic alkaloids in Jimsonweed (Datura stramonium L.)

Alkaloids are regarded as complex naturally occurring products of plants and fungi. They possess nitrogen-containing heterocyclic rings, basic and derived from amino acids. High physiological activity is also a characteristic of alkaloids. This study was aimed to determine the existence and concentrations of some toxic alkaloids in different parts of jimsonweed (Datura stramonium L.) of the family Solanaceae. Stems, leaves and fruits were dried, crushed and then underwent extraction. Solvents used in the extraction were chloroform and acetic acid. Thin layer chromatography (TLC) and GC-MS techniques were also adopted in analyzing the alkaloids. The results revealed the presence of atropine in stems, leaves and fruits of D. stramonium with concentrations of 0.03, 0.4 and 0.08 mg/g, respectively. Hyoscine was also found in stems, leaves and fruits with concentrations of 0.01, 0.02 and 0.2 mg/g, respectively. Nicotine was found in stems and fruits with concentrations of 0.001 and 0.02 mg/g, respectively. This study showed and provided the possibility of exploring new natural potential pesticides from Sudanese indigenous plants and provide important information to avoid toxicity, harmful and adverse effects of these plants to both humans and animals

Morphological Changes of Reach Two of the Nile River

Sediment Transport and Morphodynamic

Chemoenzymatic Routes to Biologically Active Natural Products and Related Compounds

Various genetically modified microorganisms that over-express dioxygenase-type enzymes can be used for the large scale production of compounds such as A (and known as cis-1,2-dihydrocatechols) from the corresponding aromatic precursor. These metabolites, which are almost invariably obtained in near enantiomerically pure form, have served, over many decades, as valuable starting materials in chemical synthesis. The papers presented in this thesis by publication reinforce this proposition.In order to appropriately contextualize the work undertaken by the author, an extended survey of the use of compounds such as A in total syntheses undertaken by the Banwell Group (and within which the author worked) is provided. Copies of the author’s four publications (and, where relevant, the associated Supporting Information documents) are then presented. The first publication (Publication 1) associated with this body of work represents an invited review article and also serves to contextualise, albeit from a somewhat broader perspective than given in the above-mentioned survey, the work reported in the next parts of the thesis by describing various of the contemporary ways in which homochiral and microbially-derived cis-1,2-dihydrocatechols such as A have been exploited as starting materials in the stereochemically-controlled synthesis of a range of natural products and their analogues.Publication 2 details syntheses of a series of twenty-eight analogues of the phytotoxic geranylcyclohexentriol (–)-phomentrioloxin A (B). These have been prepared through cross-couplings of various enantiomerically pure iodoconduritols or certain deoxygenated derivatives with either terminal alkynes or borylated alkenes. Some of these analogues display modest herbicidal activities and physiological profiling studies suggest that one, C, inhibits photosystem II in isolated thylakoids. Publication 3 is concerned with the development of so-called chemoenzymatic total syntheses of the natural product (+)-asperpentyn and the enantiomer of the structure assigned to aspergillusol A. These syntheses start from the enantiomerically pure cis-dihydrocatechol D, itself obtained through the whole-cell biotransformation of iodobenzene.Specifically, then, Publication 3 details the establishment of a concise (five step) synthesis of (+)-asperpentyn (E) and an eight-step reaction sequence leading to compound F, the enantiomer of the structure, G, assigned to the natural product aspergillusol A. Both routes employ the enantiomerically pure cis-1,2-dihdrocatechol D as starting material and use Sonogashira cross-coupling chemistry to install the required enyne side-chain.On the other hand, Publication 4 describes syntheses of certain di- and mono-oxygenated derivatives (e.g. H and I, respectively) as well as analogues such as K-M of both the (–)- and (+)-enantiomeric forms of the alkaloid galanthamine (J). All have been assessed for their capacities to inhibit acetylcholinesterase but, in contrast to the predictions from docking studies, none binds strongly to this enzyme

Effects of short term feeding of some marine microalgae on the microbial profile associated with Dicentrarchus labrax post larvae

AbstractThis study investigates the microbial profile and antimicrobial activity of four marine microalgae species, Tetraselmis chuii, Nannochloropsis salina, Isochrysis galbana and Chlorella salina used in aquaculture of Dicentrarchus labrax in the post larval stage to estimate which was the best algal species that could be used as a green water technique and achieving the maximum rate of growth and survival of D. labrax post larvae. The results represented a significant increase in the length and width of D. labrax at p<0.05 recorded in the case of enrichment with I. galbana followed by N. salina, and the most weight was recorded in the case of N. salina as compared with the control. Significant increase in percentage of survival of D. labrax was recorded in the case of C. salina and T. chuii (70% and 60.1%, respectively) as compared with the control (22%). The antibacterial activity (AU) of the different microalgal ethanolic extracts against fish indicator pathogens was determined. The results indicated that the ethanolic extracts of C. salina and T. chuii have the most positive records against the fish indicator pathogens (Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Vibrio damsela, Vibrio fluvialis and Aeromonas hydrophila). The current study was extended to determine the GC–MS of ethanolic extract of C. salina and T. chuii. The main constituents detected in the ethanolic extract were organic acids like hexadecanoic acid, octadecanoic acid, and an acyclic diterpene alcohol like phytol

Prevalence and Health Adverse Effects of Khat Chewing Among College Students in Jazan Region, Saudi Arabia

Khat chewing is a social habit which has stimulatory action due to its cathinone content, but its adverse effects on health are a source of growing concern. The aim of our study is to evaluate the prevalence and health adverse effects of khat chewing among students in Jazan region in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA). The study sample included 195 students from Applied Medical Science College, who were randomly selected and were asked through questionnaire and with a signed consent. About 5 ml of venous blood was collected in plain vacutainer tubes from 38 khat chewers and 20 non khat chewers as normal control. Serum was used to determine alanine aminotransferase (ALT), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), total and direct bilirubin, total protein, urea, creatinine, uric acid, and albumin. The sample consisted of 134 males and 61 females, with age range 19-27 years, and their mean age was 21.1 year. 40% of students were from urban area, and 81.5% of them from Jazan region. Out of 195 students, only 38 (19.5%) were found to chew khat. Biochemical results revealed highly significant differences among chewers in ALT, ALP, uric acid, and urea (p<0.005) compared to nonchewers group. There is also a significant difference in the total protein level (<0.05), while no significant differences were noticed in other biochemical traits analyzed. We concluded that the prevalence of khat chewing among students is fairly high (19.5 %), and that adverse effects of khat chewing on health are very clear, so all efforts should be contributed to solve this problem by increasing awareness of all members of the society to khat chewing risk

Off line Arabic handwritten character using neural network

— Character Recognition (CR) considered as one of the most important in the field of pattern recognition. The ultimate objectives of the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) system is to simulate the capability of reading, hence the OCR considered as artificial intelligence. In this paper, a character-handwritten recognition for the Arabic language is developed. The main aim of the system is to save time and effort Arabic OCR. In addition, to be the alternative of the typing manual due to provide it fast and reliable. The system has four main stages; preprocessing, segmentation, feature extraction, classification, and recognition. The system is off-line and depends on the image acquisition. So, after acquitted the image has to go through the main stages. The Neural Network used as a classifier. The proposed system is able to recognize as many characters as can with high accuracy rate. In addition, it is focusing on the character that has similarities and the system will also be considered about the number of dots and its position, and the connected components