Determinants of firm growth with repect to exporting and innovation activities:evidence from Egyptian SMEs

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are considered to be the driving engine for employment growth, source of innovation and technological progress. Moreover, the success of small exporters is critical for economic growth and is considered as an important development stage for many SMEs. However, their competitive advantage lies within the firm’s ability to innovate. This thesis contributes to the above literature by examining two main factors believed to promote firm growth namely ‘exporting’ and ‘innovation’ activities. Growing interests on the relationship between exporting, innovation and growth have recently been tackled. However, there remains a gap in literature on the relationship between exporting, innovation and firm growth for SMEs in emerging economies. Previous studies are conducted in developed counties such as UK, Ireland, USA, Germany, and Switzerland, which leaves the gap for those developing countries. Thus, this thesis addresses the gap by examining the importance of innovation and exporting activities in the growth of SMEs in Egypt. It is also the researcher’s intent to recognise the unique contribution of innovation on firm exporting activities covering all sectors. Egypt, one of the countries that were tremendously affected by the so-called ‘Arab Spring revolution’, is suffering from slow economic growth, high unemployment and poverty rate. Thus, the government must ensure economic growth and job creation. Programmes to encourage and develop SMEs should be part of inclusive growth strategy. Meanwhile, exporting is regarded as a key factor to help the economy recover from recession and stimulate economic growth. On the other hand, innovation leads to better performance in terms of growth, exporting and productivity. Therefore, SMEs and their exporting and innovation activities should be an integral part of any recovery and growth strategy for the economy. Moreover, Egypt is suffering from the so-called ‘Missing Middle’, which is problematic as medium firms tend to provide better employment growth and productivity. Therefore, more light is to shed on the importance of exporting and innovation in the growth of firms. The research design was quantitative in nature, testing the proposed hypotheses. The study was conducted in 2013 based on questionnaires of 406 Egyptians SMEs. The results of the empirical study suggest that both exporting and innovation activities are important in firm growth. However, the results show that, after controlling for endogeneity, innovation does not affect exporting activities in SMEs

Software application for computer aided vocabulary learning in a blended learning environment

This study focuses on the effect of computer-aided vocabulary learning software called \u27ArabCAVL on students\u27 vocabulary acquisition. It was hypothesized that students who use the ArabCAVL software in blended learning environment will surpass students who use traditional vocabulary learning strategies in face-to-face learning environment even though both groups were using the same framework for introducing vocabulary. Pre-test and post-test were used for assessing the previously mentioned factors, while a questionnaire with open-ended questions was used to elicit students\u27 attitudes toward using the software. Despite the fact that both the Nation (2001) framework and the ArabCAVL software showed a significant increase in students\u27 vocabulary recognition and usage, the results of the treatment group exposed to ArabCAVL software were clearly higher than those of the control group. Finally, the results supported the previously mentioned hypothesis, and it was shown that students had a positive attitude toward the software

\u27Her future is marriage\u27: Young people\u27s attitudes towards gender roles and the gender gap in Egypt

This report examines youth gender-role attitudes in Egypt using quantitative data, from the nationally representative Survey of Young People in Egypt 2009 and 2014, which provides a broad overview of youth gender-role attitudes throughout the country and among different subpopulations of youth. Qualitative data complements this analysis by offering a more in-depth view of how young people think about men and women’s roles in society and why they hold these beliefs. The findings also highlight the extent to which conservative attitudes of gender relations may influence practices even in the face of legal change. Gender-role attitudes are a deeply held component of individuals’ beliefs, and sustained, interactive engagement with young people is likely needed in order to influence them. In order to work toward more egalitarian gender attitudes among Egyptian young people, programs and policies must build from the understanding that these attitudes are not only about women, but rather are a part of the social norms that affect women\u27s and men’s outcomes alike

Metastatic Eccrine Porocarcinoma Respond to Combination Chemotherapy Docetaxel, Cisplatin and Infusion 5 FU with Long Disease Control

Introduction: Eccrine porocarcinoma (EPC) is a rare tumor. It develops from the intraepidermal ductal portion of the eccrine sweat gland. Many chemotherapeutic agents were reported to have efficacy in treatment of metastatic EPC; two of very effective agents were docetaxel and 5FU.Case Presentation: We are reporting a case of 60 years old female who was diagnosed as metastatic eccrine porocarcinoma to mediastinum which was treated by systemic chemotherapy in the form of DCF: docetaxel 75 mg/m2 D1, cisplatin 75 mg/m2 D1 and continues infusion 5FU 750 mg/m2 from D1 to D4, and this regimen was repeated every 28 days for 6 cycles.Conclusion: DCF regimen can be one of the best options for stage IV EPC with long overall survival and best response rate

A COMPREHENSIVE REVIEW ON IRIS RECOGNITION METHODS

The necessity for the biometrical security has been increased in order to give security and safety from the theft, frauds, etc. Iris recognition acquired a considerable value amongst all the biometrics-based systems. It is utilized used for surveillance and authentication for detecting individuals and proving an individual’s identity. The present article discusses the various stages of recognizing iris images, which include acquiring, segmenting, normalizing, extracting features, and matching. The model of a typical iris recognition system of the eye is described and the results of its work are presented. The present study will investigate the comparative performances from various methods on the feature extraction for the accuracy of the iris recognition

Effect of Feeding Benzoic acid on Performance of Broiler Chickens

The research was conducted to determine the influence of benzoic acid on growth performance, carcass traits, blood parameters and meat chemical composition of broiler birds. The research was carried out using 90 three weeks old broilers (Ross 308) divided into three groups, 30 per each. The levels of inclusion of the benzoic acid was based on treatment 1 (control) 0%, treatment 2 = 0.4% and treatment 3 = 0.8%. Results showed that, feeding benzoic acid to broilers had no significant on body weight, weight gain, feed intake and feed conversion at the two tested levels. Carcass traits did not show significant differences for the treatments, with the exception of bursa weight significantly increased. The serum total protein and globulin were significantly (P<0.05) increased in benzoic acid supplemented broilers. However, no significant differences were observed in serum albumin, triglyceride, cholesterol and uric acid between different experimental groups. No significant differences were observed for hematological parameters among all treated groups. There were no significant differences in chemical composition of broilers meat, including dry matter, protein and ash content. It could be concluded that, dietary inclusion of benzoic acid at both levels improved the immune response by increasing the weight of bursa of Fabricius and elevating blood globulin level but did not affect broiler chickens growth performance

Some Adipocytokines (Leptin, Resistin, Vesfatin) Relationships with Obesity

تعتبر الأنسجة الدهنية غدد صم ذات كفاءة كبيرة في الجسم ،اذ ان لافرازات بعض العوامل الكيميائية والتي تعرف بالسايتوكينات الدهنية (Adipocytokines) من الانسجة الدهنية دورا مهما في الاستجابة المناعية الفطرية و مقاومة الأنسولين و دورها لدى حالات الاعتلال الايضي في الجسم ، فضلا عن  تأثيراتها المناعية المفيدة مرة والضارة تارة اخرى. ويعد الليبتين والريستين والفيزفاتين من اهم الاديبوكينات المفرزة من النسيج الدهني  التي تؤدي دورا منظما لعملية التمثيل الغذائي  وللسمنة علاقة وثيقة بمستويات السايتوكينات في الجسم. ومازالت العلاقة بين تراكيز السايتوكينات الدهنية ومرض السمنة والسكري غير واضحة بصورة دقيقة.            Adipose tissue is widely concerned as an active endocrine organ, and have a crucial role in the   innate immune system . Adipocytokines perform a role in the pathogenesis of insulin resistance and related metabolic complications, and also they cause both beneficial and detrimental immune and inflammatory effects. And most of these adipocytokines are physiologically important for metabolism, such as leptin, resistin, and visfatin which may serve as a missing connection between obesity and diabetes in the causal relation. Also it may  have myriad anti-inflammatory effect. It should be considered the functional balance of the adipokines and obesity

The effect of intensive auditory training on auditory skills and on speech intelligibility of prelingual cochlear implanted adolescents and adults

AbstractThe aim of the studyTo study the effect of intensive auditory training using the modified version of the Arabic rehabilitation program for adults on both the auditory skills and the degree of speech intelligibility.Materials and methodsThe study was conducted on 30 patients who were divided into two groups according to intensiveness of the auditory training. Each group included 15 patients (10 males and 5 females). Both groups received the usual therapy program provided for cochlear implanted patients. Group (I) received an additional therapy other than the usual form. Minimal Auditory Capabilities Test (MAC Test) was used to assess auditory perception abilities and Speech Intelligibility Rating Scale (SIR) was used to assess speech production skills before implantation and at 3, 6, 12, 18months post-operatively.ResultsA significant difference was found when comparing the two groups in spondee discrimination during the post-operative assessment periods, of 3, 6, 12, and 18months with P value <0.05.A highly significant difference was found for spondee recognition, sentence identification and high context sentence recognition at the 18month assessment with P value <0.01. A significant mean difference with P value <0.05 for speech intelligibility scores at 18months post implantation was found between the two groups.ConclusionThe effectiveness of the modified form of the Arabic Adult rehabilitation was revealed in this study. Using more intensive auditory rehabilitation may result in a better improvement in auditory abilities and speech intelligibility of the prelingually deafened adult cochlear implanted population

The influence of ABO blood groups on sensitization of potential kidney transplant recipients

In this study 50 chronic renal failurepatients were tested for blood ABO groups and forthe presence of lymphocytotoxic antibodies against apanel of 20 donor lymphocytes (of known HLAtypes) using microcytotoxicity assay. The influenceof other factors affecting sensitization, such asnumber of blood transfusions, pregnancies andprevious graft rejections were analyzed too. Theresults showed that41.2 % of blood group 0 patients,61.1 % of group A I, 90% of group B, and 80% ofgroup A IB are sensitized (PRA&gt; 10%).These results pointed to higher incidence ofsensitization in patients with blood groups B andA IB as compared to groups A I and 0.Our data suggest an impact of the ABO system on thesensitization phenomenon

Investigation of Factors Affecting Recovery Priority of Roads Damaged by Natural Disasters/Armed Conflicts

Natural disasters/armed conflicts can cause major damage to road networks of the affected area. This can lead to significant impact not only on the road networks. The major challenge in the aftermath of such events is to ensure a speedy recovery/rehabilitation of roads and transportation networks so that regeneration can commence in an effective manner. Prioritizing regeneration of the road network may need context of a range of requirements including health, education, security, and economic amongst many that will also require addressing. This study has been conducted to give a better understanding of major factors that govern road recovery prioritization across the affected region in Iraq. These factors need to be used in an effective and efficient manner that can help in determining the road recovery priority. Interviews and a questionnaire survey are conducted with experts in road reconstruction and maintenance organisations to investigate the impact of the important proposed affecting factors that can be critical for determining the recovery priority of damaged roads. Five estimated groups of factors have been included in this study, which are: socio-economic, road network, traffic, damage and financial factors. Each group also consists of a number of estimated sub-group factors. As a result, twenty nine factors have been chosen in this study.It has been found from the results of the interviews and questionnaire that the proposed factors and factor groups are with a level of importance of high and very high. This indicates that the groups and factors included in this study are important for the successful building and implementation of the process and procedures of the road recovery priority in the road rehabilitation projects.Each estimated factor within each proposed group used in this study contributes a different weight value to the overall road recovery priority. According to the questionnaire’s results, the most important factors are: number of critical socio-economic facilities, type of road, delay time, severity of damage and effect on the economic. Moreover, a different weight has been contributed by each estimated group. Based on the questionnaire results, it was found that the major contribution is from the financial factor group