A Framework for the Reasons of the Gap between the Graduates Qualifications of the Private Higher Education and Job Requirements of the Private Sector in Egypt

The current research is designed to analyze and design a framework of the reasons of the gap (miss-fit) between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and the job requirements in the private sector in Egypt. In this research, the reasons are divided into four main groups: Reasons related to the universitiesReasons related to the businessmenReasons related to the communityReasons related to the graduates After an explanatory analysis, the researcher concluded that the reasons of the gap related the universities are: The Policies of the higher education system, the qualifications of the academic staff members, the higher education techniques, the availability of resources and capabilities, and the fit between the academic courses and the labor market requirements. The reasons related to the businessmen are: effective selection of human resources, preparation and training before practicing the job, supervision during practicing the job, designing and analyzing the job, career planning. The reasons related to the community are measured using one variable which is: The private higher education perspective in Egypt. The reasons related to the students are measured using one variable which is: the benefits of the private higher education to its graduates. In this study, the questionnaires are designed, data are collected, the variables are measured, hypotheses are formulated and a conceptual framework is designed. Further researches are needed to statistically test the effect of these variables on the gap

Measuring the Impact of Service Quality Dimensions and Product Quality on Customer Satisfaction: The Case of Retail Market in Egypt

Customer satisfaction importance is increasing, as it is a key factor in any business success story. Retailers are very careful regarding the customer satisfaction factor, as it is a key determinant in customer’s decision whether to continue or discontinue their association with the retailer. In the recent years, the number and size of retailers in Egypt increased due to the swift growth in Egyptian population. Foreign hypermarkets such as Spinneys, Carrefour, Lulu, Makro, Panda,etc.have created a severe competition with the local modern hypermarkets and traditional markets. Retailers need for a reliable measure or model to test their service quality and product quality and their impact on customer satisfaction to ensure asustainable competitive advantage. Therefore, theaim of this researchisto measure the impact of service quality dimensions (physical aspects, reliability, personal interaction, policy, and problem solving) and product quality on customer satisfaction in the hypermarket sector in Alexandria, Egypt. In order to achievethis aim, a questionnaire has been created and distributed over a sample of 450 respondents to hypermarket buyers in Alexandria, Egypt. 390 questionnaires were collected with 86.7% response rate from the participants and were analysed by using the SPSS. The results of this research showed that there is a significant positive impact offive variables (physical aspects, personal interaction, policy, problem solving, and product quality) on customer satisfaction. Particularly, the hypermarket policy has the strongest impact on customer satisfaction in hypermarket sector followed by personal interaction, product quality, and physical aspects, where problem-solving factor has the least effect on customer satisfaction. Keywords: Service quality dimensions, product quality, retail market, hypermarket sector, customer satisfaction, Egyp

Reasons of the Gap between Outcome Characteristics of Private Higher Education, and Job Requirements of the Private Sector in Egypt (Reasons Related to Universities)

Universities present one of the main sources that society rely upon  to get the qualified staff which represents the source of human power needed for achieving the society's goals. So, higher education recently receives an exclusive concern all over the world, especially in Egypt. Nowadays, Egypt is highly concerned about increasing the number of Universities, especially the private ones, because they play a great role in establishing qualified humans. Also, it cares about developing and updating academic courses and teaching techniques in universities to cope with the new era requirements that are rapidly changed, and development in all fields. As for the important role of universities in preparing and qualifying the human resources, it was also important to find out the reasons that hinder universities from performing their effective role, which leads to their failure to fulfill the labor market requirements. The exploratory research has shown that the reasons which are related to university could be divided into five groups: 1. Reasons related to the policies of the higher education system. 2. Reasons related to the qualifications of the academic staff member. 3. Reasons related to the higher educational techniques. 4. Reasons related to the availability of resources and capabilities. 5. Reasons related to the fit between the academic courses and labor market requirements. The current research is designed to measure reasons of the gap (misfit) between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and the job requirements in the private sector in Egypt. The study will be applied in the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport in the following colleges: (a) College of management and technology (b) College of engineering and technology (c) College of maritime transport and technology. Based on the interviews with the academic staff members and some businessmen, the study concluded that regarding the effect of the policies of the private higher education system on the gap between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and job requirements in the private sector in Egypt, the main causes for the above mentioned gap are the admission method, which is based on high school grades only, and the major selection method. With respect to the qualifications of the academic staff members, it was observed that the isolation of the academic staff members when they establish the academic courses from the labor market, and the weakness of communication between the academic staff members and the students are also considered as causes of the gap. Concerning the higher education techniques and tools, it was found that the inability to use modern methods of education and the dependence on the traditional methods of lecturing are considered as causes of the gap. With respect to the availability of resources and capabilities, this was not considered among the causes of the gap. For the fit between the academic courses and the labor market requirement, it was observed that the inconvenience of educational materials to the labor market requirements, the concentration on theoretical issues more than applications, and the use of old materials are considered causes of the gap.

Arbitrage Pricing Model; Determining the Number of Factors and Their Consistency Across Markets

Purpose - The discovery of a true financial equilibrium model that could explain the prices of stocks has long been a sought after challenge and a vital area of research in modern financial theory. The concept is based on the fact that the price of the stock is affected by the present value of the future cash flows from the stock, and anything that will affect the discount rate of these future cash flows. Many brokerage firms, financial institutions and financial consulting firms use multi-index models to aid in the investment process Thus the APT model is becoming increasingly popular and has been a subject of several empirical studies. These models have been tested on both developed and developing markets. The purpose of this research is to analyze the Arbitrage Pricing Theory (APT) introduced by Ross (1976), which is a more simplified, multifactor model, with fewer relative assumptions to other models, across different representative markets, giving particular attention to the number of factors. Design/methodology/approach – The research is quantitative in nature and principal component analysis will be used to determine the ideal number of factors that should be included in the model, as well as the identity of these factors. Findings - Results indicate that the ideal number of factors vary from four to five factors across markets, with their identity differing across markets. Findings provide valuable insights for professionals in the market as well as academics who want to gain further knowledge on the number of factors. Research limitations/implications –The application of Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is based only on a sample of stocks and not on the whole population in the stock market, and thus there remains a question of how accurate these approximations actually are. Practical implications –The APT is a popular multi-index model that should be used by financial analysts to allow risk to be more tightly controlled and allow investors to protect against specific type of risk to which he or she is particularly sensitive or to make specific bets on certain types of risks. Originality/value – No research has yet been carried out across different markets for the same time period as will be carried out in this research, and thus the empirical study in this research aims to add knowledge on whether the number of factors will be consistent across borders or will change from market to market. Keywords Arbitrage Pricing Theory, Number of factors, Emerging markets Paper type Research Pape

Correlation and regression analysis in sorghum under different levels of nitrogen

An experiment was conducted with sorghum varieties and different levels of nitrogen to study the correlation between traits and to study the effect of these traits on grain yield to define which traits can be considered as selection criteria for yield improvement in sorghum. A factorial irrigated field experiment was carried out in R.C.B.D. layout with three replications in Iraq, four sorghum varieties (AlKhir, Enkath, Kafir, and Rabeh) were planted under three levels of nitrogen (80,100,120) kg/h manually in 2016 at two sites. After harvest, correlation and regression analysis were studied between grain yield as the dependent variable and each of the following traits as independent variables (dry and green fodder weight, leaf area index, plant height, stem diameter, grain number and grain weight, nitrogen level). Results showed that all studied traits except grain weight were highly significantly correlated with grain yield, and about 35% of variation in grain yield could be explained by the level of nitrogen fertilizer, and also showed that plant height and dry and green fodder weight were the major contributors towards grain yield since these traits explained about (57, 52, 50)% respectively of the variation of grain yield, followed by stem diameter and grain number then leaf area index, which might be a good traits to breeders for developing high yielding cultivars in sorghum

Analysis of the Reasons of the gap between Outcome Characteristics of Private Higher Education, and Job Requirements in the Private Sector in Egypt (Reasons related to the businessmen)

The current research is designed to measure the reasons of the gap (misfit) between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and the job requirements in the private sector in Egypt. Specifically, the reasons related to the businessmen are investigated. The study will be applied in the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport in the following colleges: (1) College of management and technology (2) College of engineering and technology (3) College of maritime transport and technology. The private sector is one of the most important pillars of national economy of any country, due to its vital role represented in pushing the development wheel of the country. The private sector openly interacts with society, by getting resources out of it, either financial resources or the human power. It provides goods and services to society, so and there is also a mutual benefit between businessmen. Businessmen should play their social role in serving the Egyptian society: employing national workers is a part of it in addition to contributing to preparing and training the unqualified ones. . The exploratory research has shown that the reasons related to businessmen could be divided into five groups: 1. The effective selection of human resources. 2. The preparation and training before practicing the job. 3. The supervision during practicing the job. 4. The designing and analyzing the job. 5. The career planning. The researcher found that the effective selection of human resources, the preparation and training before practicing the job, and the supervision during practicing the job are confirmed by the businessmen' point of view to be causes of the gap between the outcome characteristics of the private higher education and job requirements in the private sector in Egypt

Sodium and vascular smooth muscle reactivity

Different drugs which can affect various aspects of sodium transport were tested on contractile activity of a variety of vascular smooth muscles. In the rabbit anterior mesenteric-portal vein, diphenylhydantoin sodium (DPH) attenuated the contractile responses to noradrenaline (NA) and the inhibition was reversible by washing. The p-hydroxy derivative, 5-p-hydroxyphenyl)-5-phenylhydantoin (DPHOH), which was reported to lack the anticonvulsant activity and the inhibitory effect of DPH on insulin secretion was without any effect on the rabbit anterior mesenteric vein. The inhibitory effect of DPH on contractile responses to NA was almost abolished by prior treatment with ouabain and in K-free solutions. Evidence of a Na-Ca interaction is provided by the finding that both low Na and high Ca Krebs attenuates the inhibitory effect of DPH while low Ca Krebs accentuates it. Electrolyte studies using rat tail arteries showed that DPH could counteract the K loss and Na gain produced by either ouabain containing or K-deficient solutions. Prior cooling of the tissue for one hour at 1° C. and then testing the effect of DPH in K-deficient solutions at 1° C., abolished the ability of DPH to counteract the electrolyte changes in K-deficient solutions. DPH in normal Krebs solution did not significantly affect the Na content of rat tail arteries. Under this condition, there was a slight diminution in the K content. The results suggest that DPH can stimulate the Na pump in rat tail arteries under conditions In which Na and Rare going along their electrochemical gradient, and/or under conditions simulating the depolarized state. In normal Krebs, DPH does not seem to stimulate the Na pump of rat tail arteries. Under such experimental conditions, our data are more suggestive of an inhibition of the Na-K ATPase. Evidence is also provided that the attenuation of contractile responses to NA in the rabbit anterior mesenteric vein, might be related to stimulation of the Na pump. Further studies were done to outline the effect of alteration of other parameters of Na transport in vascular smooth muscles. Ouabain and ethacrynic acid, both inhibitors of the Na-K ATPase, produced a characteristic pattern of response in the rabbit anterior mesenteric vein. There was at first a contraction, followed by relaxation, which was followed by more persistent contractures at higher doses. The diuretic agent, amiloride, which is reported to inhibit the passive Na influx in a variety of tissues, was found to attenuate contractile responses to NA in rabbit aortic strips, A.M.V., and rat tail arteries. In aortic strips its effect was specific on the rapid phase of NA contraction. Since the rapid phase is believed to be the result f the release of a more tightly bound Ca⁺⁺ pool, the latter effect suggests that amiloride affects mainly the availability of a bound Ca pool to the contractile protein. Our results so far suggest that alteration of different parameters of the Na transport might be involved in altering the amount of ionized Ca⁺⁺ available to the contractile protein. More studies on this subject are needed and might open the way for a better understanding of the Na-Ca interaction in vascular smooth muscles and their possible relation to the hypertensive state. Further experiments were done to study the relaxation of the rabbit anterior mesenteric vein following contractile responses. It seems that extracellular Na is involved in the relaxation of the rabbit anterior mesenteric vein following contractile responses, since this tissue, when contracted in low Na solutions, would not relax unless some of the Na is returned to the Krebs solution. Li could not substitute for Na in this function since the contracture occurred in low Na solutions irrespective of whether the substitute was Tris-HCl or Li. the latter was even more effective than Tris-HCl in inducing contractures in low Na Krebs. Moreover, relaxation of the rabbit anterior mesenteric vein, following contractile responses to NA was delayed in low Na Krebs irrespective of whether the substitute was Li or Tris-HCl. Preliminary electron microscopic studies were carried on rabbit anterior mesenteric veins to evaluate the effect of the inhibitors of the ATPase, ethacrynic acid and ouabain, on ultrastructure. Both drugs induced disruption of the myofibrillar structures in doses of 1 mM and 10⁻⁵ M, respectively, when the tissue was exposed to the drug for 2 hours. An impressive finding was the dramatic diminution in the number of plasma-lemmal vesicles in the ethacrynic acid treated tissue. This finding raises the possibility that the formation of these vesicles might be an energy dependent process and opens the way for further studies to evaluate their possible importance in active ionic transport processes.Medicine, Faculty ofAnesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department ofGraduat

Regulating Apoptosis by Degradation: The N-End Rule-Mediated Regulation of Apoptotic Proteolytic Fragments in Mammalian Cells

A pivotal hallmark of some cancer cells is the evasion of apoptotic cell death. Importantly, the initiation of apoptosis often results in the activation of caspases, which, in turn, culminates in the generation of proteolytically-activated protein fragments with potentially new or altered roles. Recent investigations have revealed that the activity of a significant number of the protease-generated, activated, pro-apoptotic protein fragments can be curbed via their selective degradation by the N-end rule degradation pathways. Of note, previous work revealed that several proteolytically-generated, pro-apoptotic fragments are unstable in cells, as their destabilizing N-termini target them for proteasomal degradation via the N-end rule degradation pathways. Remarkably, previous studies also showed that the proteolytically-generated anti-apoptotic Lyn kinase protein fragment is targeted for degradation by the UBR1/UBR2 E3 ubiquitin ligases of the N-end rule pathway in chronic myeloid leukemia cells. Crucially, the degradation of cleaved fragment of Lyn by the N-end rule counters imatinib resistance in these cells, implicating a possible linkage between the N-end rule degradation pathway and imatinib resistance. Herein, we highlight recent studies on the role of the N-end rule proteolytic pathways in regulating apoptosis in mammalian cells, and also discuss some possible future directions with respect to apoptotic proteolysis signaling