HOMOGENEITY WITHIN LAYLÁ BA‘ALBAKĪ’S SHORT STORIES

This article discusses selectively Laylá Ba‘albakī’s short stories–the twelve collected in Safīnat ḥanān ilá al-qamar [A spaceship of tenderness to the moon] (2009), as well as al-Batal [The hero] (1966). This discussion aims to explore the feminist writing of the writer, arguing the existence of homogeneity, which the interweaving and interconnections create among those short stories. This literary analysis begins with an examination of narrative manner, including the narrator, style, and language used, and then turns to the major themes, which run through the stories (Igbaria, 2015).Since the short stories that were as the rationale for bringing the author to trial, a particular aim in what follows is to provide the necessary literary analysis to evaluate the court’s charges of obscenity. As we will see, Ba‘albakī’s defence was that she was simply describing real life as experienced by women. This paper provides the groundwork for any later discussion of this issue

AN EXAMINATION OF GENDER EFFECTS ON THE CAREER SUCCESS OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS EMPLOYEES

In this paper we examined the differences and similarities in the human capital variables of male and female information system (IS) workers and the affect these differences had on job outcomes. The human capital variables studied included: age, education, organization and job tenure, and number of years in the IS occupation. We found that, even when controlling for the differences in human capital, women in IS still tended to be employed at lower levels of the organization, made less money, and had greater intentions to leave the organization.Information Systems Working Papers Serie

Selecting IT Applications in Manufacturing: A KBS Approach

The use of the right type of Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems is expected to usher in a competitive advantage. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company, with a given dominant process structure, emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we present a Knowledge Based System (KBS) that would assist managers with the identification of IT applications that are consistent with both the competitive priorities and the process structure. Validation of the system illustrates that its performance is consistent with the human experts, and it has the potential to facilitate effective and swift decision-making in the selection of appropriate IT applications that best match an organization\u27s manufacturing strategy

Linking IT Applications with Manufacturing Strategy: An Intelligent Decision Support System Approach

Research has indicated the importance of matching Information Technology (IT) applications or manufacturing systems with the competitive strategy of a company. Selection of the right type of IT application is, however, a challenging task. When a company, with a given dominant process structure, emphasizes two or more competitive priorities, such as quality, product flexibility, etc., an unaided manager faces a complex decision problem in choosing from alternative IT applications available in the areas of product design through distribution. In this paper, we developed an Intelligent Decision Support System (IDSS) that would assist managers with: assessment of the relative importance of competitive priorities in their organization, evaluation of the fit between the competitive priorities and their dominant process structure, and identification of the IT applications that are consistent with both the competitive priorities and the process structure. The IDSS is comprised of an interactive user interface, a knowledge database, a decision model, and a Knowledge-Based System (KBS) that was developed using the 1st class KBS shell. Validation of the system illustrates that its performance is good as the human expert, and it has the potential to facilitate effective and swift decision-making in the selection of appropriate IT applications that best match an organization’s manufacturing strategy. The choice and use of the right type of IT application should provide a company with a competitive edge

Reflux of Endoplasmic Reticulum proteins to the cytosol inactivates tumor suppressors

International audienceIn the past decades, many studies reported the presence of endoplasmic reticulum (ER)-resident proteins in the cytosol. However, the mechanisms by which these proteins relocate and whether they exert cytosolic functions remain unknown. We find that a subset of ER luminal proteins accumulates in the cytosol of glioblastoma cells isolated from mouse and human tumors. In cultured cells, ER protein reflux to the cytosol occurs upon ER proteostasis perturbation. Using the ER luminal protein anterior gradient 2 (AGR2) as a proof of concept, we tested whether the refluxed proteins gain new functions in the cytosol. We find that refluxed, cytosolic AGR2 binds and inhibits the tumor suppressor p53. These data suggest that ER reflux constitutes an ER surveillance mechanism to relieve the ER from its contents upon stress, providing a selective advantage to tumor cells through gain-of-cytosolic functions-a phenomenon we name ER to Cytosol Signaling (ERCYS)