Privatization : problems of implementation in Egypt

This study aims to investigate to what extent the views of the managers of the enterprises to be privatized are a barrier to smooth implementation of privatization as opposed to other problems. Accordingly, the research tackles two main issues: Identification and analysis of the major problems encountered in the implementation of the Egyptian privatization programme and at which level these problems exist while proposing different approaches to tackle them; and views of public sector top and middle-level managers regarding the main issues of privatization. The study relies upon a literature survey, interviews with stakeholders, a survey of managers' attitudes and several illustrative case studies. A model of "good practice" for the smooth and effective implementation of privatization has been designed. Practice in Egypt has then been studied and compared with the "good practice" model. Lack of strictness and firmness in implementing the announced privatization programme has been found to be a characteristic of Egyptian practice. This is partly attributable to the inadequacy of the programme and partly to the different obstacles to implementation. The main obstacles are doubtful desirability of privatization on the part of the managers at different implementation levels, resistance of stakeholders, in adequately of the legal framework governing privatization, redundant labour, lack of an efficient monitoring system allowing for accountability, inefficient marketing of privatization, ineffective communication, insufficient information at different levels and problems related to valuation and selling procedures. A large part of the thesis is concerned with SOE (State Owned Enterprise) managers' attitudes on and understanding of the privatization (appraised through surveys). Although most managers have stated their acceptance of privatization, many of their responses show that they do not accept selling SOEs. They understand privatization to include enterprise reform and restructuring, changing procedures and giving more authority to company executives, but not necessarily as selling SOEs. The majority of managers still see many issues that have to be addressed for smooth implementation of privatization e.g. insufficiency of information, incompleteness of legal framework, restructuring and labour problems. The main contribution to knowledge of this thesis is the study of problems of implementing privatization in developing countries especially managers' resistance to privatization as a major change, partly because of the threat it poses and partly because of the lack of understanding of privatization and implications of operating private businesses. A programme of persuading managers and offsetting the unfavourable effects is recommended as an outcome of the study. Five different phrases and words for the national Index to theses are: Egypt, privatization, implementation of privatization, problems of implementing privatization and managers' attitudes towards privatization.

An exploration of consumer resistance to innovation and its antecedents

Although firms are faced by a large number of market introduction failures, research into a major driver of these failures, customer resistance to innovation, is surprisingly scarce. While most authors have investigated positive adoption decisions, this paper focuses instead on consumer resistance to innovation. The current study presents a conceptual framework which explicates the major components of consumer resistance: (1) rejection, (2) postponement, and (3) opposition, and discusses two main groups of antecedents to consumer resistance: (1) degree of change required and (2) conflicts with the consumer’s prior belief structure. This framework is explored with both a literature review and a qualitative focus group study. These joint efforts result in the formulation of a model of consumer resistance. Finally, the authors discuss several relevant theoretical and strategic implications, and point out directions for future research.

The problems of corruption in Post-Soviet Ukraine's Higher Education sector

This article provide an in-depth examination into how the existence of "informal" work practices, in a particular location, namely, the higher education system in Ukraine impacts the everyday lives of a specific population group, namely, students. The article provides a comprehensive overview of corruption in post-Soviet education systems, suggesting some historical and contemporary reasons for its current scale. In particular, the article focuses on students' experiences of corruption, first, exploring the difficulties that many individuals face when trying to gain access to the higher education system, and second, outlining students' experiences while progressing through the course. The article's concluding section examines the wider outcome of these processes on Ukrainian society as a whole as well as the impacts on individual students.

The neuropathology of the occipital cortex and its significance in the visual problems of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD)

The occipital lobe is one of the cortical areas most affected by the pathology of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). To understand the visual problems of vCJD patients, neuropathological changes were studied in striate (B17, V1) and extrastriate (B18, V2) regions of the occipital cortex in eleven cases of vCJD. No differences in the density of vacuoles or surviving neurons were observed in B17 and B18 but densities of glial cell nuclei and deposits of the protease resistant form of prion protein (PrPsc) were greater in B18. The density of PrPsc deposits in B17 was positively correlated with their density in B18. The density of the diffuse PrPsc deposits in B17 was negatively correlated with the density of the surviving neurons in B18. In B17 and B18, the vacuoles either exhibited density peaks in laminae II/III and V/VI or were more uniformly distributed across the laminae. Diffuse PrPsc deposits were most frequent in laminae II/III and florid PrPsc deposits more generally distributed. In B18, the surviving neurons were more consistently bimodally distributed and the glial cell nuclei most abundant in laminae V/VI compared with B17. Hence, both striate and extrastriate areas of the occipital cortex are affected by the pathology of vCJD, the pathological changes being most severe in B18. Neuronal degeneration in B18 may be associated with the development of diffuse PrPsc deposits in B17. These data suggest that the short cortico-cortical connections between B17 and B18 and the pathways to subcortical visual areas are compromised in vCJD. Pathological changes in striate and extrastriate regions of the occipital cortex may contribute to several of the visual problems identified in patients with vCJD including oculomotor and visuo-spatial function.

The need for continued monitoring of antibiotic resistance patterns in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus from London and Malta

Antibiotic resistance is an increasing problem in isolates of Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) worldwide. In 2001 The National Health Service in the UK introduced a mandatory bacteraemia surveillance scheme for the reporting of S. aureus and methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA). This surveillance initiative reports on the percentage of isolates that are methicillin resistant. However, resistance to other antibiotics is not currently reported and therefore the scale of emerging resistance is currently unclear in the UK. In this study, multiple antibiotic resistance (MAR) profiles against fourteen antimicrobial drugs were investigated for 705 isolates of S. aureus collected from two European study sites in the UK (London) and Malta.

Molecular basis for reduced estrone sulfate transport and altered modulator sensitivity of transmembrane helix (TM) 6 and TM17 mutants of multidrug resistance protein 1 (ABCC1)

Multidrug resistance protein 1 (MRP1) confers drug resistance and also mediates cellular efflux of many organic anions. MRP1 also transports glutathione (GSH); furthermore, this tripeptide stimulates transport of several substrates, including estrone 3-sulfate. We have previously shown that mutations of Lys(332) in transmembrane helix (TM) 6 and Trp(1246) in TM17 cause different substrate-selective losses in MRP1 transport activity. Here we have extended our characterization of mutants K332L and W1246C to further define the different roles these two residues play in determining the substrate and inhibitor specificity of MRP1. Thus, we have shown that TM17-Trp(1246) is crucial for conferring drug resistance and for binding and transport of methotrexate, estradiol glucuronide, and estrone 3-sulfate, as well as for binding of the tricyclic isoxazole inhibitor N-[3-(9-chloro-3-methyl-4-oxo-4H-isoxazolo-[4,3-c]quinolin-5-yl)-cyclohexylmethyl]-benzamide (LY465803). In contrast, TM6-Lys(332) is important for enabling GSH and GSH-containing compounds to serve as substrates (e.g., leukotriene C(4)) or modulators (e.g., S-decyl-GSH, GSH disulfide) of MRP1 and, further, for enabling GSH (or S-methyl-GSH) to enhance the transport of estrone 3-sulfate and increase the inhibitory potency of LY465803. On the other hand, both mutants are as sensitive as wild-type MRP1 to the non-GSH-containing inhibitors (E)-3-[[[3-[2-(7-chloro-2-quinolinyl)ethenyl]phenyl][[3-(dimethylamino)-3-oxopropyl]thio]methyl]thio]-propanoic acid (MK571), 1-[2-hydroxy-3-propyl-4-[4-(1H-tetrazol-5-yl)butoxy]phenyl]-ethanone (LY171883), and highly potent 6-[4'-carboxyphenylthio]-5[S]-hydroxy-7[E], 11[Z]14[Z]-eicosatetrenoic acid (BAY u9773). Finally, the differing abilities of the cysteinyl leukotriene derivatives leukotriene C(4), D(4), and F(4) to inhibit estradiol glucuronide transport by wild-type and K332L mutant MRP1 provide further evidence that TM6-Lys(332) is involved in the recognition of the gamma-Glu portion of substrates and modulators containing GSH or GSH-like moieties.

'An understanding of consumers' everyday shopping practices as a form and expression of cultural resistance

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The neuropathology of the occipital cortex and its significance in the visual problems of patients with variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD)

The occipital lobe is one of the cortical areas most affected by the pathology of variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (vCJD). To understand the visual problems of vCJD patients, neuropathological changes were studied in striate (B17, V1) and extrastriate (B18, V2) regions of the occipital cortex in eleven cases of vCJD. No differences in the density of vacuoles or surviving neurons were observed in B17 and B18 but densities of glial cell nuclei and deposits of the protease resistant form of prion protein (PrPsc) were greater in B18. The density of PrPsc deposits in B17 was positively correlated with their density in B18. The density of the diffuse PrPsc deposits in B17 was negatively correlated with the density of the surviving neurons in B18. In B17 and B18, the vacuoles either exhibited density peaks in laminae II/III and V/VI or were more uniformly distributed across the laminae. Diffuse PrPsc deposits were most frequent in laminae II/III and florid PrPsc deposits more generally distributed. In B18, the surviving neurons were more consistently bimodally distributed and the glial cell nuclei most abundant in laminae V/VI compared with B17. Hence, both striate and extrastriate areas of the occipital cortex are affected by the pathology of vCJD, the pathological changes being most severe in B18. Neuronal degeneration in B18 may be associated with the development of diffuse PrPsc deposits in B17. These data suggest that the short cortico-cortical connections between B17 and B18 and the pathways to subcortical visual areas are compromised in vCJD. Pathological changes in striate and extrastriate regions of the occipital cortex may contribute to several of the visual problems identified in patients with vCJD including oculomotor and visuo-spatial function. © 2012 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.

On plagiarism, patchwriting and the problems of overseas students in British universities

Although according to Angélil-Carter (2002: 2) ‘plagiarism is a modern Western concept which arose with the introduction of copyright laws in the Eighteenth century’, its avoidance is now a basic plank of respectable academic scholarship. Student plagiarism is currently a hot topic, at least for those who teach and study in British and American universities. There are companies selling both off-the-shelf and written-to-order term papers and others, like Turnitin.com, offering an electronic detection service. Recently an Australian Rector was dismissed for persistent plagiarism earlier in his career and most Anglo-American universities have warnings against and definitions of plagiarism on their websites – indeed Pennycook notes that in the mid-90s Stanford University's documents about plagiarism were reproduced by the University of Oregon apparently without attribution, and suggests, whimsically, that there is 'one set of standards for the guardians of truth and knowledge and another for those seeking entry' (1996: 213), (example and quote taken from Pecorari, 2002, p 29).