American University in Cairo

About: American University in Cairo is a education organization based out in Cairo, Egypt. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Context (language use). The organization has 2472 authors who have published 5339 publications receiving 73741 citations.

Hepatitis C virus RNA assays: current and emerging technologies and their clinical applications.

Abstract: Molecular diagnostic assays represent a cornerstone in the management of hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients. Qualitative and quantitative HCV molecular assays are used for the diagnosis of acute and chronic HCV infections, viral genotyping, viral-load determination, treatment monitoring and prognosis. Reverse-transcription PCR, transcription-mediated amplification and branched DNA amplification are commonly employed for detection of HCV RNA. Recently, new HCV molecular assays that employ nanostructures have emerged and have been proposed as suitable for both low- and high-resource settings, without sacrificing sensitivity and specificity. This article will present current and future HCV molecular diagnostic assays with a focus on their clinical applications.

Ontology learning from domain specific web documents

Abstract: Ontologies play a vital role in many web- and internet-related applications. This work presents a system for accelerating the ontology building process via semi-automatically learning a hierarchal ontology given a set of domain-specific web documents and a set of seed concepts. The methods are tested with web documents in the domain of agriculture. The ontology is constructed through the use of two complementary approaches. The presented system has been used to build an ontology in the agricultural domain using a set of Arabic extension documents and evaluated against a modified version of the AGROVOC ontology.

On the articulation of modes of production: review article

Abstract: (1981). On the articulation of modes of production: review article. Journal of Southern African Studies: Vol. 8, Anthropology and History, pp. 123-138.

An Empirical Investigation of the Use of ISA 520 'Analytical Procedures' Among Big 4 versus Non-Big 4 Audit Firms in Egypt

Abstract: This paper contributes to the understanding of the nature and uses of analytical procedures (APs) within the Egyptian culture and economic context by adapting relevant aspects of prior studies on APs to the Egyptian audit context. The study investigated the extent of use of the international standard on auditing (ISA 520) on APs in Egypt during the three main stages of an audit by different size of firms and different levels of staff. It examined auditors perceptions of the frequency and effectiveness of different types of APs techniques in achieving a selected set of audit objectives. The study also identified the types of assurance provided by APs and their influence on detailed testing as well as analyzing the role of auditing standards in the context of the use of APs. The design and research method are empirical using a questionnaire survey to collect information on actual uses of AP from 14 audit firms in Egypt which audit the 100 actively traded companies on the CASE 100 index. The survey was carried out between 2007 and 2008. The results of the study showed relatively low use of APs by Egyptian auditors with wide variations in its use by big 4 and other auditing firms. Auditors from big 4 firms are found to use APs to a greater extent than auditors from Non-big 4 firms. The study confirmed the use of APs at all stages of audit engagements. Also, the reliance on APs tends to differ by auditors rank and position. The majority of auditors consider APs useful in achieving audit objectives. Audit firms of all size continue to emphasize judgment-based compared to quantitatively based procedures. The results also indicated a lack of confidence in the use of APs as substantive procedures. Finally, the study confirmed prior research findings as auditing standards were regarded as most effective in codifying existing large firms practice. It was found that ISA 520 has been least effective in stimulating change in audit practice. The different economic, political, educational, culture environment in Egypt may restrict the generalisability of this study results. In order to increase the wide use of APs by Egyptian auditors in the various stages of the audit engagement, auditors must put a lot of efforts in understanding the requirements of the Egyptian Auditing Standards for APs use. Auditors must understand and apply various APs techniques especially those associated with statistics and mathematical models. Educational Institutions and the Egyptian Association of Accountants and Auditors must play significant role in educating auditors about APs techniques and their use in planning, testing and final review of the financial statements.