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In light of the growing interest in corporate social responsibility (CSR), there is still controversy regarding its impact on firms' performance. In this paper, we examine the impact of CSR initiatives, as a marketing investment, on firms' performance. We treat CSR initiatives as investment and, consequently, the returns appear over the long term. We use the stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) approach which is a forward-looking financial market-based metric that captures the firm's long-term performance. We focus on the banking industry as it confronts a variety compound of risk. We find that CSR implementation is positively reflected in profit efficiency, regardless of the strategic commitment to implementing CSR and bank size, as these variables do not influence the CSR-performance relationship. However, we find that bank age and competitive positioning have a significant impact on the CSR-performance relationship. Our study provides valuable insights to CSR practitioners and researchers, especially in the banking sector. We provide empirical evidence on the importance of CSR and its positive impact on bank performance in Egypt as one of the emerging markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main goal of this study was to study the acarine parasite, Pimeliaphilus joshuae (Prostigmata: Pterygosomatidae) on various scorpion species from Egypt to determine its prevalence, abundance and intensity in relation to host species, size and sex. A total of 95 Leiurus quinquestriatus, 98 Androctonus australis, 40 A. amoreuxi, 30 Scorpio maurus palmatus and 46 Orthochirus scrobicuosus were examined during August 2009. Prevalence and mean abundance of P. joshuae varied significantly in relation to host species, host size and sex. In L. quinquestriatus, A. australis, and A. amoreuxi, the prevalence was 76.8, 13.3, and 50.0%, whereas the mean abundance was 47.6, 6.7 and 14.3%, respectively. Prevalence and mean abundance of P. joshuae were both positively correlated with host size in L. quinquestriatus and A. australis. We conclude that P. joshuae is found in a wide range of scorpion species exhibiting a low degree of host specificity. Controlled laboratory infection experiments are required to explain why S. m. palmatus and O. scrobicuosus are not susceptible to infestation by P. joshuae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objectives of this study were to assess the environmental impact of industrial wastewater disposal in the El-Khadrawiya agricultural drain, Menoufia Governorate, Egypt, as well as the effect on water, soil, and plant qualities in the drain's extension area, which was primarily adjacent to the industrial zone. The analyses results of wastewater at El-Khadrawiya drain revealed that heavy metal concentrations in water samples exceeded WHO permitted limits. Heavy metal levels followed the following pattern: (Pb > Zn > Cr > Cd > Ni > As), where Heavy metal levels average were: (1.8492 > 1.7857 > 0.1815 > 0.1578 > 0.059 > 0.0048. Wastewater, soil and plant samples were analyzed using (PerkinElmer AAnalyst 400 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer A Analyst 400), Heavy metal pollution evaluation indicators: Target hazard quotient (THQ), Hazard index (HI), Chronic daily intake (CDI), Carcinogenic risk (CR), and Heavy metals pollution index (HPI)) showed that a majority of samples discovered values referring to carcinogenic health risks for the population. In contrast, the soil contamination indices followed the same trend, with the contamination factor (CF) indicating that the majority of samples exposed low to medium levels of pollution for (Ni, Cd, and Zn), while Pb and Cr were between high and very high, and the contamination degree (Cd) and modified degree of contamination (mCd) indicating that the majority of samples revealed the medium level of pollution, with the exception of one site with a high level of contamination. The bioaccumulation factor (BAF) revealed that heavy metal accumulation in plants exceeds the critical range. This study should be expanded to include additional agricultural regions with comparable conditions in order to provide environmental monitoring of present challenges and work toward solutions. [Display omitted] • The study dealing with the environmental impact of industrial wastewater disposal in the Agricultural drain, Egypt. • Heavy metal pollution evaluation indicators are THQ, HI, CDI, CR, and HPI, while the soil quality indices were CF, Cd, PLI, and BAF for plant. • This study should be expanded to include additional agricultural regions in order to provide environmental monitoring of present challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A total of 323 O. niloticus (168 wild fishes and 155 cultured fishes) were collected from Lake Manzala, Egypt from July to September 2010. The fish samples were examined for both ectoparasites and endoparasites. The parasite community of wild and cultured, O. niloticus consisted of ten parasitic species, one protozoon (Trichodina spp.), six monogenea (Cichlidogyrus sclerosus, C. thurstonae, C. halli typicus, C. tilapiae, C. ergensi, C. tiberianus), one acanthocephalan (Acanthogyrus (Acanthosentis) tilapiae) and two crustacean species (Lernaea cyprinacea and Ergasilus sp.). Mean parasite species richness significantly differed between wild (4.9 +/- 0.3) and cultured (6.6 +/- 0.8). The overall prevalence of infection in cultured O. niloticus (54.84%) was significantly higher as compared to that in wild fish (39.9%). The most prevalent parasite was C. thurstonae (37.46%) and C. sclerosus (35.91%) while the less prevalent one was Ergasilus sp. (14.55%). Host sex and host body size significantly affect parasitism in most parasite species.