Waleed Saleh | Cairo University (original) (raw)

Papers by Waleed Saleh

Research paper thumbnail of Discord between Egyptian Agriculture Students’ and Employers’ Perceptions of the Importance of Various Skills in new Employees

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Unemployment remains high among Egyptian university graduates. This study aimed to identify demog... more Unemployment remains high among Egyptian university graduates. This study aimed to identify demographic attributes that influence student perceptions of the importance of employability skills, as well as to measure concordance between employers versus student perceptions of the importance of employability skills. Egyptian university agriculture students and private sector employers completed a survey where they assessed their perceived importance of 35 skills. A multivariate linear regression model was used to measure the influence of student demographics in decision-making and concordance between employers and students were compared using Cohen's weighted Kappa. Student location was the most influential demographic that determined perceptions of the importance of employability skills. As a group, students possessed more intra-group concordance than employers, but concordance levels of all students were low when compared to employers. Our findings indicate that regardless of demographics, Egyptian agriculture university students are unaware of what is important to potential employers, meaning that students do not know which skills to focus on developing when searching for a job. Teaching students the skills that are most desired by employers contributes to Human Capital Theory because it improves the employability value of university graduates. Few studies have analyzed student demographics combined with student/employer concordance. This approach could assist future studies that aim to compare individual student and employer perceptions to each other.

Research paper thumbnail of Employability of Egyptian Agriculture University Graduates: Skills Gaps

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Egypt's Strategic Development plan calls for higher-education curricula that produce workforce-re... more Egypt's Strategic Development plan calls for higher-education curricula that produce workforce-ready graduates. Creating such curricula requires strong understanding of the skills and attributes most valued in the economy. Toward this end, this study focused on Egyptian agriculture sectors and measured perspectives of Egyptian agriculture university professors, students and private-sector employers on areas for potential job opportunities for agriculture university graduates and the skills graduates need to obtain and excel in those jobs. Using a survey-based approach, the study included responses from 417, 974, and 92 professors, students, and employers, respectively. Employers and professors identified poultry production, food/beverage processing, and protected horticulture as sectors (among 24 choices) with the most employment opportunities for agriculture university graduates. The most valued skills in new employees from employers' perspectives (among 35 choices) were identified by principle component analysis and included familiarity with technologies, ability to apply academic knowledge to real scenarios, ethical decision-making, teamwork and problem-solving skills, ability to work with others from diverse backgrounds, and motivation and ability to learn new things. The largest students' skills gaps (difference between value of the skill in new employees and students' competency level in the same skill as assessed by employers) included time management, ability to plan/organize, conflict management, knowledge of industry, and ability to manage tasks/projects. Taken together, these results can inform development of market-driven curricula in Egyptian agriculture universities by highlighting areas/attributes where students should focus to increase their employability and pedagogies that allow students to gain these skills during their university careers.

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of rice straw composts on microbial population, plant growth, nutrient uptake and root-knot nematode under greenhouse conditions

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2011

The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some phy... more The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some physicochemical properties, plant growth and nutrient uptake as well as plant parasitic root-knot nematode was evaluated. All the five types of compost showed a high fertilizer value when applied at the rate of 5% (w/w) as indicated by ameliorating the soil microbial population, chemical properties, plant growth response and subsequently the productivity of sandy soil comparing to the mineral fertilizer. Increasing compost application rate resulted in parallel significant enhancement. Addition of composts at 5% in mishmash with half dose of mineral fertilizer significantly improved all the tested criteria. Composts at rates of 5, 7.5% resulted in reducing root-knot nematode population by 79, 84%, respectively and actualized prodigious depletion in egg production. The most prominent composts which surpassed all treatments including the mineral fertilizer were those contained vinasse. Key...

Research paper thumbnail of Isolation and Identification of Edwardsiella tarda from Infected Nile Tilapia Fish Oreochromis niloticus

Research paper thumbnail of Composting of Artichoke Waste, Rice Straw and Cattle Dung by Microbial Inoculation and Elemental Sulfur

Research paper thumbnail of Optimization of Bio-Mosquitocidal Production using Local Bacterial Strains of Bacillus Sphaericus

Journal of Biofertilizers & Biopesticides, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Identification of mosquito larvicidal bacterial strains isolated from north Sinai in Egypt

AMB Express, 2012

In the present study, two of the most toxic bacterial strains of Bacillus sphaericus against mosq... more In the present study, two of the most toxic bacterial strains of Bacillus sphaericus against mosquito were identified with the most recent genetic techniques. The PCR product profiles indicated the presence of genes encoding Bin A, Bin B and Mtx1 in all analyzed strains; they are consistent with protein profiles. The preliminary bioinformatics analysis of the binary toxin genes sequence revealed that the open reading frames had high similarities when matched with nucleotides sequence in the database of other B. sphaericus strains. The biological activity of B. sphaericus strains varied according to growing medium, and cultivation time. The highest yield of viable counts, spores and larvicidal protein were attained after 5 days. Poly (P) medium achieved the highest yield of growth, sporulation, protein and larvicidal activity for all tested strains compared to the other tested media. The larvicidal protein produced by local strains (B. sphaericus EMCC 1931 and EMCC 1932) in P medium ...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of rice straw composts on microbial population, plant growth, nutrient uptake and root-knot nematode under greenhouse conditions

African Journal of …, 2011

The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some phy... more The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some physicochemical properties, plant growth and nutrient uptake as well as plant parasitic root-knot nematode was evaluated. All the five types of compost showed a high fertilizer value when applied at the rate of 5% (w/w) as indicated by ameliorating the soil microbial population, chemical properties, plant growth response and subsequently the productivity of sandy soil comparing to the mineral fertilizer. Increasing compost application rate resulted in parallel significant enhancement. Addition of composts at 5% in mishmash with half dose of mineral fertilizer significantly improved all the tested criteria. Composts at rates of 5, 7.5% resulted in reducing root-knot nematode population by 79, 84%, respectively and actualized prodigious depletion in egg production. The most prominent composts which surpassed all treatments including the mineral fertilizer were those contained vinasse.

Research paper thumbnail of Discord between Egyptian Agriculture Students’ and Employers’ Perceptions of the Importance of Various Skills in new Employees

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Unemployment remains high among Egyptian university graduates. This study aimed to identify demog... more Unemployment remains high among Egyptian university graduates. This study aimed to identify demographic attributes that influence student perceptions of the importance of employability skills, as well as to measure concordance between employers versus student perceptions of the importance of employability skills. Egyptian university agriculture students and private sector employers completed a survey where they assessed their perceived importance of 35 skills. A multivariate linear regression model was used to measure the influence of student demographics in decision-making and concordance between employers and students were compared using Cohen's weighted Kappa. Student location was the most influential demographic that determined perceptions of the importance of employability skills. As a group, students possessed more intra-group concordance than employers, but concordance levels of all students were low when compared to employers. Our findings indicate that regardless of demographics, Egyptian agriculture university students are unaware of what is important to potential employers, meaning that students do not know which skills to focus on developing when searching for a job. Teaching students the skills that are most desired by employers contributes to Human Capital Theory because it improves the employability value of university graduates. Few studies have analyzed student demographics combined with student/employer concordance. This approach could assist future studies that aim to compare individual student and employer perceptions to each other.

Research paper thumbnail of Employability of Egyptian Agriculture University Graduates: Skills Gaps

Journal of International Agricultural and Extension Education

Egypt's Strategic Development plan calls for higher-education curricula that produce workforce-re... more Egypt's Strategic Development plan calls for higher-education curricula that produce workforce-ready graduates. Creating such curricula requires strong understanding of the skills and attributes most valued in the economy. Toward this end, this study focused on Egyptian agriculture sectors and measured perspectives of Egyptian agriculture university professors, students and private-sector employers on areas for potential job opportunities for agriculture university graduates and the skills graduates need to obtain and excel in those jobs. Using a survey-based approach, the study included responses from 417, 974, and 92 professors, students, and employers, respectively. Employers and professors identified poultry production, food/beverage processing, and protected horticulture as sectors (among 24 choices) with the most employment opportunities for agriculture university graduates. The most valued skills in new employees from employers' perspectives (among 35 choices) were identified by principle component analysis and included familiarity with technologies, ability to apply academic knowledge to real scenarios, ethical decision-making, teamwork and problem-solving skills, ability to work with others from diverse backgrounds, and motivation and ability to learn new things. The largest students' skills gaps (difference between value of the skill in new employees and students' competency level in the same skill as assessed by employers) included time management, ability to plan/organize, conflict management, knowledge of industry, and ability to manage tasks/projects. Taken together, these results can inform development of market-driven curricula in Egyptian agriculture universities by highlighting areas/attributes where students should focus to increase their employability and pedagogies that allow students to gain these skills during their university careers.

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of rice straw composts on microbial population, plant growth, nutrient uptake and root-knot nematode under greenhouse conditions

African Journal of Agricultural Research, 2011

The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some phy... more The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some physicochemical properties, plant growth and nutrient uptake as well as plant parasitic root-knot nematode was evaluated. All the five types of compost showed a high fertilizer value when applied at the rate of 5% (w/w) as indicated by ameliorating the soil microbial population, chemical properties, plant growth response and subsequently the productivity of sandy soil comparing to the mineral fertilizer. Increasing compost application rate resulted in parallel significant enhancement. Addition of composts at 5% in mishmash with half dose of mineral fertilizer significantly improved all the tested criteria. Composts at rates of 5, 7.5% resulted in reducing root-knot nematode population by 79, 84%, respectively and actualized prodigious depletion in egg production. The most prominent composts which surpassed all treatments including the mineral fertilizer were those contained vinasse. Key...

Research paper thumbnail of Isolation and Identification of Edwardsiella tarda from Infected Nile Tilapia Fish Oreochromis niloticus

Research paper thumbnail of Composting of Artichoke Waste, Rice Straw and Cattle Dung by Microbial Inoculation and Elemental Sulfur

Research paper thumbnail of Optimization of Bio-Mosquitocidal Production using Local Bacterial Strains of Bacillus Sphaericus

Journal of Biofertilizers & Biopesticides, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Identification of mosquito larvicidal bacterial strains isolated from north Sinai in Egypt

AMB Express, 2012

In the present study, two of the most toxic bacterial strains of Bacillus sphaericus against mosq... more In the present study, two of the most toxic bacterial strains of Bacillus sphaericus against mosquito were identified with the most recent genetic techniques. The PCR product profiles indicated the presence of genes encoding Bin A, Bin B and Mtx1 in all analyzed strains; they are consistent with protein profiles. The preliminary bioinformatics analysis of the binary toxin genes sequence revealed that the open reading frames had high similarities when matched with nucleotides sequence in the database of other B. sphaericus strains. The biological activity of B. sphaericus strains varied according to growing medium, and cultivation time. The highest yield of viable counts, spores and larvicidal protein were attained after 5 days. Poly (P) medium achieved the highest yield of growth, sporulation, protein and larvicidal activity for all tested strains compared to the other tested media. The larvicidal protein produced by local strains (B. sphaericus EMCC 1931 and EMCC 1932) in P medium ...

Research paper thumbnail of Impact of rice straw composts on microbial population, plant growth, nutrient uptake and root-knot nematode under greenhouse conditions

African Journal of …, 2011

The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some phy... more The effect of adding various rice straw composts on the rhizosphere soil microorganisms, some physicochemical properties, plant growth and nutrient uptake as well as plant parasitic root-knot nematode was evaluated. All the five types of compost showed a high fertilizer value when applied at the rate of 5% (w/w) as indicated by ameliorating the soil microbial population, chemical properties, plant growth response and subsequently the productivity of sandy soil comparing to the mineral fertilizer. Increasing compost application rate resulted in parallel significant enhancement. Addition of composts at 5% in mishmash with half dose of mineral fertilizer significantly improved all the tested criteria. Composts at rates of 5, 7.5% resulted in reducing root-knot nematode population by 79, 84%, respectively and actualized prodigious depletion in egg production. The most prominent composts which surpassed all treatments including the mineral fertilizer were those contained vinasse.