Globalisation and rapid environmental change have created many challenges for public and private organisations across Iraq as a developing country, particularly in the higher education sector. This includes, for example, decreases in government funding; increased demand for higher education; a need for economic transformation, and related competitiveness of organizations. Such challenges require exceptional leaders and strategic planning in order to take action to improve. In Iraq, the higher education sector is still one of the main foundations in progressing the knowledge economy. Studies into leadership style, strategic planning processes, and the importance of leadership and organisational culture to an organisation’s success have been used to assist both public and private Iraqi colleges in responding to the challenges they face. Although, some studies have examined the interaction between leadership and strategic planning, and leadership and organisational success, there has been no empirical study that has investigated how these three variables interact together. Thus, this study aimed, firstly, to identify the current leadership styles and strategic planning processes in the colleges and the challenges they faced, and to gain an understanding from the perspective of the senior leaders themselves as to how they might best respond to the current situation. Secondly, based on the participants’ experiences, knowledge and perceptions, the study aimed to identify implications for both practice and policy to help improve the colleges’ outcomes. The study involved a mixed-methods approach and was conducted in two stages. During the first stage, the researcher gathered quantitative data by administering a survey package to 129 leaders (deans, associate deans, and heads of departments) across both public and private colleges in the capital city of Baghdad. During the second stage, the researcher gathered qualitative data to more deeply explore the survey results by conducting individual interviews with a sub-sample of 21 leaders from both college types (ten public and 11 private). In the data analyses stages, both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied to compiling tables and charts, and to test hypotheses, by employing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Microsoft Excel, and NVivo. The results of study showed that both transformational and transactional leadership styles played a varied and vital role in the colleges’ strategic planning processes, and in turn their success. The fact that private colleges were ‘for profit’ and public colleges were ‘not for profit’, as well as their contrasting funding models, highlighted key differences between the two college types’ leadership and general modus operandi. While it was found that both transformative leadership and transactional leadership styles were necessary to address the challenges colleges faced in the Iraqi educational context, the impetus for change extended far beyond the need for professional development of leaders. The embracing of information communication technologies, and reliable Internet was seen as necessary in all aspects of the colleges’ work and provision for teaching and learning, and students’ success. This applied to both college types along with the need for closer adherence to government regulations and more focused government coordination of colleges’ administrative functions. Furthermore, implications for making successful improvements to practice also identified the need to manage the challenge of sociocultural influences on the appointments and promotions of leaders. It was concluded that a greater emphasis on teamwork and provision of incentives for staff, along with a ‘boost’ to pedagogy and practice, which could be provided through the adoption of information communication technologies and appropriate professional development strategies, would enhance the colleges’ ranks and the status of their qualifications. Also, theoretically, the study offers a value-add to leadership, strategic planning process, and organisational success literature in the form of a conceptual model that links these variables in the context of Iraqi higher education sector.
The process of discharging the quantities of dyes resulting from industrial processes with wastewater leads to the occurrence of a serious environmental problem that threatens the environmental health security of humans. Therefore, a number of studies have been addressed that include presenting many physical and chemical treatment methods to get rid or reduce the proportion of pigments such as biological decomposition, ion exchange, and sedimentation. Chemotherapy, reverse osmosis, coagulation, Toxic sludge generation, flocculation. In addition to the above, this review deals with a number of studies that present activated carbon of plant origin, methods of obtaining it, types and advantages of it being cheap and environmentally friendly. A
... Show MoreIn this study, the thermal buckling behavior of composite laminate plates cross-ply and angle-ply all edged simply supported subjected to a uniform temperature field is investigated, using a simple trigonometric shear deformation theory. Four unknown variables are involved in the theory, and satisfied the zero traction boundary condition on the surface without using shear correction factors, Hamilton's principle is used to derive equations of motion depending on a Simple Four Variable Plate Theory for cross-ply and angle-ply, and then solved through Navier's double trigonometric sequence, to obtain critical buckling temperature for laminated composite plates. Effect of changing some design parameters such as, ortho
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In this research, the effect of reinforcing epoxy resin composites with a filler derived from chopped agriculture waste from oil palm (OP). Epoxy/OP composites were formed by dispersing (1, 3, 5, and 10 wt%) OP filler using a high-speed mechanical stirrer utilizing a hand lay-up method. The effect of adding zinc oxide (ZnO) nanoparticles, with an average size of 10-30 nm, with different wt% (1,2,3, and 5wt%) to the epoxy/oil palm composite, on the behavior of an epoxy/oil palm composite was studied with different ratios (1,2,3, and 5wt%) and an average size of 10-30 nm. Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectrometry and mechanical properties (tensile, impact, hardness, and wear rate) were used to examine the composites. The FTIR
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Pseudomonas aeruginosa has been identified as the main causative agent responsible for severe infections in burn patients worldwide. This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of the exoU/exoS genotype in P. aeruginosa isolates collected from burn wound infections in Iraq. From January to April 2023, a total of eighty isolates of P. aeruginosawere obtained from patients with burn wound infections in two Iraqi hospitals (Teaching Baghdad Hospital and AL-Yarmok Hospital).The isolates were first identified using biochemical tests and then verified using molecular techniques, specifically by targeting the 16S rRNA gene with specific primers. The exoU/exoS genotype was detected using conventional polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by specifical
... Show MoreA new simple, sensitive and inexpensive method has been developed for the spectrophotometric determination of cisapride in pharmaceutical formulation. The turbidimetric method is based on the formation of the ion-pair complex between the drug and bromophenol blue (BPB) in presence of potassium chloride at pH= 2.6, with a maximum absorbance at 520 nm. The calibration graph is linear in the concentration range 5-50µg.ml-1 , with good correlation coefficient (r = 0.9989).The limit of detection was found to be 1.14 µg.ml-1 and no interference was observed from common excipients in the pharmaceutical preparation that contain cisapride with good accuracy and precision.
In this study involves removing of Brilliant Dyes, were which (Brilliant Green {BG} and Brilliant Cresyl Blue {BCB}) by using Iraqi Siliceous Rocks Powder (SRP). Adsorption isotherms were studied and the factors which prefer it, like temperature and salt effect, Adsorption isotherms of dyes, Brilliant Cresyl Blue {BCB} was found to be comparable to Langmuir equation according to Giles classification, isotherms dye Brilliant Green {BG} was found to be comparable to Freundlich equation more than dye Brilliant Blue {BCB} according to Giles classification. The adsorption process on this surface (SRP) studied at different temperatures, the results showed that the adsorption of dyes (BCB, BG) on the surface increased with increased temperature (E
... Show MoreThis study proposes a hybrid predictive maintenance framework that integrates the Kolmogorov-Arnold Network (KAN) with Short-Time Fourier Transform (STFT) for intelligent fault diagnosis in industrial rotating machinery. The method is designed to address challenges posed by non-linear and non-stationary vibration signals under varying operational conditions. Experimental validation using the FALEX multispecimen test bench demonstrated a high classification accuracy of 97.5%, outperforming traditional models such as SVM, Random Forest, and XGBoost. The approach maintained robust performance across dynamic load scenarios and noisy environments, with precision and recall exceeding 95%. Key contributions include a hardware-accelerated K
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Buckling analysis of a laminated composite thin plate with different boundary conditions subjected to in-plane uniform load are studied depending on classical laminated plate theory; analytically using (Rayleigh-Ritz method). Equation of motion of the plates was derived using the principle of virtual work and solved using modified Fourier displacement function that satisfies general edge conditions. The eigenvalue problem generated by using Ritz method, the set of linear algebraic equations can be solved using MATLAB for symmetric and anti-symmetric, cross and angle-ply laminated plate considering some design parameters such as aspect ratios, number of layers, lamination type and orthotropic ratio. The results obtained g
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