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 excessive and rapid urban growth witnessed by most cities in the world can be a cause of diseases and epidemics, especially those problems related to population, which include problems of transportation and increase in density in the centers, in addition to the lack of interest in planning and designing those cities to take into account the health aspect of the city and obtain The health well-being of the population, and each of these problems has negative effects on health in general and on human health in particular through its prevalence. Therefore, many concepts that serve as a tool for achieving public health and the physical health of the population have emerged, including the concept of city health, which is defined as cities
... Show MoreThe research aims to monitor and analyze the visual and symbolic features, derived from the Omani heritage, and inspired by the concept of local identity, for a selection of contemporary Omani graphic art works, which represent a mixed, multi-category of research sample, comprising three levels: the works of professional Omani artists, and the works of young artists and specialized students, as well as the work of a number of active academics in the field of graphic theorizing and teaching. The sample is also divided - in terms of technical classification - into a category of works executed using traditional engraving and printing media, and a category of works executed using modern and digital graphic printing media.
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Background: The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase in salivary pleomorphic adenoma, and to correlate the two studied markers with each other and with clinicopathological parameters including: age, sex, tumor site and histopathological presentation. Methods: Sections of twenty five formalin-fixed paraffin embedded tissue blocks specimens of salivary pleomorphic adenoma were immunostained using monoclonal antibodies (Fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase) to assess their expression in this tumor. Results: The expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 and Heparanase were positive in all pleomorphic adenoma cases (100%). The positive expression of fibroblast growth factor-2 was signi
... Show MoreFrom a health standpoint, fluoride (F) is a vital element for humans. It had harmful effects on numerous organs when consumed in high dosages. Fluoride poisoning has been linked to liver damage. The purpose of this study was to see how sodium fluoride (Naf) affected liver function and the glycemic index in adult male albino rats. Fourteen (14) adult male Wistar albino rats were randomly and evenly divided into two groups and given the following treatments for thirty (30) days: G1 Group (Control group), were given distilled water and fed a balanced diet, G2 rats were administered water that contained 100 ppm Naf. The animals were fasted for 8-12 hours before being anesthetized and blood samples were taken by heart puncture technique
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Abstract. Fibrewise micro-topological spaces be a useful tool in various branches of mathematics. These mathematical objects are constructed by assigning a micro-topology to each fibre from a fibre bundle. The fibrewise micro-topological space is then formed by taking the direct limit of these individual micro-topological spaces. It can be adapted to analyze various mathematical structures, from algebraic geometry to differential equations. In this study, we delve into the generalizations of fibrewise micro-topological spaces and explore the applications of these abstract structures in different branches of mathematics. This study aims to define the fibrewise micro topological space through the generalizations that we use in this paper, whi
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Fibromyalgia (FM) is a common, debilitating, and chronic pain syndrome. The women are more likely to have more tender points on examination than are their male counterparts. Iraqi study showed that FM occur in 1.5% among adolescents of Iraqi population. In compare to normal healthy women, present study was revealed that Iraqi women with FM have significant elevation of calcium (p = 0.003) with significant reduction of magnesium (p = 0.001), whereas the inorganic phosphorous was not differs (p = 0.31). In conclusion, magnesium and calcium would play a crucial role in etiopathogenesis of fibromyalgia.
Key words: calcium, magnesium, phosphorous, Fibromyalgia.
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A simple, cheap, fast, accurate, Safety and sensitive spectrophotometric method for the determination of sulfamethaxazole (SFMx), in pure form and pharmaceutical dosage forms. has been described The Method is based on the diazotization of the drug by sodium nitrite in acidic medium at 5Cº followed by coupling with salbutamol sulphate (SBS) drug to form orange color the product was stabilized and measured at 452 nm Beer’s law is obeyed in the concentration range of 2.5-87.5 ?g ml-1 with molar absorptivity of 2.5x104 L mole-1 cm-1. All variables including the reagent concentration, reaction time, color stability period, and sulfamethaxazole /salbutamol ratio were studied in order to optimize the reaction conditions. No interferences were
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COVID-19 is a unique viral infectious illness that causes a variety of symptoms and health hazards, particularly to the respiratory system and has been declared a worldwide pandemic. The disease is characterized by a cytokine release in severe conditions. Interleukin-6 (IL-6), a proinflammatory cytokine, mediates an important immunomodulatory process. Also, vitamin D was identified to have a role in the innate immunity of individuals. Our study was designed to find the role of IL-6 and vitamin D in COVID-19 patients, as well as, to see whether there is a link between vitamin D deficiency and cytokine syndrome development. The study included 90 COVID-19 patients and 30 control people from Baghdad, Iraq. The age of the participants was non-s
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This study evaluated the knowledge and practice of breast self-examination (BSE), among a sample of educated Iraqi women. The study sample comprised 858 women aged 18–62 years affiliated to 6 major Iraqi universities, categorized according to occupation as teaching staff (11.5%), administrative staff (18.0%) and students (70.5%). Data were collected by a self-completed questionnaire. In all, 93.9% of the women had heard about BSE, the main source of information was television (39.9%), doctors (18.4%) and the awareness campaign of the Iraqi National Breast Cancer Research Programme (11.6%). Only 53.9% of the women practised BSE; the most common excuses by those that did not were lack of knowledge of the significance of BSE (42.0%) and lack
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