The Innovative Approach for Accounting and Accountability of Government Revenues in Iraq

This study indicates that accountability of government revenue procedures are sufficient, adequate,  and well developed and illustrates new control bodies that parliament has created (such as the Commission of Integrity) in addition to the Board of Supreme Audit (BSA)  to fight financial and managerial corruption.  It covers both theoretical and empirical aspects. The theoretical side includes literature review, defining the accountability, audit of revenues, performance audit, taxation policy, and the sources of governmental income. While the empirical side includes studying the economic influence of government revenues in Iraq, different sources of government income, governmental control bodies, and the auditing procedures used by the BSA.This research considers how the contribution of oil revenue and tax revenues can be measured. It shows that the Iraqi Government depends almost totally on oil revenues (about 93% in 2012). The situation has deteriorated since 2003, when Iraq was first occupied, in spite of increased revenue from taxation.The Study highlights that the State should increase its role from different organizations to control all expenditures and develop revenue streams in other sectors. Although there is an emphasis on financial and budgetary measures for financial accountability, the use of non-financial measures in determining outcome accountability is increasing. Keywords: Government, Revenues, Accountability, Audit, Control Bodies, Innovation

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

The Interaction Effect of Comprehensiveness Between Social Media and Online Purchasing Intention in Jordanian Pharmacies

This empirical paper examined the moderating role of comprehensiveness between social media and online shopping intention among customers of Jordanian pharmacies. Technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) were the applied theories in this study. Data were collected from potential customers using a survey questionnaire. A total of 198 usable questionnaires were obtained and the data were analyzed. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used in the outcome examination. The results show a positive impact of social media on online shopping intention. Further, comprehensiveness moderated the relationship strengths between social media and online shopping intention. This paper finds that focusing on social media strategies such as adopting intimacy, decreasing the perceived risk, and increasing trust could motivate online shopping among customers. Pharmacies in Jordan may consider these findings and achieve them by providing more comprehensive information in their advertisement and announcement

Skaidrumo ir atskaitomybės vaidmuo mažinant administracinę ir finansinę korupciją

This study aims to understand the role of transparency and accountability in reducing administrative and financial corruption from the perspective of faculty members of public and private universities. To achieve the objectives of the study, a questionnaire was distributed among 374 faculty members in private and public universities. The hypotheses of the study were then tested based on the one-sample t-test. This most prominent results of this study are that transparency and accountability play an important role in reducing administrative and financial corruption in a high and convergent manner, confirming that transparency is a necessary stage prior to the stage of accountability. The authors recommend that management in public and private organizations study the forms of administrative and financial corruption and the extent of their spread. They should adhere to the principles of transparency and accountability, and justly impose deterrent penalties at all administrative levels so as to reduce administrative and financial corruption

The Interaction Effect of Comprehensiveness Between Social Media and Online Purchasing Intention in Jordanian Pharmacies

This empirical paper examined the moderating role of comprehensiveness between social media and online shopping intention among customers of Jordanian pharmacies. Technology acceptance model (TAM) and the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) were the applied theories in this study. Data were collected from potential customers using a survey questionnaire. A total of 198 usable questionnaires were obtained and the data were analyzed. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used in the outcome examination. The results show a positive impact of social media on online shopping intention. Further, comprehensiveness moderated the relationship strengths between social media and online shopping intention. This paper finds that focusing on social media strategies such as adopting intimacy, decreasing the perceived risk, and increasing trust could motivate online shopping among customers. Pharmacies in Jordan may consider these findings and achieve them by providing more comprehensive information in their advertisement and announcement.</p

Disseminated invasive aspergillosis successfully treated with micafungin in a renal transplant recipient

Earlier experience with micafungin demonstrated a successful outcome in treating pulmonary aspergillosis in leukemic patients. We report a case of renal transplant recipient (RTR) who developed disseminated invasive aspergillosis. The patient was treated with micafungin with complete clinical and radiological response

Multi-Wavelength Q-Switched Ytterbium-Doped Fiber Laser with Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes

We demonstrate a passively multi-wavelength Q-switched Ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) based on a multi-wall carbon nanotubes embedded in polyethylene oxide film as saturable absorber. The YDFL generates a stable multi-wavelength with spacing of 1.9 nm as the 980 nm pump power is fixed within 62. 4 mW and 78.0 mW. The repetition rate of the laser is tunable from 10.41 to 29.04 kHz by increasing the pump power from the threshold power of 62.4 mW to 78 mW. At 78 mW pump power, the maximum pulse energy of 38 nJ and the shortest pulse width of 8.87 µs are obtained

Stretched and soliton femtosecond pulse generation with graphene saturable absorber by manipulating cavity dispersion

Graphene is at the center of a significant research effort for ultrafast photonics due to its unique optical properties. Here, we demonstrated the generation of stretched and soliton femtosecond mode-locking pulses in an erbium doped fiber laser (EDFLs) by using graphene saturable absorber and managing the net cavity dispersion. The novelty of this work arises due to the simple fabrication of the graphene SA and the realization of two types of mode-locking pulse by manipulating the cavity dispersion. At total cavity dispersion of −0.028 ps2, stretched pulses train was successfully obtained. The laser has a pulse width of 750 fs at repetition rate of 35.1 MHz and pulse energy of 0.054 nJ at maximum output power of 1.9 mW. By varying the net cavity dispersion so that the anomalous dispersion has been achieved with total dispersion of −0.3 ps2, soliton mode locked pulse train was successfully obtained. The laser has a pulse width of 820 fs at repetition rate of 11.5 MHz and pulse energy of 0.42 nJ at output power of 4.85 mW. These results make the proposed EDFLs suitable for applications in optical communications, metrology, environmental sensing, and biomedical diagnostics

Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser with topological insulator-based saturable absorber

A stable passive Q-switched ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) operating at 1057.4 and 1044.5 nm is demonstrated using two types of topological insulator-based saturable absorbers (SAs): bismuth (III) selenide (Bi2Se3) and bismuth (III) telluride (Bi2Te3). These materials are embedded in polyvinyl alcohol film and incorporated in the YDFL cavity. Using Bi2Se3 SA, the YDFL obtains a stable train of pulses with a repetition rate that is tunable from 48.83 to 102 kHz. Meanwhile, the corresponding pulse width decreases from 8.9 to 3.48 μs as the pump power increases from 67.6 to 88.3 mW. For the Bi2Te3-based Q-switched YDFL, the repetition rate grows from 43.25 to 93.63 kHz and the pulse width shrinks from 5.65 to 2.01 μs as the 980-nm pump power rises from 72.8 to 98.4 mW. The maximum pulse energy is obtained with the Bi2Te3 SA at 29.95 nJ

Passively Q-switched Ytterbium doped fiber laser with mechanically exfoliated MoS2 saturable absorber

A passively Q-switched Ytterbium-doped fiber laser (YDFL) based on MoS2 saturable absorber (SA) is demonstrated. A few layers of MoS2 are mechanically exfoliated from a natural MoS2 crystal using a scotch tape and the resulting SA is sandwiched between two fiber ferrules to form a fiber compatible Q-switcher. The saturation intensity, non-saturable intensity, and modulation depth of the MoS2 SA are 23.5 MW/cm2, 23.0, and 11.3%, respectively. By introducing the MoS2 SA into the YDFL cavity, a stable pulse laser is generated at 1070.2 nm wavelength with a threshold pump power of 49.57 mW. The repetition rate of the Q-switched pulses ranges from 3.817 to 25.25 kHz, as the 980 nm pump power increases from 49.57 to 87.2 mW. The highest pulse energy is 295.45 nJ at a pump power of 87.2 mW