The Effect of it Governance on the Relationship Between Corporate Social Responsibility and Performance in Iraqi Banks

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to understand the greater responsibility placed by various organizations on the social responsibilities of the organizations towards their stakeholders. It also aims to explore the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for daily operations of organizations to fulfill their social responsibilities to society.   Theoretical Framework: The study made assumptions based on in-depth review to investigate variables in Iraqi context. One of the comprehensive measurement criteria provided by Liao (2019) covers the three dimensions of effectiveness, efficiency, and consistency.   Design/methodology/approach: The statistical population contains all listed companies on the Iraqi Stock Exchange between 2015 and 2021. The hypotheses were tested employing a multivariate regression model. The hypotheses of the study were tested using a sample of 168 observations from listed Iraqi banks from 2015 to 2021 and a multiple regression model based on the panel data technique of the random effects model.   Findings: The results showed a positive and statistically significant relationship between social responsibility and bank performance. Also, information technology governance (ITG) moderates this effect. Additional methods (t+1, fixed effects, ordinary least squares) were employed to test the validity of the research models.   Research, Practical & Social Implication: As this is the first study to investigate this issue in emerging markets, it provides users, analysts, and legal bodies with valuable information regarding CSR, which substantially impacts banks' performance.   Originality/value: The finding suggests several consequences of IT governances and its effects on corporate social responsibility which contributing to the development of knowledge

Comparison of Antibacterial Effect of Four Irrigation Solutions in Primary Root Canal Infections: A Clinical Study

Introduction: Reducing the bacterial count from the root canal system is one of the main stages in root canal treatment. The aim of the present clinical study was to compare the antibacterial effect of four intracanal irrigants in primary endodontic infections using both microbiological culture and quantitative Real-time Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) technique. Methods and Materials: Forty patients with primarily infected single rooted premolars were selected and then randomly divided into 4 groups according to the intra canal irrigant used: 5.25% Sodium hypochlorite (NaOCl), Hypoclean (Ogna Laboratori Farmaceutici, Muggiò, Italy), 2% chlorhexidine glouconate (CHX) and CHX-Plus (Vista Dental Products, Racine, WI, USA). Samples were collected before and after chemomechanical preparation and were evaluated by bacterial culture and RT-PCR technique for Enterococcus faecalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum. Data analyzed by repeated measured ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Four irrigation solutions significantly reduced the total numbers of cultivable bacteria (P<0.05). No statistically differences were found among the antibacterial effects of 5.25% NaOCl (99.93%), Hypoclean (99.94%), 2% CHX (99.77%) and CHX-Plus (99.83%) in reducing cultivable bacteria. Enterococcus faecalis and Fusobacterium nucleatum were no longer detected after preparation using four irrigants (100% reduction). Conclusions: All tested irrigants including 5.25% NaOCl, Hypoclean, 2% CHX and CHX-Plus significantly reduced the number of bacterial colonies in primary endodontic infections.Keywords: CHX-Plus; Endodontic Infection; Enterococcus faecalis; Fusobacterium nucleatum; Hypoclea

Influence of total quality management and organizational excellence factors on the organizational performance of Dubai police: Moderating role of management support

The aim of this research is the present study tests for the significant relationship from total quality management such as (strategic planning, management leadership, Human Resource Management, service design, continuous improvement, information and analysis, benchmarking), and organizational excellence (innovation, customer focus, personal commitment) to organizational performance (financial performance, internal process, customer, learning and growth) in Dubai police performance. The management support is tested as a moderating impact. The population for this study was comprised of police officers from different police stations and departments in the Emirate of Dubai. Thus, the study sample was 388 police officers. The result of this study indicate that direct relationships for the seven predictors of total quality management practices are significant; the precedence for the relations based on the path coefficient value is benchmarking (0.727), information and analysis (0.692), continuous improvement (0.689), HRM (0.557), management leadership (0.458), strategic planning (0.293), and service design (0.255).The moderating relationship of management support has no significant change in the path coefficient, and the moderating effect is not significant. In addition, the direct relationships for the predictors of organizational excellence factors are significant; the precedence for the relations based on the path coefficient value is personal commitment (0.750), innovation (0.683), and customer focus (0.631). The moderating relationship of management support has no significant change in the path coefficient, and the moderating effect is not significan

A New 4-DOF Robot for Rehabilitation of Knee and Ankle-Foot Complex: Simulation and Experiment

Stationary robotic trainers are lower limb rehab robots which often incorporate an exoskeleton attached to a stationary base. The issue observed in the stationery trainers for simultaneous knee and ankle-foot complex joints is that they restrict the natural motion of ankle-foot in the rehab trainings due to the insufficient Degrees of Freedom (DOFs) of these trainers. A new stationary knee-ankle-foot rehab robot with all necessary DOFs is developed here. A typical rehab training is first implemented in simulation, and then tested on a healthy subject. Results show that the proposed system functions naturally and meets the requirements of the desired rehab training.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figure

Evidence for Possible Late Paleozoic Alleghenian Deformation Structures in the Devonian Rocks of Erie County, Ohio, USA

Partially exposed bedrock beneath Pleistocene glacial till in Erie County (north-central Ohio) displays unusual structural deformation in the Devonian Berea Sandstone, Bedford Shale, and Ohio Shale. These folded and faulted units are exposed in creeks as anticlines and synclines. Past studies of this area proposed Pleistocene ice movement and soft-sediment deformation during the Late Paleozoic as the deformation mechanisms, but these hypotheses cannot explain the extent of layer displacement or the contradiction between the southwest travel direction of the ice sheet and the structural sense of motion on the folded units. A new interpretation using field data and constructing geologic profiles explains the development of these structures. This study investigated 17 anticlines that trend in different directions. Four of these anticlines are tightly folded with steep or overturned flanks and thrust-faulted Ohio Shale in their cores. Structural analysis of these folds shows that the incompetent shaly units of the Plum Brook–Ohio–Bedford and competent Berea Sandstone were folded above the Delaware–Niagara carbonates as a result of the compressional stress during the Late Paleozoic. Development of these tight or overturned folds, and change in trend of the anticlines, is caused by unusual stratigraphic thickness variations in the Berea and Bedford units. Preserved and undeformed fine sedimentary structures, and sharply faulted beds, in the Berea and Bedford indicate that soft-sediment deformation was not the cause of the regional structural deformation. Finally, the absence of physical features of glacially deformed bedrock demonstrates that Pleistocene glacial ice shove was not the cause of deformed bedrock units in the study area

Flow Cytometric Analysis of Inflammatory Cells in Experimental Acute Pancreatitis

 Background: Accumulating evidence indicates that inflammatory cells migrate into the pancreas tissue and play an important role in the pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis (AP). The aim of this study was to establish a flow cytometric method to enumerate these infiltrating cells in the pancreas of an experimental AP.Materials and Methods: Twelve hours after inducing of AP, mice pancreatic tissues were cut into small fragments and single cells were prepared by mechanical dissociation. The isolated cells were stained with either anti-mouse CD45-PerCP or isotype antibody and analyzed by flow cytometry. Using side scatter (SSC)/CD45 gating we were able to identify inflammatory cells from non-inflammatory cells.Results: The mean percentage of leukocytes was 5.9±1.6 in the control group whereas, it was 26.7±8.1 in the AP. Moreover, we found that the percentage of lymphocytes, monocytes and granulocytes were 1.1±0.2, 0.9±.04 and 2.9±1.8 of total pancreatic cells, respectively, in the control mice. In contrast to lymphocytes, the percentage of monocytes and granulocytes were significantly increased in the AP group and it was 3±1.3 and 18.2±3.2 for monocytes and granulocytes, respectively.Conclusion: Quantitative flow cytometric analysis is feasible and provides a reliable and rapid assay to determine the number and percentage of inflammatory cells in experimental AP

Experimental Investigation of Laminar Convection Heat Transfer of Al2O3-Ethylene Glycol-Water Nanofluid as a Coolant in a Car Radiator

In this experimental study, heat transfer of a coolant nanofluid, obtained by adding alumina nanoparticles to Ethylene Glycol-water (60:40 by mass), in a car radiator has been investigated. For this purpose, an experimental setup has been designed and constructed. Firstly, to investigate the accuracy of the results, the experiments have been done for the base fluid. Then the experiments have been performed for the nanofluid with different nanoparticles volume fractions of 0.003, 0.006, 0.009 and 0.012. To ensure laminar flow regime three coolant flow rates of 9, 11 and 13 lit/min have been tested. The thermophysical properties have been calculated using the recently presented temperature dependent models in the literature. According to the results, both the convective heat transfer coefficient and Nusselt number increase (about 9%) with increasing the coolant flow rate. Also, convective heat transfer coefficient increases with increasing the nanoparticles volume fraction. Although Nusselt number decreases when nanofluid is utilized, it enhances as the nanoparticles volume fraction increases. Based on the experimental results obtained, A new empirical correlation has been developed for average Nusselt number of Al2O3-EG-water nanofluid in developing region of flat tubes of car radiator for laminar flow and its maximum error is 3%

Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure and Investment Efficiency

The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of corporate social responsibility disclosure on the investment efficiency. The evidence reveals that corporate social responsibility disclosure decreases investment inefficiency and consequently increases investment efficiency. Content analysis method was used to measure levels of corporate social responsibility disclosure. A sample of 90 firms listed in Tehran Stock Exchange during the years 2010 to 2015 were selected. Multiple regression models based on panel data techniques were used to test the research hypotheses. The independent variable in this study is corporate social responsibility disclosure and Investment efficiency is dependent variable. The findings indicate that social responsibility disclosure will improve investment efficiency in firms. This result is consistent with the expectation that high CSR firms enjoy low information asymmetry and high stakeholder solidarity (stakeholder theory). Taken together, the findings highlight the important role that CSR plays in shaping firms’ investment behavior and efficiency