Air pollution is an increasingly environmental problem worldwide. People from Iraq and the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) constantly complain of poor air quality in the region. Many studies have ...investigated particular aspects of air pollution in theKRI, the issue, however, has never been comprehensively discussed. This study, unlike its precedents, collects all the documents, research articles, and ground facts available concerning air pollution, and aims to thoroughly understand all dimensions of the issue and classifies its significant factors and sources. The result revealed that, compared to 40 years ago, current air quality in the KRI, specifically in the two largest cities of Erbil and Sulaimani, has deteriorated. The root causes were found to be political instability and wars in the region, a sharp increase in population, and poor public services. Similar to many other cities in the developing countries, sources such as transportation have contributed in the pollution. In addition, other significant sources such as dust storms, large and private power generators as well as household kerosene heaters which might not be present in other countries were found contributing in escalation of the pollution. It is concluded that air pollution in theKRIis the outcome of a variety of causes and sources some of which may not be common in other parts of the world.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop an effective framework for implementing Lean strategies in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI).
...Design/methodology/approach
Based on the integration of LM tools and techniques with the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) criteria a systematic Lean implementation framework for manufacturing SMEs has been proposed. The core values, drivers and tools of the proposed framework were further developed based on case studies in three SMEs in the KRI.
Findings
Proposed framework is able to provide a simple pathway for SMEs to systematically implement Lean techniques in seven functional areas in order to create Lean culture in the organisation. Business performance measurement in terms of profitability, customer satisfaction, employee’s satisfaction, competitiveness growth and ergonomic improvement is presented in favour of evaluating Lean outcomes appropriately. It also presents the experience of small firms in implementing Lean programmes to show that Lean is valid in SMEs.
Research limitations/implications
The framework concentrates only on the internal issues of the organisation, while external variables such as national culture and external support are excluded.
Practical implications
The framework assists improvements in SMEs that either initially attempt to start Lean journey or those that are at more advanced levels towards excellent-Lean manufacturing. The framework can also be used as a self-assessment model to determine the degree of Lean readiness.
Originality/value
To the best knowledge of the author, it is the first framework that integrates Lean techniques with MBNQA criteria to support Lean implementation in SMEs. It is also the first study regarding Lean-excellence in the KRI.
The 1987-1988 Anfal Campaign during which the Iraqi Baath regime massacred some 180,000 Kurdish Iraqis, 5,000 of whom killed by chemical weapons in the town of Halabja, is considered one of the major ...traumas in modern Kurdish history. Yet a few decades later, the Kurds appear to have risen from their proverbial ashes, embarking against great odds on an ambitious state building project in northern Iraq. With this story of "trauma and redemption" as background, this paper considers the lessons learned from this Kurdish experiment; lessons drawn not only by the Kurds themselves, but by all those who willy-nilly accompanied them on this journey; the Iraqi state, the international community, and the United States.
This research aims to describe the implementation security strategy of Indonesia Warship Western Command Fleet in Indonesia's archipelagic sea lanes, will be dealing abuses and sea crimes. This ...research used a qualitative method with descriptive approach, research data from interviews and documents. The results is security strategies Indonesia's archipelagic sea lanes using a choke point control patterns to support the readiness of Indonesia Warship capabilities, which are limited and need to increase surveillance capabilities vessel with technological developments and increased cooperation with agencies to be able to realize its strategy of securing Indonesia's archipelagic sea lanes
Traditional roll technologies focus solely on the contour of the roll gap at the outlet under ideal conditions. However, upon roll crossing, the three-dimensional distribution of the deformation zone ...becomes asymmetrical, leading to an adverse impact on the rolling pressure in the deformation zone. To study the screw-down load deviation of plate mills, it is necessary to accurately calculate the equivalent three-dimensional roll gap in the deformation zone under roll-crossing conditions. In this paper a model for calculating the equivalent three-dimensional roll gap under the conditions of roll crossing and no load was established based on the method of the coordinate nonlinear transformation of the spatial rectangular coordinate system. Based on this model, the influences of roll-crossing angles and translation parameters on the symmetry of the equivalent three-dimensional roll gap were analyzed. The distribution of the three-dimensional equivalent roll gap was calculated with different roll lengths, roll radii, and the roll gap’s nominal thickness. The intuitive contour map reveals that under the same condition of crossing angle and translation parameters, the larger the roll length and roll radii and the smaller the roll gap’s nominal thickness are, the greater the influence of the roll crossing on the asymmetrical distribution of roll gap is. It put forward a quantitative calculation method for evaluating the symmetrical distribution of the roll gap, and the calculation results can provide the equivalent roll profile for the roll-deformation model.
Drought is a common event in Iraq’s climate, and the country has severely suffered from drought episodes in the last two decades. The Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI) is geographically situated in the ...semi-arid zone in Iraq, whose water resources have been limited in the last decades and mostly shared with other neighboring countries. To analyze drought impacts on the vegetation cover and the land surface temperature in the KRI for a span of 20 years from 1998 to 2017, remote sensing (RS) and Geographical Information Systems (GIS) have been adopted in this study. For this study, 120 Landsat satellite images were downloaded and utilized, whereas six images covering the entire study area were used for each year of the study period. The Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and Land Surfaces Temperature Index (LST) were applied to produce multi-temporal classified drought maps. Changes in the area and values of the classified NDVI and LST were calculated and mapped. Mann–Kendall and Sen’s Slope statistical tests were used to assess the variability of drought indices variation in 60 locations in the study area. The results revealed increases in severity and frequency of drought over the study period, particularly in the years 2000 and 2008, which were characterized by an increase in land surface temperatures, a decrease in vegetation area cover, and a lack of precipitation averages. Climate conditions affect the increase/decrease of the vegetated cover area, and geographical variability is also one factor that significantly influences the distribution of vegetation. It can be concluded that the southeast and southwestern parts of the KRI were subjected to the most severe droughts over the past 20 years.
Oceanic internal waves (IWs) at frequencies from local inertial (e.g., near-inertial internal waves) to buoyancy frequencies (nonlinear internal waves or internal solitary waves), sometimes including ...diurnal and semidiurnal tidal frequencies, play an important role in redistributing heat, momentum, materials, and energy via turbulent mixing. IWs are found ubiquitously in many seas, including East Asian marginal seas (Indonesian Seas, South China Sea, East China Sea, Yellow Sea, and East Sea or Japan Sea), significantly affecting underwater acoustics, coastal and offshore engineering, submarine navigation, biological productivity, and the local and global climate. Despite decades of study on the IWs in some regions, our understanding of the IWs in the East Asian marginal seas is still in a primitive state and the mechanisms underlying every stage (generation, propagation, evolution, and dissipation) of IWs are not always clear. This Special Issue includes papers related to all fields of both low- and high-frequency IW studies in the specified region, including remote sensing, in situ observations, theories, and numerical models.
In the early morning of 21 April 2021 local time, the Indonesian Navy submarine KRI nanggala-402 crashed in the Bali Sea (BS). As internal solitary waves (ISWs) are a great threat to submarine ...navigation, this paper analyzes the characteristics of ISWs in the BS by surveying satellite remote sensing images collected from 12–21 April 2021. The satellite images revealed active ISWs in the BS near the submarine wreck site with crest lengths approaching 200 km. Originating from the Lombok Strait (LS), the waves travelled northwestward across the BS deep basin, passed through the submarine wreck site, and shoaled onto the continental shelf west of the Kangean Islands, during which process, the propagation speed reached 2.69 m/s in the deep basin and 0.71 m/s in the shallow water. Based on the satellite images, the wave amplitude near the wreck site was reconstructed to be 41 m, and the reconstructed underwater wave structure showed a maximum vertical velocity of 10 cm/s. Satellite images also demonstrated the near-source evidence of ISWs near the Nusa Penida sill of the LS, and their generation were estimated to be related to the southward tidal current troughs.
Lean manufacturing (LM) has been recognised as an inclusive management style which enhances organisational performance by adding value to the manufacturing processes through eliminating wastes, time ...and efforts. Many SMEs globally, implement or are willing to embrace lean programmes to survive in the current competitive environment. Lean is a powerful management approach that is driven by a set of critical enablers. The main task of the lean leaders is to deeply understand the relationship between these enablers to generate business advantage. This study investigates a contextual relationship among lean enablers in SMEs in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (KRI-SMEs) by applying Interpretive Structural Modelling (ISM) techniques. The enablers derived from previous studies formed a basis for semi-structured interviews conducted with nine business managers in KRI-SMEs. In conclusion, the study provides a structural model of lean enablers that should support business practices within SMEs.
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