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This chapter uses an analytic procedure to uncover how Saddam Hussein made his past decisions, and the decision rule(s) Saddam adopted in choosing his actions. In analyzing Saddam, a leader who was considered one of the most formidable enemies of the Western world, this study utilizes official recordings captured at the Iraq war, which provide a reliable source of information. This chapter adds to the literature on the use of applied decision analysis (ADA) in analyzing leaders’ decisions.

Specifically, an emphasis is placed on the importance of understanding the process that led Saddam Hussein to his key decisions, in order to create his decision profile. Decision profiles describe the decision rules and models that are used by decision-makers en route to choice and can help understand and predict decisions of world leaders. I use the ADA procedure to examine key foreign policy decisions made by Saddam Hussein. Finally, after thoroughly examining each of these decisions, I attempt to uncover what decision rule Saddam used, and elaborate on the implications and recommendations of my analysis.

The purpose of this study is to establish Loratadine [LRD] quantification in purified and capsule formulations using a precise and specific Reversal Phase with a very high-performance liquid Chromatographic [RP-HPLC] technique. The approach was evaluated in agreement with the principles of the International Conference on Harmonization [ICH]. Arcus EP-C18 Ion Pac column, 5 m, 4.6 mm, 250 mm, mobile phase Methanol: Acetonitrile (60:40) v/v. Dibasic potassium phosphate buffer, pH 7.2, flow rate 1.0 ml/min.

The HPLC system used a 340 nm UV detector for testing. A 10-min run time was used for the analysis. At concentrations ranging from 2 to 10 g/ml, the technique was linear (R² = 0.9998), exact (intra-day and inter-day relative standard deviation [RSD] values 1.0%), accurate (range recovery = 96%–102%), exclusive and strong.

The detecting and quantitation limits were 0.92 g/ml and 2.15 g/ml, respectively.

The findings demonstrated that the proposed method could accurately determine LRD in bulk and pill dose formats quickly and accurately.

This paper probes into the relationship between Neighbourhood Parks and their efficiency as a potential stress reliever from the outdoor environment. It consists of the introduction to the relationship between stress and outdoor environment, background research on recent issues of Neighbourhood Park and it then continues with the context of perceiving Neighbourhood Park as a stress reliever. This paper looks into the previous studies that employed observations, survey, interviews and instruments as methods in proving Neighbourhood Parks as a potential stress reliever. Relevant findings were highlighted and recommendations for improving the design and planning were suggested to generate more quality living environment in the future.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of human resource (HR) management practices on achieving competitive advantage through studying the mediating role of employee satisfaction in the context of five-star hotels in Northern Cyprus.

To produce numeric data as well as to test the hypothesis, the researchers employed structural equation modeling and AMOS. The testing included (n=439) questionnaires. The model suggested by the authors examined the tourism sector, and in particular, five-star hotels located in Northern Cyprus.

The main research findings revealed that HR practices had a significant effect on competitive advantage. By comparison, the research findings revealed that the mediator variable had no effect on achieving competitive advantage for five-star hotels in Northern Cyprus.

This study demonstrates originality by responding to the recommendations of prior studies conducted on HR in Northern Cyprus Island. This makes a theoretical contribution to the field, since only Turkey recognizes Northern Cyprus, which makes conducting research on this country a challenge for researchers worldwide. Based on this study’s outcomes, this paper discusses its theoretical and practical implications, as well as recommendations for future research.

This study examines the returns from education for three distinct groups: always employees, dabblers in self-employment and sustained self-employed individuals. We aim to understand how educational attainment translates into earnings across these employment types in the UK.

Using data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and Understanding Society: The UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS), we employ a random effects (RE) model to account for unobserved individual characteristics and the Heckman selection model to address self-selection bias, ensuring accurate estimates of educational returns.

Our findings indicate that sustained self-employed individuals benefit more from education compared to dabblers and, in certain cases, traditional employees. Dabblers with postgraduate education report higher returns than always employees, but those with lower educational levels experience disadvantages due to their intermittent labour market engagement.

This study introduces new evidence on the heterogeneity of educational returns for self-employed individuals in the UK, providing a novel comparative analysis of different employment types and highlighting the unique challenges and outcomes related to educational attainment and earnings.

The purpose of this paper is to join sheets of an aluminium alloy together with pre-holed carbon steel via friction spot technique.

An AISI 1006 steel sheet was a pre-holed with a 4.8 mm diameter and put under AA5052 sheet with a lap joint configuration. The joining process was carried out by extruding the aluminium through the steel hole using a rotating tool of 10 mm diameter. Furthermore, three process parameters (pre-heating time, rotating speed and plunging depth of the tool) with three values for each parameter were used to study their effects on the joints quality. In order to join samples, nine experiments were designed according to a Taguchi method. Shear strength, microstructure and X-ray diffraction tests of the joint were carried out.

The joining mechanism occurred by a mechanical interlock of the extruded aluminium with the inner surface of the steel hole. The tool plunging depth had a significant effect on the shear strength of the joint. The shear strength of two joints exceeded the shear strength of the wrought material (AA5052). All samples failed with two modes: pull-out and shearing of the extruded aluminium.

For the first time, the extrusion technique was used to join AA5052 sheet together with pre-holed carbon steel, with a perfect joint efficiency.

This study aims to examine the transitions of workers between paid employment and self-employment before and after the 2008 financial crisis, focusing on the drivers behind increased self-employment in the UK and the role of trade union membership in these transitions.

Using a long-running panel data set, the labour market is divided into three groups: sustained self-employed, always employed and those who transition between the two. The framework assesses the influence of union membership on these transitions.

Long-term paid employees, rather than those transitioning between employment types, are driving increased self-employment. Union membership appears more attractive post-crisis to paid employees, but disengagement from unions may be linked to transitions towards self-employment.

This research highlights the nuanced role of trade unions in employment transitions and contributes to understanding labour market dynamics post-financial crisis in the UK.

The purpose of this paper is to address various works on mixed convection and proposes 10 unified models (Models 1–10) based on various thermal and kinematic conditions of the boundary walls, thermal conditions and/ or kinematics of objects embedded in the cavities and kinematics of external flow field through the ventilation ports. Experimental works on mixed convection have also been addressed.

This review is based on 10 unified models on mixed convection within cavities. Models 1–5 involve mixed convection based on the movement of single or double walls subjected to various temperature boundary conditions. Model 6 elucidates mixed convection due to the movement of single or double walls of cavities containing discrete heaters at the stationary wall(s). Model 7A focuses mixed convection based on the movement of wall(s) for cavities containing stationary solid obstacles (hot or cold or adiabatic) whereas Model 7B elucidates mixed convection based on the rotation of solid cylinders (hot or conductive or adiabatic) within the cavities enclosed by stationary or moving wall(s). Model 8 is based on mixed convection due to the flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities (with or without adiabatic baffles) subjected to hot and adiabatic walls. Models 9 and 10 elucidate mixed convection due to flow of air through ventilation ports of cavities involving discrete heaters and/or solid obstacles (conductive or hot) at various locations within cavities.

Mixed convection plays an important role for various processes based on convection pattern and heat transfer rate. An important dimensionless number, Richardson number (Ri) identifies various convection regimes (forced, mixed and natural convection). Generalized models also depict the role of “aiding” and “opposing” flow and combination of both on mixed convection processes. Aiding flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the same direction) may result in the augmentation of the heat transfer rate whereas opposing flow (interaction of buoyancy and inertial forces in the opposite directions) may result in decrease of the heat transfer rate. Works involving fluid media, porous media and nanofluids (with magnetohydrodynamics) have been highlighted. Various numerical and experimental works on mixed convection have been elucidated. Flow and thermal maps associated with the heat transfer rate for a few representative cases of unified models [Models 1–10] have been elucidated involving specific dimensionless numbers.

This review paper will provide guidelines for optimal design/operation involving mixed convection processing applications.

This study examines the dynamic relationship between UK entrepreneurs' engagement with society and the economic climate surrounding the 2008 financial crisis – before, during and after it. We investigate whether such crises strengthen or weaken the connections between entrepreneurship and society, considering gender differences.

We employ individual-level data from the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) and the UK Longitudinal Study (UKLS) to assess changes in entrepreneurs' social engagement during crises. We use panel logit and Poisson regressions to estimate trends in social engagement over time and in response to economic turmoil.

We discover that entrepreneurs are more likely to join social organisations during economic turmoil. This engagement varies by gender, with female entrepreneurs more inclined to engage with social organisations than males. This suggests that female entrepreneurs perceive crisis risks differently, seeking support to navigate uncertainty. Additionally, we find evidence supporting the idea that female entrepreneurs take longer to recover from major economic shocks than their male counterparts.

Entrepreneur behaviour during crises remains understudied. The role of social ties and networks in aiding entrepreneurs during systemic crises is particularly unexplored. This study addresses this gap, highlighting gender-based behavioural differences during crises and paving the way for further research. It represents a crucial step in integrating crisis literature into entrepreneurship studies.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the way people in a collectivist culture, particularly Egyptians, define social isolation and to understand the effect of social isolation on maintaining traditional networks of social relations.

To do this, online ethnographic semi-structured interviews were carried out with a purposeful sample of non-infected Egyptians who have access to social media networks.

Although collectivism may be perceived as a risk factor in developing countries, it has positive effects on reducing the spread of COVID-19 among Egyptians through the preventive measures it entails. Increased fear, worries and anxiety about the family and in-group members is a limiting factor against the prevalence of the disease, despite the emotional hardships experienced by individuals.

The sample interviewed does not refer to the entire Egyptian population, since the number of social media users represents 43.5% of Egyptians. Therefore, generalization of research data may be problematic.

The paper aims to raise awareness of the important of stressing collectivist character traits since they can help develop more preventive measures against the spread of the disease. Research findings also indicate that there is a need to coexist with the disease under controlled conditions to lessen the psychological risks of social isolation.

In light of the paucity of research carried out on COVID-19, the present research provides a pioneering insight into the meaning of social isolation in a collectivist culture and the distinctive local methods adopted by people to maintain their networks of social relations.