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The current study is aimed at identifying the prominent influencers that affect the response behaviour of patients in a hospital environment.

The research is based on the data collected through the participant observation method while interviewing patients about the quality of healthcare services in nine community health centres of the Kashmir division. Thematic analysis was performed on the information collected from patients admitted to various hospital sections.

The analysis of the qualitative data revealed that the presence of hospital staff near respondents, perceived risk of maltreatment, social desirability, the sensitivity of the topic, risk of information sharing and attitude towards surveys are the most frequently observed factors that modulate the patient's tendency to truthfully report critical facts about the problem understudy.

These results can help researchers to exercise caution while communicating with respondents and collecting data related to serious issues in a natural setting.

This study aims to examine activity-related sound levels and pupils’ perceptions of the acoustic environment in two classrooms, one of which was a traditional classroom (Reference classroom, reverberation time (RT) 0.54 s) and the other a refurbished classroom (Demo classroom, RT 0.32 s).

Three types of data were gathered: room acoustic measurements, activity sound levels during different activities and pupils’ subjective experience concerning factors related to acoustics. Pupils, 10–11 years old (N = 34), estimated their subjective experience in general and after four test lessons. Teachers planned the test lessons to have four different lesson types: quiet work, one-person speaking, group work and activity-based work. The sound levels of activities were measured during the test lessons.

The activity sound levels were 2–13 dB L_Aeq lower in the Demo classroom than in the Reference classroom, depending on lesson type. Pupils were less annoyed by noise in the Demo than in the Reference classroom. Pupils’ speech was the most annoying sound source. More pupils were annoyed by it in the Reference classroom (65%) than in the Demo classroom (15%). Hearing the teacher while not seeing her face, concentrating on teaching and sitting in one’s place were estimated easier in the Demo classroom than in the Reference classroom.

This study offers a new approach using test lessons for studying activity sounds in schools. Activity sounds and their annoyance can be significantly diminished by classroom refurbishments.

The framework of this paper is financial mathematics and, more specifically, the control of data fraud and manipulation with their subsequent economic effects, namely, in financial markets. The purpose of this paper is to calculate the global loss or gain, which supposes, for the borrower, a change of the interest rate while the contracted loan is in force or, in another case, the loan has finished.

The methodology used in this work has been, in the first place, a review of the existing literature on the topic of manipulability and abusiveness of the loan interest rates applied by banks; in the second place, the introduction of a mathematical-financial analysis to calculate the interests paid in excess; and, finally, the compilation of several sentences issued on the application of the so-called mortgage loan reference index (MLRI) to mortgage loans in Spain.

There are three main contributions in this paper. First, the calculation of the interests paid in excess in the amortization of mortgage loans referenced to an overvalued interest rate. Second, an empirical application shows the amount to be refunded to a Spanish consumer when amortizing his/her mortgage loan referenced to the MLRI instead of the Euro InterBank Offered Rate (EURIBOR). Third, consideration has been made to the effects and the possible solutions to the legal problems arising from this type of contract.

This research is a useful tool capable of implementing the financial calculation needed to find out overpaid interests in mortgage loans and to execute the sentences dealing with this topic. However, a limitation of this study is the lack of enough sentences on mortgage loans referenced to the MLRI to get some additional information about the number of borrowers affected by these legal sentences and the amount refunded by the financial institutions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first time that deviations in the payment of interests have been calculated when amortizing a mortgage.

A maturity model for Industry 4.0 (I4.0 MM) with influencing factors is designed to address maturity issues in adopting Industry 4.0. Standardisation in I4.0 supports manufacturing industry transformation, forming reference architecture models (RAMs). This paper aligns key factors and maturity levels in I4.0 MMs with reputable I4.0 RAMs to enhance strategy for I4.0 transformation and implementation.

Three steps of alignment consist of the systematic literature review (SLR) method to study the current published high-quality I4.0 MMs, the taxonomy development of I4.0 influencing factors by adapting and implementing the categorisation of system theories and aligning I4.0 MMs with RAMs.

The study discovered that different I4.0 MMs lead to varied organisational interpretations. Challenges and insights arise when aligning I4.0 MMs with RAMs. Aligning MM levels with RAM stages is a crucial milestone in the journey toward I4.0 transformation. Evidence indicates that I4.0 MMs and RAMs often overlook the cultural domain.

Findings contribute to the literature on aligning capabilities with implementation strategies while employing I4.0 MMs and RAMs. We use five RAMs (RAMI4.0, NIST-SME, IMSA, IVRA and IIRA), and as a common limitation in SLR, there could be a subjective bias in reading and selecting literature.

To fully leverage the capabilities of RAMs as part of the I4.0 implementation strategy, companies should initiate the process by undertaking a thorough needs assessment using I4.0 MMs.

The novelty of this paper lies in being the first to examine the alignment of I4.0 MMs with established RAMs. It offers valuable insights for improving I4.0 implementation strategies, especially for companies using both MMs and RAMs in their transformation efforts.

The purpose of this paper is to study large deviations for the solution processes of a stochastic equation incorporated with the effects of nonlocal condition.

A weak convergence approach is adopted to establish the Laplace principle, which is same as the large deviation principle in a Polish space. The sufficient condition for any family of solutions to satisfy the Laplace principle formulated by Budhiraja and Dupuis is used in this work.

Freidlin–Wentzell type large deviation principle holds good for the solution processes of the stochastic functional integral equation with nonlocal condition.

The asymptotic exponential decay rate of the solution processes of the considered equation towards its deterministic counterpart can be estimated using the established results.

The paper proposes an efficient and insightful approach for solving neutral delay differential equations (NDDE) with high-frequency inputs. This paper aims to overcome the need to use a very small time step when high frequencies are present. High-frequency signals abound in communication circuits when modulated signals are involved.

The method involves an asymptotic expansion of the solution and each term in the expansion can be determined either from NDDE without oscillatory inputs or recursive equations. Such an approach leads to an efficient algorithm with a performance that improves as the input frequency increases.

An example shall indicate the salient features of the method. Its improved performance shall be shown when the input frequency increases. The example is chosen as it is similar to that in literature concerned with partial element equivalent circuit (PEEC) circuits (Bellen et al., 1999). Its structure shall also be shown to enable insights into the behaviour of the system governed by the differential equation.

The method is novel in its application to NDDE as arises in engineering applications such as those involving PEEC circuits. In addition, the focus of the method is on a technique suitable for high-frequency signals.

In this study, the authors want to identify current possible causes for citing and referencing errors in scholarly literature to compare if something changed from the snapshot provided by Sweetland in his 1989 paper.

The authors analysed reference elements, i.e. bibliographic references, mentions, quotations and respective in-text reference pointers, from 729 articles published in 147 journals across the 27 subject areas.

The outcomes of the analysis pointed out that bibliographic errors have been perpetuated for decades and that their possible causes have increased, despite the encouraged use of technological facilities, i.e. the reference managers.

As far as the authors know, the study is the best recent available analysis of errors in referencing and citing practices in the literature since Sweetland (1989).

This study aims to conduct an empirical investigation to assess the hedge, diversifier and safe-haven properties of different environmental, social and governance (ESG) assets (i.e. green bonds and ESG equity index) vis-à-vis conventional investments (namely, equity index, gold and commodities).

The authors examine the sample period 2007–2021 using the bivariate cross-quantilogram (CQG) analysis and a dynamic conditional correlation (DCC) multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (GARCH) experiment with several extensions.

The evidence shows that the analyzed ESG investments exhibit mainly diversifying features depending on the asset class taken as a reference, with some potential hedging/safe-haven qualities (for the green bond) in peculiar timespans. Therefore, the results suggest that investors might consider sustainable investing as a new measure of risk reduction, which has interesting implications for both portfolio allocation and policy design.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that empirically investigates at once the dependence between different ESG investments (i.e. equity and green bond) with different conventional investments such as gold, equity and commodity market indices over a large sample period (2007–2021). Well-suited methodologies like the bivariate CQG and the DCC multivariate GARCH are used to capture the spillover effect and the hedging/diversifying nature, even in temporary contexts. Finally, a global perspective is used.

In this paper, the author presents a hybrid method along with its error analysis to solve (1+2)-dimensional non-linear time-space fractional partial differential equations (FPDEs).

The proposed method is a combination of Sumudu transform and a semi-analytc technique Daftardar-Gejji and Jafari method (DGJM).

The author solves various non-trivial examples using the proposed method. Moreover, the author obtained the solutions either in exact form or in a series that converges to a closed-form solution. The proposed method is a very good tool to solve this type of equations.

The present work is original. To the best of the author's knowledge, this work is not done by anyone in the literature.

Framed by nostalgia marketing, this research draws upon lessons from ParticipACTION, a Canadian non-profit health promotion organization, to examine one of their most well-known campaigns, Body Break with ParticipACTION, in order to assess the potential role for nostalgia-based marketing campaigns in sport participation across generational cohorts.

Exploratory sequential mixed methods involving two studies were completed on behalf of ParticipACTION, with the authors developing the research instruments and the collection of the data undertaken by research agencies. Study 1 was the secondary analysis of qualitative data from five focus groups with different demographic compositions that followed a common question guide. Study 2 was a secondary data analysis of a pan-Canadian online survey with a sample (n = 1,475) representative of the overall adult population that assessed awareness of, and attitudes toward, ParticipACTION, Body Break, physical activity and sport participation. Path analysis tested a proposed model that was based on previous research on attitudes, brand and loyalty. Further, multi-group path analyses were conducted to compare younger generations with older ones.

The results provide direction and understanding of the importance of nostalgia in marketing sport participation programs across generational cohorts. For instance, in the four parent-adult focus groups, unaided references as well as frequent and detailed comments regarding Body Break were observed. Similarly, Millennials reported that Body Break was memorable, Canadian and nostalgic, with a mix of positive and negative comments. The importance of nostalgia was supported sequentially via results from the national survey. For example, while 54.1% of the 40–54 age-group associated ParticipACTION positively with Body Break, so did 49.8% of the 25–39-year age group, most of whom were not born when the promotion ran. Further, brand resonance was found to explain 4% more variance in moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA), the proxy for sport participation, for younger people compared to older people.

Results provide direction to brands, properties and agencies around the use of nostalgia in sport marketing campaigns and sponsorship efforts. For brands seeking to sponsor sport properties to alter their image with potential consumers in a new market, associating with a sport property that many view as nostalgic could improve the impact of the campaign. On the sport property side, event managers and marketers should both identify existing assets that members or fans are nostalgic about, as well as consider building nostalgia into current and new properties they develop.

This research is valuable to the sport marketing and sponsorship literature through several contributions. First, the use of nostalgia marketing, and nostalgia in general, is novel in the sport marketing and sponsorship literature, with future research in nostalgia and sponsorship recommended. Second, the potential to adopt or adapt Body Break to other sport participation and physical activity properties is empirically supported. Finally, the finding that very effective promotions can have a long-lasting effect, both on those who experienced the campaigns as well as younger populations who only heard about it, is notable.