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This study aims to examine the effect of a combination of hybrid pin-fin patterns on a heat sink's performance using numerical techniques. Also, flow characteristics have been studied, such as secondary flow formation and flow-wall interaction.

In this study, the effect of hybrid arrangements of elliptical and hexagonal pin-fins with different distribution percentages on flow characteristics and performance evaluation criteria in laminar flow was investigated. Ansys-Fluent software solves the governing equations using the finite volume method. Also, the accuracy of obtained results was compared with the experimental results of other similar papers.

The results of this study highlighted that hybrid arrangements show higher overall performance than single pin-fin patterns. Among the hybrid arrangements, case 3 has the highest values of performance evaluation criteria, that is, 1.84 in Re = 900. The results revealed that, with the instantaneous change in the pattern from elliptic to hexagonal, the secondary flow increases in the cross-sectional area of the channels, and the maximum velocity in the cross-section of the channel increases. The important advantages of case 3 are its highest overall performance and a lower chip surface temperature of up to about 2% than other hybrid patterns.

Prior research has shown that in the single pin-fin pattern, the cooling power at the end of the heat sink decreases with increasing fluid temperature. Also, a review of previous studies showed that existing papers had not investigated hybrid pin-fin patterns by considering the effect of changing distribution percentages on overall performance, which is the aim of this paper.

The purpose of this paper is to show how to obtain better response, selectivity and fast response and recovery from nanocrystalline ZnO‐based gas sensors as compared to conventional materials.

Nanocrystalline ZnO powders were prepared from the ultrasonic spray pyrolysis method. Aqueous solution of zinc acetate was atomized using ultrasonic atomizer. The aerosol generated was fed to the reaction furnace for pyrolysis. Nanocrystalline ZnO crystallites were collected using simple but novel trapping system. Thick film resistors of this powder were fabricated using screen printing technique.

As‐prepared powder was studied using X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy and scanning electron microscopy to know structure, size of nanocrystallites and microtopography, respectively. Absorption spectroscopy is used to determine the band gap energy. The gas‐sensing performance of this film was tested.

The sensor was found to be the most sensitive to NH₃. It gives better response, selectivity and fast response and recovery as compared to conventional materials‐based thick films.

This study aims to lay the groundwork for the potential application of value management (VM) in construction projects. This paper presents a critical review on the status of VM in a developing country and highlights the role of perceptions on critical success factors (CSFs) for the phases of VM studies, as the participants in a VM study should consider CSFs tailored to the local context.

A series of interviews and a questionnaire were conducted to understand the drivers, perceptions, barriers, and CSFs of VM in the Jordanian construction industry. Although descriptive statistics were used to analyze the status of VM, a structural equation modeling (SEM) approach was adopted to highlight the interrelationships between perceptions and the CSFs of the three phases of VM (i.e. pre-workshop, workshop, and implementation).

The descriptive analysis revealed conflicting viewpoints for perceptions and drivers. Most practitioners acknowledged little awareness of VM phases, and the SEM results indicated that perceptions of VM, in terms of its capacity in improving the scope and objectives of the project, and reducing overall costs, most strongly influenced the CSFs of the implementation phase in terms of support and clear plan for implementation, and had the least influence on the pre-workshop phase. Further, the perceptions had a moderate effect on the CSFs of the workshop phase and it tended to be positive, highlighting the importance of function analysis in this phase.

This is the first study to reveal the status of VM in Jordan in terms of adoption, drivers, perceptions, barriers and CSFs; no prior studies have investigated how perceptions can affect the CSFs of each phase of VM and the endorsement of VM by the construction industry. The contributions of this study include linking the perceptions of construction professionals with the CSFs of VM.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the influence of value management (VM) critical success factors (CSFs) on the implementation of VM activities in building projects with a view to promoting sustainability of construction industry in Egypt.

The VM CSFs and implementation activities were recognized from earlier studies; questionnaire survey was conducted to collect data from relevant stakeholders, and the collected data was subjected to exploratory factor analysis. Consequently, the influence of VM CSFs on VM implementation was generated via partial least square structural equation modelling. In addition, through relative importance ranking analysis, the significance VM CSFs were examined.

The findings from the proposed model revealed a strong relationship between VM implementation activities and its CSFs; the relationship is at a moderate level with an effect of 22.0%. This indicates that, VM CSFs would be useful to implement VM in the Egyptian building industry.

Although these studies have been confined to Egypt’s VM studies; they may apply to other developing countries that have not carried out these studies. It is therefore vital, in those countries where the exercise has been entirely undertaken, to analyze the various measures to promote the application of the method.

This research would be of benefit to stakeholders in building industries to be aware of VM phases and its CSFs that demand utmost consideration. Also, the identified CSFs are expected to enhance the success and value of building projects by adopting VM.

The novelty of this research work will be a benchmark or board for decision-makers to eliminate the unwanted cost and enhance quality by adopting VM in Egypt’s building projects to achieve their sustainable projects.

The aim of the paper is to propose a method that may assist organisations in the task of selecting appropriate indicators for their environmental performance evaluation procedures.

The proposed method is based on the principles of risk assessment, a key technique in the protection and management of the environment. When well‐constructed, it may cover all aspects of an organisation's activities, thus providing a sound base for the identification of the most significant indicators to be considered for the environmental performance evaluation.

The proposed approach starts from an initial set of numerous indicators. Each indicator is identified in order to monitor and assess the progress towards the achievement of a goal that has been set in relation to a particular environmental aspect of the activities of the considered organisation. For each indicator, a related environmental risk is assessed that may then be used to prioritise the indicators, and identify the most significant ones as far as the environmental aspects of the considered organisation are concerned.

Despite the fact that the environmental performance evaluation has been considered to be both significant and useful, the approaches proposed, so far, are very generic and do not provide actual assistance to the organisations that wish to adopt and apply such procedures. The main advantage of the proposed methodology lies exactly at this point. It facilitates the process of environmental performance evaluation providing substantial assistance to one of the most important stages that is to decide which particular indicators will be considered.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between overcoming the value management (VM) implementation barriers and VM implementation in the Egyptian building sector.

A critical review of the literature on VM was used to through bibliometric analysis has been conducted to highlight the studies’ gap and establish the VM barriers. These obstacles were then contextually transformed via a semi-structured interview and a pilot study, and subsequently organized in the form of a theoretical model. The primary data was collected from 335 building stakeholders in Egypt through the administration of questionnaire surveys. Consequently, structural equation models of partial least squares were applied to statistically assess the final model of VM barriers.

The bibliometric analysis shows that there is an inadequate study on VM implementation barriers in the Egyptian construction industry and insufficient studies on implementing VM in developing countries. Results obtained from the proposed model showed that overcoming the VM barriers has a major connection with successful VM implementation. This is indicated with the value of ß = 0.743, which is necessary when the firm is overcoming 1 unit of VM barriers.

This study fills the knowledge gap by identifying and emphasizing the critical obstacles to VM implementation.

The purpose of this study is to investigate consumers’ intention to use mass customization by incorporating preference fit and their ability to express preferences into the theory of planned behaviour and to examine how consumers perceive behavioural control over the process of online mass customization (OMC). Preference fit, which refers to fit between consumer preference and product attributes, and ability to express preferences were integrated into theory of planned behaviour as two belief variables related to OMC.

In total, 346 potential respondents were invited via e-mail to participate in the present study acquired from an independent marketing company. We conducted a self-administrated online survey using a video clip with voice instructions to demonstrate the OMC process as a stimulus.

The results suggest that consumers’ attitudes and perceived behavioural control predicted their OMC use intentions. Preference fit positively affected consumers’ attitudes towards OMC as a behavioural belief, and the ability to express preferences positively influenced preference fit but did not predict perceived behavioural control as a control belief. Clothing involvement was a positive predictor of preference fit and the ability to express preferences.

This study contributes to the OMC literature by suggesting a theoretical framework by extending the theory of planned behaviour and identifying consumers’ belief variables as antecedents of attitudes and perceived behavioural control in the OMC context. In addition, the study examines the role of clothing involvement in facilitating consumers’ OMC beliefs, suggesting the crucial role of clothing involvement as one of individual factors extending theory of planned behaviour framework, in the OMC process.

The purpose of this paper is to determine the barriers to the adoption of value management (VM) in the construction industry of developing countries with a view to providing possible measures in avoiding these barriers and increasing the usage of the system within the construction industry.

The level of knowledge and adoption of VM practices, as well as the barriers to its adoption in the construction industry were assessed through a survey design. Construction professionals were sampled from the six geo-political zones in Nigeria through the use of a structured questionnaire. Factor analysis was conducted on data gathered on the barriers of VM.

The study revealed a moderate level of knowledge of VM among construction professionals. This implies that the problem of VM is not that of awareness, but readiness to adopt the system. The study also reveals that the barriers to the adoption of VM can be categorised under the general stakeholder’s barriers, training and education barriers, client barriers and government/top management barriers.

This study was conducted across the six geo-political zones of the country as against common practice of selecting a particular region or states to represent the entire country. The findings therefore show a true reflection of the barriers to VM adoption in the country and its recommendations can to a large extent promote the adoption of VM in the country and also other developing countries where construction projects are executed through similar method, style and approach.

This paper highlights the possible barriers to the adoption of VM in Nigeria construction industry and provides ways to avoiding these barriers in order to achieve better quality construction and value for money.

The more the rate of sub‐division of the grid into subareas is high, the more the Maxwell’s sub‐areas method of studying the current field generated by a grounding grid is accurate. In this paper the authors suggest a fuzzy approach applied to a horizontal cylindrical electrode which allows them to determine in advance the errors due to the different rates of subdivision.

This paper aims to explore the effects of two drivers, namely, the received fundings and its interaction with the specialized competences owned by the managerial board, on the R&D activities performed by start-ups.

This paper tests hypotheses on a sample of 405 innovative start-ups established in Italy and registered into the Chamber of Commerce official database. This study uses the R&D expenses as a measure of the innovative performance of start-up, and the authors also collected the number and total amount of grants received by them and the presence of high qualified team in their management board.

The analysis reveals that both the number and total amount of grants received by start-ups positively impact the innovative performance. The same is for the integration of the total amount of grants with the presence of high qualified team in the management board.

This study did not distinguish between different types of grants adopted by start-ups, while it would be interesting to study whether any difference does exist among them in terms of their influence on innovative performance. Also, this paper considers the total number of specialized people in the team while it would certainly be interesting to analyze people’s background and competences in relation to the innovative performances.

This paper allows us to offer some provisional conclusions such as having funds in the preliminary phase of start-up life cycle, and investments mainly for R&D expenses. The start-up must also leverage its skills and therefore it is necessary to invest in human capital.

Findings suggest that policymakers should introduce integrated measures to support start-ups throughout the entire life cycle, from the creation of the idea to incubation up to industrial consolidation.

This paper focuses on the determinants of start-up innovative performance because both external (such as political, economic, social and technological) and internal (such as organizational) influencing factors have to be considered as crucial for start-ups innovation and growth. Finally, this study is one of the few attempts exploring the phenomenon by using an empirical methodology based on real and certificated data.