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This study aims to investigate and compare the characteristics of three topologies of moving-magnet linear oscillating actuator (LOA) based on their mover position. Positive aspects and consequences of every topology are demonstrated. Three topologies of axially magnetized moving-magnet LOA; outer mover, inner mover (IM) and dual stator (DS) are designed and examined. Due to its characteristically high thrust density and more mechanical strength, axially magnetized tubular permanent magnets (PMs) are used in these topologies.

LOAs are designed and optimized using parametric sweep, in term of design parameters and output parameters like thrust force, stroke and operating resonance frequency of the LOA. All the pros and cons of each topology are investigated and compared. Output parameters of the LOAs are compared using same size of the investigated LOAs. Mover mass, which plays a vital role in resonant operation, is analyzed for IM and DS designs. Investigated LOAs are compared with conventional designs of LOA for compressor in refrigeration system with regards of motor constant, stroke and thrust per PM mass.

This paper analyzes three topologies of moving-magnet LOAs. The basic difference between investigated LOAs is the radius of tubular-shaped mover from its central axis. All the design parameters are compared and concluded that thrust per PM mass of IMLOA is maximum. OMLOA provides maximum motor constant of value 180 N/A. DSLOA provides thrust force with motor constant 120 N/A and required intermediate materials of PMs. All the three designs give the best results in terms of motor constant and thrust per PM mass, compared to conventional designs of LOA.

This paper determines the impact of mover position from its central axis in a tubular-shaped moving-magnet LOA. This work is carried out in correspondence of latest papers of LOA.

This study aims to explore whether and how leaders’ attributes, understanding of and attitude towards quality assurance (QA) shape their practices towards effective implementation of QA in universities.

Using qualitative case study, the data were collected from nine institutional leaders purposively selected from two universities. The data, collected through semi-structured interviews, were analysed using thematic analysis technique.

The findings revealed that personal attributes of leaders such as understanding of QA, attitude towards QA and practices shape leadership style either as transformational or compliance leader. The transformational leader implements QA procedures with the intention of bringing improvement in teaching learning and research quality. In contrast, the compliance leaders are primarily concerned with implementation of QA procedures merely to fulfil the requirements of an external regulatory body.

This study acknowledges that certain other factors (e.g. demographics, institutional policies or practices) might have an influence on leadership practices. Using the framework of this study, further quantitative and/or mixed methods research can expand by bringing more factors that can shape leadership practices.

The role of leadership is significant to the success of any university. A plethora of studies have reported various aspects of successful leadership in higher education (HE). However, in the changing nature of HE due to the emergence of formal QA, there is paucity of research that focusses on the role of leader’s attributes in the effective implementation of QA procedures.

The 2008 financial crisis that hit conventional banks provides a market opportunity for special types of banks. Furthermore, given the current financial reform for financial inclusion and economic concern of the Nigerian Government, there is a need for research on the adoption of Islamic banks. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to determine the predictors of Islamic bank adoption in Nigeria.

Data is collected from 385 Islamic bank customers in northern Nigeria and is analyzed using the partial least square structural equation modeling technique.

The result reveals that trust, social influence, knowledge and government support have a significant positive relationship with the adoption of Islamic banks, while relative advantage and compatibility do not. The model (trust, social influence, knowledge, government support, relative advantage and compatibility) explained 50% of the variance in the adoption of Islamic bank.

These findings are very important to scholars, the policymakers and Islamic bank operators in designing their marketing strategies. It shows that trust, social influence, government support and knowledge are predictors of Islamic bank adoption.

This study extended the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory by combining relative advantage, compatibility with trust, social influence, knowledge and government support to the model. The developed model is validated for the study of Islamic bank adoption in an emerging market, Nigeria. Arguably, it is the only study that test effect sizes (f²) and predictive relevance (Q²) of extended DOI on Islamic banks.

Social customer relationship management (SCRM) is an evolving strategy gaining prominence in the hotel industry by cultivating new, improved relationships through engaging customers on social media (SM) platforms. Accordingly, this study aims to assess the effect of SCRM on customer service and customer loyalty (CL) in the hotel industry. This study also explores the moderating effect of COVID-19 (EC) on the relationship between (customer engagement [CE] and improved customer service [ICS]) and (CE and trust [TR]).

This study develops and tests the SCRM model using structural equation modelling on a sample size of 214 responses. The questionnaire was administered online to the customers of five preselected global hotel chains. The criteria for selecting the participants were that they must have tweeted from their Twitter handle by using # (hashtag) hotel name to resolve any customer service issues.

Results denote that CE significantly impacts ICS. CE was also found to exert a substantial effect on TR. The moderating EC was also found to be significant, but the effect was weak. Although the customers were extensively impacted by the pandemic and were initially hesitant to visit hotels, SCRM proved to be a powerful tool to gain back customer trust (CT) and develop CL by upsurging the shadows of COVID-19.

This study suggests that viable enforcement of the SCRM system can assist in real-time monitoring and tracking of customers' activities. This can develop a more profound connection with customers through CE which can boost the co-innovation process.

This study denotes a pioneer attempt to investigate the relationships between SCRM, CE, CT, ICS, CL and COVID-19 in the same framework in a SM context.

The current study aims to gauge the association between HRM practices and performance in academic libraries in India.

This study used a quantitative approach to collect data. A total of 163 participants were included in this study. The sample was selected from 21 academic libraries. PLS-SEM, the main data analysis technique, was employed in the current research using the Smart PLS-4 software. The data for this study was collected through a survey conducted between March 1, 2022, and June 30, 2022.

The current study highlighted a significant positive correlation between HRM practices and performance. Moreover, the results indicated that job satisfaction mediates the relationship between training and performance among library professionals in academic libraries.

This study was limited to the University Libraries in northern India. It was not possible to cover all the academic libraries, because India has a large geographical area; it is the seventh-largest country in the world, with an area of 3.3 million square kilometres.

Employees play a vital role in addressing these concerns in their pursuit of sustainability because they are integral elements of organisations and a significant source of competitive advantage. This may be achieved through good human resource management, which involves defining performance indicators, teaching employees to empower them to achieve organisational goals and recognising their accomplishments. This study has the potential to enhance scholarship, particularly in the domains of “human resource management” and library management. This study can also be used by future academics interested in organisational behaviour, organisational effectiveness, job satisfaction, commitment and performance appraisal.

This study could be used as an empirical standard in decision-making policies aimed at improving employee performance and enhancing the smooth implementation of library management.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the factors that affect one’s attitude and intentions towards family takaful schemes, apart from evaluating the mediating role of perceived trust in the relationship between perceived religiosity and attitude towards family takaful. Most prior studies have considered religiosity as an individual’s tendency to be religious. However, the present study employed perceived religiosity as one’s perception regarding shariah compliance practices of family takaful schemes. Moreover, this study examines the direct relationship between perceived religiosity and attitude and the indirect relationship between perceived religiosity and trust.

A sample of 224 salaried individuals was selected with an age range of 24–50. Variance-based partial least squares structural equation modelling was employed for data analysis.

The results showed that knowledge and perceived usefulness (PU) had significantly positive relationships with attitude towards family takaful schemes. Perceived trust completely mediated the relationship between perceived religiosity and attitude towards family takaful. Attitude was positively related to purchase intention regarding family takaful.

The findings of the study are important for Islamic financial institutions, especially for takaful companies to revamp their marketing strategies. With enhanced understanding regarding consumer behaviour, takaful companies can sell their products in a more effective manner to increase their market share.

Behavioural aspects regarding the purchase of Islamic insurance products have yet to be profoundly explored in the literature. The indirect relationship between perceived religiosity and trust is established in this study. The study contributes to the field of consumer behaviour and marketing of Islamic financial products.

The purpose of this study is to examine the factors that influence the consumer intention to adopt Islamic banking.

The study extends the theory of reasoned action (TRA) by incorporating additional variables such as government support, perceived risk, perceived image, religiosity and culture. A research instrument adapted from previous studies is administered online on a sample of 310 respondents. The data collected are subjected to exploratory factor analysis followed by structural equation modeling using SPSS and analysis of a moment structures (22.0 Version).

The results of the study reveal that consumer intention to use Islamic banking is collectively determined by attitude, religiosity, culture, government support and perceived risk. It reflects that attitude and religiosity are the major predictors of a consumer’s intention followed by government support. Furthermore, results indicate that a consumer’s attitude toward Islamic banking is determined by social influence, government support, religiosity and perceived risk. Also, it is found that culture and perceived image have no significant effect on a consumer’s attitude toward adoption of Islamic banking. Further, the results indicate that attitude mediates the effect of religiosity, perceived risk, government support and culture on a consumer’s intention to use Islamic banking.

The success of Islamic banking ultimately depends on consumer readiness and adoption of it. This study provides significant insights into various aspects of consumer attitude and intention toward Islamic banking adoption. The results provide vital inputs to policymakers and practitioners in offering and promoting Islamic banking. Also, the knowledge and understanding of key consumer specific factors can be used by banks in framing strategies for positioning and targeting Islamic banking products. The study is subjected to certain limitations such as – the study accounts only for limited factors and does not provide for factors such as pricing, behavioral control and Islamicity of the product. Second, this study is limited to the geographic area of Kashmir. Third, the study design is cross-sectional is nature.

Essentially, this study is a pioneering effort in applying an integrated TRA model to determine consumer intention to use Islamic banking in Kashmir. Furthermore, the current study examines the relationship between additional variables simultaneously within the framework of TRA. The study also explores the effect of religiosity and culture on consumer’s attitude and intention, which has remained largely unexplored in the context of Islamic banking.

Among various factors which help in shaping the attitude of consumers, religion and religiosity too play a vital role. This paper aims to inquire into the impact of religion and religiosity on the attitudes of Hindu and Muslim consumers of Northern India toward offensive advertising and the reasons which make the advertising offensive.

Responses regarding advertising of 11 controversial products and 7 reasons which make the advertising offensive were taken by distributing a questionnaire to a convenience sample of 250 university students of Northern India (comprising respondents from two major religions of India). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test.

The findings confirmed that there is a significant difference in the attitude of consumers on the basis of religion and religiosity.

As the study is conducted only in Northern India, findings generated through this may lack generalizability. Other limitations include small sample size and use of convenience sampling. Different sects under religion must be particularly studied.

Advertisers should consider religious sentiments of consumers into account to make advertisements more appealing to consumers.

The studies on religion and its relation with attitude toward advertising are even less frequent in Indian context. Hence, this study is a pioneering work which will open new doors for the marketers in India. It will help the marketers in properly targeting consumers based on their religious beliefs.

Deep learning (DL) is on the rise because it can make predictions and judgments based on data that is unseen. Blockchain technologies are being combined with DL frameworks in various industries to provide a safe and effective infrastructure. The review comprises literature that lists the most recent techniques used in the aforementioned application sectors. We examine the current research trends across several fields and evaluate the literature in terms of its advantages and disadvantages.

The integration of blockchain and DL has been explored in several application domains for the past five years (2018–2023). Our research is guided by five research questions, and based on these questions, we concentrate on key application domains such as the usage of Internet of Things (IoT) in several applications, healthcare and cryptocurrency price prediction. We have analyzed the main challenges and possibilities concerning blockchain technologies. We have discussed the methodologies used in the pertinent publications in these areas and contrasted the research trends during the previous five years. Additionally, we provide a comparison of the widely used blockchain frameworks that are used to create blockchain-based DL frameworks.

By responding to five research objectives, the study highlights and assesses the effectiveness of already published works using blockchain and DL. Our findings indicate that IoT applications, such as their use in smart cities and cars, healthcare and cryptocurrency, are the key areas of research. The primary focus of current research is the enhancement of existing systems, with data analysis, storage and sharing via decentralized systems being the main motivation for this integration. Amongst the various frameworks employed, Ethereum and Hyperledger are popular among researchers in the domain of IoT and healthcare, whereas Bitcoin is popular for research on cryptocurrency.

There is a lack of literature that summarizes the state-of-the-art methods incorporating blockchain and DL in popular domains such as healthcare, IoT and cryptocurrency price prediction. We analyze the existing research done in the past five years (2018–2023) to review the issues and emerging trends.

The adoption of Islamic banking (AIB) among customers has remained in the limelight due to its significance in the strategic marketing of Islamic banking (IB) services. Although researchers have devoted a significant effort to investigating the drivers of AIB, little is known about the exclusive barriers hampering AIB. Accordingly, this paper aims to examine the underlying barriers to the adoption of Islamic banking (BAIB) and categorize them into different research clusters using bibliometric analysis.

The data was collected from 132 articles published in Scopus database between 2007 and 2022 and analyzed using VOSviewer to explore BAIB.

The findings clustered the barriers to AIB into three groups, namely, efficiency of IB products and services (service quality, Shariah compliance level, availability of services), behavioral (knowledge and awareness, religiosity, trust and intention) and personal attributes (innovativeness, understanding of mobile/internet banking and technology acceptance) factors of Islamic bank customers.

The sample size of this study is relatively small, as the data was imported from Scopus database only to perform Bibliometric analysis. Future studies may use larger sample size by retrieving data from other databases such as Web of Science and PubMed to develop better research clusters of BAIB.

The dynamic business environment and unprecedented changes in consumer behavior require managers creating suitable conditions to foster adoption of their services and capture a better market share.

Following the findings of this research, future research avenues are identified for strategic embeddedness and global development of IB by overcoming BAIB.