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The purpose of this study is to examine the most frequent countries and prevalent discourses in the context of homosexuality in the headlines of Arabic-language media outlets.

This study combined both corpus linguistic (CL) quantitative and critical discourse analysis (CDA) qualitative approaches to analyse five thousand two hundred news headlines that were retrieved from the Factiva news database from 2010 to 2019.

There were six main categories of subjects covered by the media in the context of homosexuality, namely crime, extremist groups, legislation, authority figures and scandals, culture and countries. The analysis showed that the countries whose laws criminalize homosexuals were more frequent than those seen to be supportive of homosexuals. The findings revealed that homosexuals are under-covered in the Arab media, and whenever they are present in the news reports, they are depicted negatively.

This study examined the representation of homosexuals in Arabic headlines from 2010 to 2019. Future researchers may investigate their construction in the body of the articles in different periods and languages.

The present research has implications regarding the necessity of objectivity in covering news about minority groups without being influenced by the stock of ideas circulating in the culture where media outlets report.

The social implications include enhancing the principles and values of solidarity and respecting all groups in society.

Although there is considerable literature on the representation of homosexuals in media outlets, the number of articles that investigated the same concept in the Arab region is relatively limited to the best knowledge of the researchers. Therefore, this study can add great significance to existing knowledge as it tackles a limitedly investigated topic in the Arab world.

This study aims to depict and probe into the building tension, stress and depression to which Jordanian university students have been vulnerable after the compulsory shift to online learning and their prolonged use of digital tools.

The researchers used a five-construct questionnaire, namely, use of digital tools in e-learning, sleeping habits, social interaction, psychological reactions and academic performance, to elicit the responses of university students in Jordan concerning the psychological impact of COVID-19’s e-learning digital tools on their well-being. In total, 775 university-level students representing Jordanian public and private universities were asked to fill in the questionnaire, and their responses were statistically analyzed.

The results showed that the prolonged use of digital tools, lack of face-to-face interaction and heavy load of assignments have led to anxiety, change of sleeping habit, distraction and a stress-building environment, perhaps resulting in depression. This was aggravated by COVID-19’s strict regulatory measures of social distancing, lockdowns, health threats and eroding family income. The prolonged and escalating social, psychological, loss of affection and worsening economic conditions have increased the number of psychological disorders and a drop in students’ academic performance.

This study is useful for educational leaders and policymakers, providing guidance and insights on how higher education institutions can support students’ mental health and psychological well-being, especially in times of crisis. Consequently, the higher education sector should be prepared to function more efficiently and effectively in future emergency situations.

While different studies have investigated the impact of COVID-19 on the education sector globally, little attention has been given to developing countries in the Middle East. By focusing on the Jordanian example, the present study will fill a gap in the research endeavors addressing the prolonged use of e-learning digital tools.

The study aims to probe into university instructors' reactions to adopting the remote online learning model brought by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The study investigates the instructors' perspectives, in the humanities and science classes, on the effectiveness of the emergency remote teaching (ERT) compared to face-to-face teaching.

The data for the study were compiled from the responses of 127 instructors representing two private universities in middle and northern Jordan. The sample included 66 faculty members in the humanities and 61 in the sciences. The instructors' responses were elicited through a Likert-type questionnaire consisting of 20 items.

The present study's findings have shown that online instruction is becoming more common despite the presence of some major challenges facing instructors. The results showed that the e-learning system seems to better suit the humanities courses compared to the sciences courses. The findings also showed that faculty members in the humanities are more satisfied with the effectiveness of the assessment tools utilized in the online courses than their colleagues in the sciences. In addition, humanities e-courses seem to provide a more interactive learning environment than e-courses in the sciences.

More training for instructors on how to design online course syllabi to ensure effective delivery is needed. Instructors need to develop ways to encourage students to interact in virtual e-classes to the same level as the on-ground classes. Instructors also need to adopt the “blended learning” system as a transitional stage before switching completely to online learning.

Different studies have investigated how COVID-19 has impacted education. The current study brings to light the perspectives of the Jordanian teaching staff on transitioning to ERT during the COVID-19 crisis taking into account the differences between humanities and sciences classes.

Because of growing energy consumption and increasing absolute CO₂ emissions, the recent calibrations about the environmental sustainability across the globe have mandated to achieve the minimal energy consumption through employing energy-efficient technology. This study aims to estimate linkage between simple measure of energy efficiency indicator that is reciprocal of energy intensity and total factor productivity (TFP) in case of Indian paper industry for 21 major states. In addition, the study incorporates the other control variables like labour productivity, capital utilization and structure of paper industry to scrutinize their likely impact on energy efficiency performance of the industry.

To derive the plausible estimates of TFP, the study applies the much celebrated Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) methodology. Using the regional level data for the period 2001-2013, the study employs instrumental variable-generalized method of moments (GMM-IV) technique to examine the nature of relationship among the variables involved in the analysis.

An elementary examination of energy intensity shows that not all states are equally energy intensive. States like Goa, Rajasthan, Jharkhand and Tamil Nadu are less energy intensive, whereas Uttar Pradesh, Kerala, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Punjab are most energy-intensive states on the basis of their state averages over the whole study period. The results estimated through GMM-IV show that increasing level of TFP is associated with lower level of energy per unit of output. Along this better skills and capacity utilization are also found to have positive impact on energy efficiency performance of industry. However, the potential heterogeneity within the structure of industry itself is found responsible for its higher energy intensity.

States should ensure and undertake substantial investment projects in the research and development of energy-efficient technology and that targeted allocations could be reinforced for more fruitful results. Factors aiming at improving the labour productivity should be given extra emphasis together with capital deepening and widening, needed for energy conservation and environmental sustainability. Given the dependence of structure of paper industry on the multitude of factors like regional inequality, economic growth, industrial structure and the resource endowment together with the issues of fragmented sizes, poor infrastructure and availability and affordability of raw materials etc., states should actively promote the coordination and cooperation among themselves to reap the benefits of technological advancements through technological spill overs. In addition, owing to their respective state autonomies, state governments should set their own energy saving targets by taking into account the respective potentials and opportunities for the different industries. Despite the requirement of energy-efficient innovations, however, the cons of technological advancements and the legal frameworks on the employment structure and distributional status should be taken care of before their adoption and execution.

To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that empirically examines the linkage between energy efficiency and TFP in case of Indian paper industry. The application of improved methods like Levinsohn and Petrin (2003) to derive the TFP measure and the use of GMM-IV to account for potential econometric problems like that of endogeneity will again add to the novelty of study.

The purpose of this paper is to estimate energy efficiency of 132 countries from 2007 to 2014 according to their performance, categorizing the nations into similar groups.

Data envelopment analysis model based on Goal Programming and then K-Means clustering algorithm are used to determine the efficiency and clustering the nations based on their efficiency performances.

The results of the study reveal that developing low-income countries could lead to high energy-efficiency scores, and countries with different development and income levels can become efficient in the field of energy consumption. Following the nations during a seven-year period also indicates that the changes in energy-related indicators such as renewable energy consumption and energy productivity are the main drivers to move a country between clusters.

The present study aimed to investigate whether similar nations with similar energy efficiency level in a cluster are similar in their development and income level, and changing the energy consumption pattern during the seven-year period could move the countries from a cluster to another one.

The purpose of the study is to examine the role of the types of psychological contract (PC) to enhance knowledge sharing (KS) behavior of employees through the intervention of perceived organizational support (POS).

The current study uses primary sources to get data from the participants of both private and public hospitals. Overall, 210 respondents participated in the study, which later subjected to the analysis using CAUSALMED procedures using statistical analysis software.

The findings from the study projected that all types of psychological have a considerable effect on KS behavior of employees, either directly or through the intervening mechanism. Furthermore, the study also indicates that if employees’ POS, they will share a stronger bond with the organization, which will be beneficial for the organizations’ health.

Firstly, despite the fact that this study proposes valuable insights into KS behavior; it allows some impediments of a primary study. Secondly, the research is constrained to the hospital industry. Finally, this exploration can likewise be reinforced by incorporating other intervening mechanisms, to give an extensive understanding of the connection between employees’ perception regarding PC and KS behavior.

The findings of the present research have potential applications for human resource managers of the healthcare industry to place more emphasis on the types of PC, organizational support and KS among the employees to achieve a competitive advantage in this dynamic environment through knowledge management, which is considered a strategic asset nowadays.

This study provides an original contribution by identifying the diverse paths, indicating how the types of PC can impact KS with employees’ perceptions toward organizational support. It also highlights that how the heaths care industries, as compare to the old practices can encourage a culture of KS in this highly competitive and dynamic environment to remain at the top on the market.

The purpose of this study is to conceptualize the paradigm of meaningful innovation (MI) by exploring the theoretical basis, identifying its core concepts and key processes, and supporting it with evidence from leading world-class enterprises.

Based on a systemic literature review on the evolution of innovation paradigms, this study builds a conceptual framework to explicate the core concepts and process of MI. Moreover, a horizontal embedded case study of GREE electric appliances is conducted to further enrich, refine and support the proposed framework.

The main finding of this study is that MI could be regarded as a process of integrating innovation elements (resources, capabilities, systems, etc.) with internal and external innovation meaning to obtain outcomes with both economic value and social significance. As a “long-termism” paradigm with meaning identification and conversion as its core, MI is driven by the collaboration of “deductive mechanism” and “reflective mechanism.”

Based on the previous studies concerning innovation paradigms on the internal and external meaning, this paper proposes an integrated framework of MI. In this framework, enterprises can consider internal and external meanings through deductive and reflective mechanisms, to better coordinate resources, capabilities, institutions, markets and other factors to achieve higher innovation performance.

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 examines the impact of debt maturity structure on stock price crash risk (SPCR) in Asian economies and the moderating effect of firm age on this relationship.

The study utilized annual data from 432 nonfinancial firms publicly listed in six Asian countries: China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Pakistan and India. The observation period covers 14 years, from 2007 to 2020. The sample was categorized into three groups: the entire sample and one group each for developing and developed Asian economies. A generalized least squares panel regression method was employed to test the research hypotheses.

The results suggest that long-term debt has a significant negative influence on SPCR in Asian economies, indicating that firms with high long-term debt experience lower future SPCR. Moreover, firm age negatively moderates this relationship, implying that older firms may experience a more pronounced reduction in SPCR due to high long-term debt. Finally, firms in developed Asian economies with high long-term debt are more effective in mitigating the risk of a significant drop in their stock prices than firms in developing Asian economies.

This study contributes to the literature in several ways. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first of such efforts to investigate the relationship between debt maturity structure and crash risk in Asia. Additionally, it reveals that long-term debt influences SPCR directly and indirectly in Asia through the moderating role of firm age. Lastly, it is likely one of the first studies by a research team in Asia to compare the nonfinancial markets of developed and developing Asian countries.

This article explores the value of engaging a hybrid learning strategy in a micro-enterprise setting when responding to a global pandemic. The research question asks: “Does a hybrid learning strategy enhance a micro-enterprise's response to extreme events?”.

A micro-enterprise owner–manager (OM) reflects on their experience running a business during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which resulted in the complete decimation of the organization’s revenue stream in early 2020. Captured in conversation with an academic peer, these practitioner insights provide valuable case evidence relating to micro-enterprise response to extreme commercial events, such as a global pandemic.

The journey from initial survival-mode to emergent market opportunity recognition and subsequent growth is recorded. The paper contributes to the limited research on the impact of learning strategy plans on micro-enterprise crisis response strategies and provides insights into the value of engaging a hybrid learning strategy when responding to a significant external business shock.

Drawing from these insights, the authors offer a literature-informed framework from which to consider the dynamics of an adaptive strategic response in a micro-enterprise setting, offering a means through which micro-enterprises can plan for and respond to extreme events in the future.