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Human aging is becoming a common issue these days as it results in orthopaedic-related issues such as joints disorderness, bone-fracture. People with age = 60 years suffer more from these aforesaid issues. It is expected that these issues in human beings will ultimately reach 2.1 billion by 2050 worldwide. Furthermore, the increase in traffic accidents in young people throughout the world has significantly emerged the need for artificial implants. Their implantation can act as a substitute for fractured bones or disordered joints. Therefore, this study aims to focus on electron beam melted titanium (Ti)-based orthopaedic implants along with their recent trends in the field.

The main contents of this work include the basic theme and background of the metal-based additive manufacturing, different implant materials specifically Ti alloys and their classification based on crystallographic transus temperature (including α, metastable β, β and α + β phases), details of electron beam melting (EBM) concerning its process physics, various control variables and performance characteristics of EBMed Ti alloys in orthopaedic and orthodontic implants, applications of EBMed Ti alloys in various load-bearing implants, different challenges associated with the EBMed Ti-based implants along with their possible solutions. Recent trends and shortfalls have also been described at the end.

EBM is getting significant attention in medical implants because of its minor issues as compared to conventional fabrication practices such as Ti casting and possesses a significant research potential to fabricate various medical implants. The elastic modulus and strength of EBMed ß Ti-alloys such as 24Nb-4Zr-8Sn and Ti-33Nb-4Sn are superior compared to conventional Ti for orthopaedic implants. Beta Ti alloys processed by EBM have near bone elastic modulus (approximately 35–50 GPa) along with improved tribo-mechanical performance involving mechanical strength, wear and corrosion resistance, along with biocompatibility for implants.

Advances in EBM have opened the gateway Ti alloys in the biomedical field explicitly ß-alloys because of their unique biocompatibility, bioactivity along with improved tribo-mechanical performance. Less significant work is available on the EBM of Ti alloys in orthopaedic and orthodontic implants. This study is directed solely on the EBM of medical Ti alloys in medical sectors to explore their different aspects for future research opportunities.

This paper aims to address the need for a more in-depth empirical investigation of exploring the link between the adoption of corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices and different aspects of customer behavior in a developing country. This paper develops a research framework and assesses the mediating role of trust, customer-company identification (CCI) and electronic-service quality (E-SQ) between customer perceptions of CSR and customer loyalty.

Working with a sample of 280 banking customers in Pakistan, partial least square based structural equation modeling is used to test the conceptual model.

Surprisingly, results suggest that CSR is not directly related to customer loyalty, which is contradictory to previously established findings conducted in developed countries. Thus, confirming a full mediation of CCI, E-SQ and trust in enhancing the effect of CSR on customer loyalty. The study also confirms that CSR is positively related to E-SQ, and E-SQ also directly affects CCI.

Banks should adhere to honest CSR practices and effectively communicate and advertise these practices to increase awareness and knowledge among the customers. Similarly, banks should advance in technological expertise to generate customer identification, which then leads to their loyalty.

Previous studies conferred short-term customer’s reactions, such as purchase intention and brand image. Still, this research discusses the long-term effect of CSR on customer behavior, such as the loyalty of the customers. Moreover, this is the pioneer study that investigates how CSR actions influence customer perceptions about E-SQ and how electronic services affect customer identification with a bank.

The aim of this paper is to design a nonlinear disturbance observer-based control (DOBC) method obtained by patching a control method developed using a robust adaptive technique and a DO.

For designing a DOBC, initially a class of nonlinear system is considered with an external disturbance. First, a DO is designed to estimate the external disturbances. This estimate is combined with the controller to reject the disturbances and obtain the desired control objective. For designing a controller, the robust sliding mode control theory is used. Furthermore, instead of using a constant switching gain, an adaptive gain tuning criterion is designed using Lyapunov candidate function. To investigate the stability and effectiveness of the developed DOBC, stability analysis and simulation study are presented.

The major findings of this paper include the criteria of designing the robust adaptive control parameters and investigating the disturbance rejection when robust adaptive control based DOBC is developed.

In practice, the flight of quadrotor is affected by different kind of external disturbances, thus leading to the change in dynamics. Hence, it is necessary to design DOBCs based on robust adaptive controllers such that the quadrotor model adapts to the change in dynamics, as well as nullify the effect of disturbances.

Designing DOBCs based on robust control method is a common practice; however, the robust adaptive control method is rarely developed. This paper contributes in the domain of DOBC based on robust adaptive control methods such that the behavior of controller varies with the change in dynamics occurring due to external disturbances.

The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision support tool for risk-based maintenance scheduling for a large heavily equipped gas sweetening unit in a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant. Two conflicting objectives, i.e., total maintenance cost and the reliability, are considered in the tool. The tool is tested with the real plant data and suggests several Pareto-optimal schedules for a decision maker to choose from. The financial impacts are assessed.

A bi-objective scheduling optimization model is developed for maintenance scheduling using a risk-based framework. The model is developed integrating genetic algorithm and simulation-based optimization to find Pareto-optimal schedules. The model delivered true Pareto front optimal solutions for given plant-specific data. The two conflicting objectives: the minimization of total expenditures incurred on maintenance-related activities and improving the total reliability are considered.

For large and complex processing facilities such as LNG plant, a shutdown of facility generates a significant financial impact, resulting in millions of dollars in production loss. The developed risk-based equipment selection strategy helps to minimize such an event of production loss by generating a thorough maintenance strategy for inspection, repair, overhaul or replacement schedule of the unit without initiating the shutdown. The proposed model has been successfully applied to obtain an optimize maintenance schedule for a gas sweetening unit.

A future work may consider the state-dependent models for various failure modes that will result in obtaining a better representation of the model. The proposed scheduling can further be extended to multi-criteria scheduling including availability, resource limitation and inflationary condition. A comparative analysis with other meta-heuristic techniques such as harmony search algorithm, tabu search, and simulated annealing will further help in confirming the schedule obtained from this application.

Maintenance scheduling using a conventional approach for special equipment generally does not consider the conflicting objectives. This research addresses this aspect using a bi-objective model. The usefulness of risk-based method is to assist in minimizing the financial and safety risk exposure to the operating companies, but some variation in results is expected due to varying risk matrix for different organizations.

Managing two objectives, i.e., minimizing the cost of maintenance-related activities, while at the same time maximizing the overall reliability dramatically, helps in mitigating adverse safety and financial risk due to fires, explosions, fatality and excessive maintenance cost.

Research develops a decision support tool for managing conflicting objectives for an LNG process. This research highlights the impact of utilizing the simulation-based approach coupled with risk-based equipment selection for complex processing unit or plant maintenance scheduling optimization.

The purpose of this study is to provide the full-state mathematical model and devise a nonlinear controller for a balloon-supported unmanned aerial vehicle (BUAV).

Newtonian mechanics is used to establish the nonlinear mathematical model of the proposed vehicle assembly which incorporates the dynamics of both balloon and quadrotor UAV. A controllable form of the nine degrees of freedom model is derived. Backstepping control is designed for the proposed model and simulations are performed to assess the tracking performance of the proposed control.

The results show that the proposed methodology works well for smooth trajectories in presence of wind gusts. Moreover, the final mathematical model is affine and various nonlinear control techniques can be used in the future for improved system performance.

Multi-rotor unmanned aerial vehicles (MUAVs) are equipped with controllers but are constrained by smaller flight endurance and payload carrying capability. On the contrary, lighter than air (LTA) aerial vehicles have longer flight times but have poor control performance for outdoor operations. One of the solutions to achieve better flight endurance and payload carrying capability is to augment the LTA balloon to MUAV. The novelty of this research lies in full-order mathematical modeling along with transformation to controllable form for the BUAV assembly.

The study aims to inspect the impact of employees’ perception of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and their spiritual values on their affective commitment and job satisfaction, which in turn may promote organizational citizenship behavior. Furthermore, this study examines the moderating effect of Islamic work ethics to identify whether they strengthen or weaken the proposed associations.

A survey instrument was devised to collect data from employees. The statistical analysis of the data was conducted using the Smart PLS software. Additionally, the research uses the “Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM)” technique.

The findings of the study suggest that employees’ perception of CSR exhibits a positive association with affective commitment and job satisfaction. Likewise, employees’ spiritual values demonstrate a positive and significant correlation with affective commitment and job satisfaction. Finally, the outcomes reveal that affective commitment and job satisfaction play a major role in fostering organizational citizenship behavior. Moreover, Islamic work ethics positively and significantly moderate the relationship between employee CSR perception and affective commitment and between employee CSR perception and job satisfaction.

This research study endeavors to fill the gaps in the current literature by investigating two crucial aspects of employees: their perception of CSR and spiritual values. Additionally, the study includes Islamic work ethics as a moderator to provide a more comprehensive understanding of how these factors contribute to fostering organizational citizenship behavior. This work highlights the significance of spiritual values and social responsibilities in employees’ lives and how Islamic work ethics shape their behavior accordingly.

In the past, a plethora of studies has investigated the organizational and individual outcomes of high-performance work systems (HPWS). However, less is known about the mechanism through which HPWS impacts employees’ behavior, particularly intrapreneurial behavior (IB). Drawing on the social exchange theory, this study aims to fill this gap by investigating the mediation effect of perceived organizational support (POS) on HPWS-IB linkages.

Data were collected with the help of structured questionnaires from employees working in service industries such as banking and insurance.

HPWS was conceptualized as a higher-order measurement model that includes four lower-order dimensions, namely, information sharing, decision-making participation, job security, training and development. Partial least squares structural equation modeling technique was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Results showed a positive and significant effect of HPWS on IB. Moreover, POS significantly mediated the HPWS-IB link.

Despite an increasing number of studies on the role of human resource management (HRM) practices in enhancing innovation and creativity, there has not been enough research on how HPWS affects IB at the individual level in the presence of POS. Thus, this research is the first of its kind to investigate the mediating role of POS in HPWS-IB linkages in the Malaysian context.

The research analyzes the influence of three environmental triggers, i.e. awareness, concern and knowledge on environmental attachment and green motivation that affect tourists' pro-environmental behavior in the Pakistan’s tourism industry. Furthermore, this study has analyzed the moderating role of moral obligation concerning environmental attachment and green motivation on tourists' pro-environmental behavior.

Data were gathered via a structured questionnaire by 237 local (domestic) tourists of Pakistan. Furthermore, the data were examined by employing SmartPLS.

Findings demonstrate that all three environmental triggers have a positive and significant relationship with environmental attachment and green motivation. Accordingly, environmental attachment and green motivation promote tourists' pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, the moderating role of moral obligations has also been incorporated in the study. The finding reveals a strong and positive relationship among environmental attachment and tourists' pro-environmental behaviors during high moral obligations. In contrast, moral obligations do not moderate association between green motivation and tourists' pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, competent authorities should facilitate tourists to adopt environmentally friendly practices; which will ultimately promote pro-environmental behavior.

This study provides useful insights regarding the role of tourism in fostering environmental attachment and green motivation that sequentially influence tourist pro-environmental behavior. Secondly, this research has employed moral obligations as a moderator to identify the changes in tourists’ pro-environmental behavior based on individuals' ethical considerations. Hence, the study provides an in-depth insight into tourists' behavior. Lastly, the present research offers effective strategies for the tourism sector and other competent authorities to increase green activities that can embed the importance of the environment among individuals.

This study aims to find the determinants of internal and external customer satisfaction of Islamic banks of Pakistan through service quality indicators that are assurance, reliance, empathy, tangibility, responsiveness. Compliance has also been added as a determinant of customer satisfaction. In this study, customers are divided into two groups, internal customers are those who are an employee in the Islamic bank and also an account holder. While external customers are account holders only in Islamic banks of Pakistan.

In this study, a quantitative research approach is used for analyzing the behavior of internal and external customers of Islamic banks in Pakistan. The instrument which is used to analyze the study’s data, is a structured five-point Likert-scale questionnaire. The structural model was analyzed with the help of the partial least squares structural equation modeling approach.

This study concluded that internal customers of Islamic banking are well aware and have full information and their level of satisfaction is positive toward the bank’s services. While external customers feel satisfied while using the Islamic banking services in Pakistan. Service quality indicators are positively and significantly related to customer satisfaction in the external customer model. On the other hand, some of the indicators are not showing a significant impact on the internal customer multi-group analysis shows a difference of coefficients are insignificant between internal and external customers.

This study helps policymakers, to understand the behavior of internal and external customers of Islamic banking in Pakistan for creating favorable policies for an interest-free banking service.

This research study provides an analysis of the customer satisfaction of Islamic banks in Pakistan by dividing Islamic bank customers into two groups (internal and external customers). The purpose for dividing Islamic bank customers into two groups is that this study wants to highlight that external customer’s perception is the same as internal customers or not? Before this study, it is difficult to find single research on this topic, whereas only one study is find-out on the factors that affect internet banking adoption among internal and external customers.

The earth needs to go green as it clarifies that humans should adopt a sustainable lifestyle that will be friendly to the environment and society. The emerging stream of academic literature on “go green” adds a new perspective to the deep-rooted conception of entrepreneurship. The objective of green entrepreneurship is to follow the traditional concepts of entrepreneurship but also brings the additional potential for society and the environment. The present paper is designed to study the impact of personality traits and university green entrepreneurial support on green entrepreneurial intentions along with the moderating role of environmental values.

The data are collected by using the survey method, and the five-point Likert scale is used for this purpose. The statistical techniques applied to the dataset were confirmatory factor analysis and partial least square structural equation modeling.

The results revealed that personality traits are positively and significantly associated with green entrepreneurial intention, but risk-averse students depict insignificant results towards green entrepreneurial intention. Also, university green entrepreneurial support results in positive green entrepreneurial intention. Environmental values also strengthen the association.

Previously, researchers emphasized the entrepreneurial intentions for the sake of improving the economy, decreasing unemployment and promoting small ventures, but none focused on the green aspects of entrepreneurship. To date, we still lack knowledge regarding students' green entrepreneurial intentions and how personality traits and green support affect the intention. The focus of the present study is to sustain nature and ecosystems through green entrepreneurship by providing directions and economic and noneconomic gains for investors, entrepreneurs, students, universities and societies.