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This paper aims to investigate recycling behavior (RB) in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to identify factors in the lack of citizen participation in recycling and to form strategies to raise awareness of and encourage positive recycling practices.

Based on stakeholder theory, a panel of 15 experts and 15 families was interviewed to develop a model of seven constructs and their 29 indicators. Based on the responses generated, a questionnaire was developed and tested. The survey was distributed to 106 waste management professionals. Their responses regarding the influence of regulatory promotion tactics, awareness raising, situational facilitators, motivators and synergistic habits on citizens' RB were analyzed using the structural equation modeling technique.

Several factors govern the citizens' behavior regarding recycling municipal solid waste in the UAE. The most significant governing determinants of RB observed were laws and regulations, willingness to sort and recycle and benefits of recycling. Seven constructs and their 29 indicators were studied, and the findings indicated that strategies such as creating awareness, introducing operative waste control facilities and implementing fines and regulations could improve RB in the UAE. The structural model showcased a relationship between the primary constructs and RB; hence, these constructs can directly affect waste management.

To support these findings, validation of the results from other countries and contrasting employees' RB is needed. The present study draws empirical insights into RB from a stakeholder perspective, which could be compared to RB across other cultures and countries.

To effectively combat the increasing rates of obesity, it is crucial to explore how environmental factors like sidewalk access impact weight-related outcomes. This study aimed to systematically examine the association between sidewalk accessibility and weight-related outcomes.

Databases were searched by keywords for relevant articles, which were published before March 3, 2024, to report the role of neighborhood sidewalk access on weight-related outcomes. The main findings of the selected articles were extracted from eligible studies by two independent reviewers.

A total of 20 out of 33 studies indicated a significant negative relationship between access to sidewalks and weight-related outcomes. Three studies demonstrated an indirect relationship between access to sidewalks and weight-related outcomes by greater access to physical environments. In addition, five studies reported no clear relationship, and three studies reported a significantly positive relationship between access to sidewalks and weight-related outcomes.

In general, people who live in urban areas with better sidewalk access benefit from better weight-related outcomes. Adults showed this correlation more prominently than adolescents and children. Therefore, sidewalks that have a positive effect on physical activity levels could be considered as a preventive measure against obesity.

One of the weight-related outcomes is obesity. Every community faces numerous challenges due to obesity, which adversely affects the quality of life and health. Environmental factors such as access to sidewalks could be associated with body weight due to lifestyle influences.

The study aims to determine the role of online retail website experience on brand happiness and willingness to share personal information using the theoretical lens of the Stimulus-Organism-Response (SOR) framework. Further, it explores the role of brand intimacy and brand partner quality in mediating the path between brand happiness and willingness to share personal information.

This study used a cross-sectional survey design to collect data from 439 online retail consumers in India, using an online questionnaire. The data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling in IBM Amos.

The present study found that online retail website experience is significantly related to brand happiness. The finding also supports that brand happiness was positively and significantly related to ‘consumers' willingness to share personal information. This relationship was fully mediated by brand intimacy. Brand happiness also mediated the relationship between website experience and the willingness to share personal information.

This study contributes to the emerging literature on brand happiness and willingness to share personal information. It establishes a central role of brand happiness as a driver and a mediator of consumers' willingness to share personal information with e-commerce retailers, extending the stimulus-organism-response framework in the context of brand happiness and willingness to share personal information. Further, the study establishes the role of website experience as a marketer (and brand) led driver of brand happiness.

The results have implications for the role of the website in enhancing the consumer experience, which in turn is a driver of brand happiness. Further, managers need to promote brand happiness with the help of website experience to enable consumers’ willingness to share personal information and help organizations customize their marketing campaigns.

This is among the first studies to evaluate brand happiness from the perspective of an online retail website experience and consider consumers’ willingness to share personal information from a branding rather than a technological perspective. Additionally, the study introduces the SOR framework in the context of brand happiness, with website experience acting as a stimulus for consumers, resulting in brand happiness, which is mediated by brand partner quality and brand intimacy (organism), leads to consumers' willingness to share personal information with online retail brands (response).

This paper aims to review 69 studies related to Muslim consumer behavior and determine the relationship between these topics and Islamic rationality. In addition, this paper elaborates on Al-Ghazali’s Islamic rationality model.

A text analytics approach is used to map 69 studies on Muslim consumer behavior. In addition, the historical-critical and inductive approach is used to identify Muslim scholars’ concepts and opinions regarding Islamic rationality, especially Al-Ghazali.

This study confirms that Muslim consumer behavior is in line with the concept of Islamic rationality proposed by Al-Ghazali. This is evidenced by a strong awareness of Islamic morals and values, which fosters a high commitment to halal products.

The findings of this study will provide essential benefits in the development of Islamic rationality theory, which can then be used as an alternative in explaining Muslim consumer behavior and also can be used as a reference for stakeholders in the industry to mainstream halalfication on products offered in the Muslim market.

The value of originality in this study lies in identifying the relation between Islamic rationality and Muslim consumer behavior, and this effort was confirmed through 69 selected studies related to Muslim consumer behavior.

This study aims to investigate the fabrication of solid ankle foot orthoses (SAFOs) using fused deposition modeling (FDM) printing technology. It emphasizes cost-effective 3D scanning with the Kinect sensor and conducts a comparative analysis of SAFO durability with varying thicknesses and materials, including polylactic acid (PLA) and carbon fiber-reinforced (PLA-C), to address research gaps from prior studies.

In this study, the methodology comprises key components: data capture using a cost-effective Microsoft Kinect® Xbox 360 scanner to obtain precise leg dimensions for SAFOs. SAFOs are designed using CAD tools with varying thicknesses (3, 4, and 5 mm) while maintaining consistent geometry, allowing controlled thickness impact investigation. Fabrication uses PLA and PLA-C materials via FDM 3D printing, providing insights into material suitability. Mechanical analysis uses dual finite element analysis to assess force–displacement curves and fracture behavior, which were validated through experimental testing.

The results indicate that the precision of the scanned leg dimensions, compared to actual anthropometric data, exhibits a deviation of less than 5%, confirming the accuracy of the cost-effective scanning approach. Additionally, the research identifies optimal thicknesses for SAFOs, recommending a 4 and 5 mm thickness for PLA-C-based SAFOs and an only 5 mm thickness for PLA-based SAFOs. This optimization enhances the overall performance and effectiveness of these orthotic solutions.

This study’s innovation lies in its holistic approach, combining low-cost 3D scanning, 3D printing and computational simulations to optimize SAFO materials and thickness. These findings advance the creation of cost-effective and efficient orthotic solutions.

Studies have so far focused on learning in organizations, factors affecting learning, learning effectiveness and so on but the concept of learning in a hybrid work arrangement is yet unexplored. The purpose of this study is to measure the perception of faculty members in higher education institutions towards learning in a hybrid work arrangement and also to measure the differences of perception towards hybrid work arrangement based on employees’ gender and organization type.

The data was collected from a sample of 390 faculty members composing of Assistant Professors, Associate Professors and Professors, purposely chosen from two of the premier higher education institutions (one private and one public) located in Punjab, India. A self-structured questionnaire was administered to the faculty members who are working on a regular basis and have minimum of two years of work experience with the chosen university. For analysing the collected data exploratory factor analysis and other descriptive statistics have been applied.

The findings of the survey show that in terms of gender differences, it is the female employees who are more satisfied with different aspects of hybrid/remote work arrangement as compared to male employees. In regard to organizational differences in the perception towards learning in a hybrid work arrangement it is found that public university employees have a more positive attitude so far as individual factors are concerned, but in terms of organizational factors, it is the private university that is scoring better than the public university.

The study is limited to only two higher education institutions, and its findings to be applicable in all higher education institutions, further studies may be required on a larger canvas. Future studies may be undertaken using advanced statistical tools like structural equation modelling to explore various variables associated with learning in a hybrid work arrangement.

Applicability of hybrid work arrangement is very high in higher education institutions and to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which adds to the literature on perception of employees towards organizational learning in a hybrid work arrangement.

Globally, consumer’s inclination towards functional foods had noticed due to their greater health consciousness coupled with enhanced health-care cost. The fact that probiotics could promote a healthier gut microbiome led projection of probiotic foods as functional foods and had emerged as an important dietary strategy for improved human health. It had established that ice cream was a better carrier for probiotics than fermented milked due to greater stability of probiotics in ice cream matrix. Global demand for ice cream boomed and probiotic ice cream could have been one of the most demanded functional foods. The purpose of this paper was to review the technological aspects and factors affecting probiotic viability and to standardize methodology to produce functional probiotic ice cream.

Attempt was made to search the literature (review and researched papers) to identify diverse factors affecting the probiotic viability and major technological challenge faced during formulation of probiotic ice cream. Keywords used for data searched included dairy-based functional foods, ice cream variants, probiotic ice cream, factors affecting probiotic viability and health benefits of probiotic ice cream.

Retention of probiotic viability at a level of >10⁶ cfu/ml is a prerequisite for functional probiotic ice creams. Functional probiotic ice cream could have been produced with the modification of basic mix and modulating technological parameters during processing and freezing. Functionality can be further enhanced with the inclusion of certain nutraceutical components such as prebiotics, antioxidant, phenolic compounds and dietary fibres. Based upon reviewed literature, suggested method for the manufacture of functional probiotic ice cream involved freezing of a probiotic ice cream mix obtained by blending 10% probiotic fermented milk with 90% non-fermented plain ice cream mix for higher probiotic viability. Probiotic ice cream with functional features, comparable with traditional ice cream in terms of technological and sensory properties could be produced and can crop up as a novel functional food.

Probiotic ice cream with functional features may attract food manufacturers to cater health-conscious consumers.

This study aims to explore e-wallet continuance intention in Malaysia using perceived usefulness (PU), perceived ease of use (PEU), perceived risk (PR) and perceived security (PS). Additional emphasis is placed on the degree of necessity of risk and security conditions driving the continuance intention to use e-wallets.

This quantitative study used a sample of 281 respondents. Partial least-squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used to test the associations, while necessary condition analysis (NCA) was performed to uncover the factors’ necessity level.

PU is the primary facilitator for the continuance intention of e-wallet usage, followed by PS, PR and PEU. However, none were necessary for usage. E-wallet providers must emphasise enhancing PU, prioritise data security and improve the PEU to foster sustained e-wallet usage, while prudent risk management is a nice-to-have.

To maintain the survival of e-wallets, service providers must focus on prioritising PEU, PU and PS for positive user experiences, including contentment, utility, convenience, comfort and safety. Compliance with user authorisation, real-time transaction monitoring and comprehensive security protocols is a must for security concerns.

This study represents the limited empirical research focusing on risk and security in the continuance intention of e-wallet usage. Furthermore, an NCA was performed to determine the essential circumstances of risk and security for the continuance intention of e-wallets.

This study aims to develop a novel approach for predicting default risk in bancassurance, which plays a crucial role in the relationship between interest rates in banks and premium rates in insurance companies. The proposed method aims to improve default risk predictions and assist with client segmentation in the banking system.

This research introduces the group method of data handling (GMDH) technique and a diversified classifier ensemble based on GMDH (dce-GMDH) for predicting default risk. The data set comprises information from 30,000 credit card clients of a large bank in Taiwan, with the output variable being a dummy variable distinguishing between default risk (0) and non-default risk (1), whereas the input variables comprise 23 distinct features characterizing each customer.

The results of this study show promising outcomes, highlighting the usefulness of the proposed technique for bancassurance and client segmentation. Remarkably, the dce-GMDH model consistently outperforms the conventional GMDH model, demonstrating its superiority in predicting default risk based on various error criteria.

This study presents a unique approach to predicting default risk in bancassurance by using the GMDH and dce-GMDH neural network models. The proposed method offers a valuable contribution to the field by showcasing improved accuracy and enhanced applicability within the banking sector, offering valuable insights and potential avenues for further exploration.

This paper aims to critically review the isolation and chemistry of plant pigments.

A literature survey from 1974 to 2022 was carried out and studied thoroughly. The authors reviewed literature in various areas such as isolation methods and catalytic properties of pigments.

With vast growing research in the field of catalytic activities of various pigments like chlorophyll, anthocyanin and flavonoids, there is still scope for further research for the pigments such as Lycopene, carotenoids and xanthophyll as there has not been any significant work in this area.

Plant pigments may be used as an ecofriendly catalyst for chemical reactions.

One can get the direction of pigment research.

Plant pigments are natural and ecofriendly catalyst which can reduce the pollution.

This is an original work. This paper precisely depicts the advantages as well as disadvantages of the isolation techniques of pigments. This study also presents the chemistry of plant pigments.