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The purpose of this paper is to detail various aspects of laminates and their current developments in order to enable the selection and development of appropriate laminate systems for use in high performance avionics interconnection applications.

Electronic packaging must provide circuit support, heat dissipation, signal distribution, manufacturability, serviceability, power distribution and data for performance simulation over the required frequency range in avionics applications. Innovations in packaging technology have made a big impact on the types of laminates that can be used in printed circuit boards destined for these applications. The “environments” in which aircraft are required to operate have changed due to global security threats and the laminates traditionally used are not designed for this role. Aircraft systems are expected to withstand disturbances due to unexpected threats. Various factors which determine the performance of laminates are evaluated.

The safety of aircraft is critically dependent on the interconnection technology in which laminates have a major role. Under global security threats, passenger safety, emergency landing and timely information to the pilot is of paramount importance. Hence, research programs need to be initiated to develop new innovative laminate systems, since traditional laminates have limitations in these applications.

The availability of data on the performance of laminates used in interconnection technology under various security threats is limited.

The paper describes how new laminates for high performance interconnection technology in avionics applications can be developed.

The digitisation of various parts of society is developing at an increasingly rapid rate, which effects the way people receive services and how familiar they are with new innovations and technological challenges in educational environments. The future members of society must be prepared to participate in the creation of new innovative solutions as well as to support the process of knowledge creation. Despite the fact that rapid development of technologies requires society to immediately respond, even under these circumstances society must be able to make meaningful decisions. These processes put on the forefront of competence have the ability to predict the unpredictable, which means that the educational environment must to a certain extent be able to predict what has not yet existed and cannot be verified. However, it must at the same time involve specialists from different fields who must deal with technologies and technological solutions that have not been tested or proven consistent in the long run, measure their impact and predict what services are up to date and what technologies and skills are required. This section examines the conditions for technology-enhanced learning (TEL) in a higher education (HE) context to understand what technologies and digital solutions have traditionally been used as well as the role of educators in driving TEL. The aim of the research is to conduct a pilot study to identify the most recent trends in the use of technologies in HE, identify the future research directions, predict the future directions of development and collect and analyse the obtained data.

Offers a preliminary assessment of electronic commerce. Rarely has the retail and consumer services sector been faced with a strategic challenge of such significant complexity and uncertainty that is growing so rapidly. Suggests that the academic world is lagging behind the world of practice in terms of supplying rigorous analysis of the topic. Deals with four discrete areas of the new economy as it affects retailers. Explores the extent to which the emergence of new electronic channels to market has led to distinctive means of business differentiation, with particular reference to branding and pricing. Secondly, looks at how business‐to‐business companies can use electronic channels to improve supply chain and productivity requirements. Thirdly, assesses how far we understand some of the organisational change issues. Finally considers the future of eCommerce.

The primary objective of this study is to examine how students' technological factors affect remote access (RA) in smart learning (SL) environments. Additionally, the paper explores the moderating effect of students' technical skills (TS) on RA and SL.

The study applied a quantitative research approach and collected 125 valid questionnaires from students in Oman's higher education institutions (HEIs). A structural equation model (SEM) was employed for data analysis using the Smart PLS 4 version to examine the influence of technological factors on RA in SL environments.

It was found that the use of cloud-based RA in SL is influenced by students' use of technology, technology competitiveness and the availability of institutional software (IS). Moreover, students' TS were found to play a crucial role in moderating RA and SL, as well as technical knowledge (TK) and SL. These findings highlight the importance of technical competencies and software availability in shaping students' RA experiences.

The study's findings should be interpreted with caution due to the limited sample size, which may restrict the generalizability of the results.

The study suggests the technological learning capabilities of HEIs, which significantly improved by prioritizing critical technical factors, including knowledge and use of technology, availability of institutional software and RA antecedents in SL environments.

This paper offers practical and actionable directions for HEIs, universities, colleges and educators looking to incorporate technology into their practices in the dynamic and ever-evolving Fourth Industrial Era.

Elemental analysis of these medicinal plants was performed by employing Instrumental Neutron Activation Analysis (INAA) and Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS) techniques. The samples were irradiated with thermal neutrons in a nuclear reactor and the induced radio activity was counted by gamma ray spectrometry using an efficiency calibrated high resolution High Purity Germanium (HPGe) detector. Most of the medicinal plants were found to be rich in one or more of the elements under study. The variation in elemental concentration in same medicinal plant samples collected from different regions was studied and the biological effects of these elements on human beings are discussed. The study was also extended further to estimate the level of toxic elements like Cr, Cd, Ni, Pb and Hg in medicinal plants which arises due to environmental pollution. The results were discussed with careful reference to established role of essential and rare elements to the physiology and pathology of plant and human life.

This paper aims to investigate and document the effects of copper-clad laminate (CCL) inorganic filler on the hole performance in printed circuit boards drilling process.

Drilling of brittle laminates can result in hole cracking, layer-to-layer delamination and drill-bit wear and tool breakage. Adding large amount of fillers not only shortens the life of the drilling tool but also affects the drilling properties significantly regarding hole quality. This paper introduces the influence of filler content, type, hardness, particle size and the compounding method in the manufacture of the CCL on the drilling performance.

The filler content, filler type, hardness of filler, particle size of filler and the compounding method used for the filler have a great influence on the drilling properties of CCL. The higher the filler content, the larger the particle size and the more the hardness of the filler, the worse the drilling properties. The combination of hard particles like silica with softer particles can improve the drilling performance of CCL.

The paper describes what affects the drilling performance of CCL and how this knowledge can be used to design CCL with good drilling performance.

Socioeconomic status (SES) has been known to be associated with many aspects of social life such as health. We argue that social stratification remains relevant in understanding differentials in health during a pandemic, as countries globally have encouraged or enforced social distancing and remote work measures.

By examining data sources and news reports on the COVID-19 pandemic, we aim to highlight the relationship between SES and morbidity, through the ability to adopt social distancing measures and work remotely. Utilizing publicly available data from the Maryland Transport Institute and the US Census, we performed linear regressions on median income, social distancing index and percentage of individuals working from home.

Individuals with higher SES are more likely to have jobs that provide opportunities for remote work to be performed, which allows for social distancing. Comparatively, individuals with lower SES are more likely to be involved in jobs that cannot be performed remotely. The linear regression models suggest a positive moderate and significant correlation between median income and social distancing index (R² = 0.4981, p-value < 0.001), and a positive weak and significant correlation between median income and remote work (R² = 0.2460, p-value < 0.001).

Governments need to account for SES in policymaking to reduce inequalities in health.

The paper aims to improve the understanding of social stratification and morbidity through examining data on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gives a bibliographical review of the finite element methods (FEMs) applied for the linear and nonlinear, static and dynamic analyses of basic structural elements from the theoretical as well as practical points of view. The range of applications of FEMs in this area is wide and cannot be presented in a single paper; therefore aims to give the reader an encyclopaedic view on the subject. The bibliography at the end of the paper contains 2,025 references to papers, conference proceedings and theses/dissertations dealing with the analysis of beams, columns, rods, bars, cables, discs, blades, shafts, membranes, plates and shells that were published in 1992‐1995.