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The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the considerable Ag₂SO₄ content on the electrical and dielectric properties of (AgPO₃)_1−x(Ag₂SO₄)_x ion glass system as well as to extract thermodynamic parameters.

Glass samples of (AgPO₃)_1-x(Ag₂SO₄)_x with different mole ratios of Ag₂SO₄ [x = 0.00, 0.10,0.15,0.20 and 0.25] have been synthesized and used. X-ray diffraction and differential thermal analysis were used to investigate structural and thermal properties, and then the electrical characterizations of the bulk glasses were performed in different frequency and temperature range.

For different ratios of Ag₂SO₄ on AgPO₃, the bulk conductivity is enhanced with increasing the amount of Ag₂SO₄ until the composition of x = 0.20, after which the conductivity decreases. The general behavior of both ε’ and ε” decreases with increasing frequency and increases with increasing temperature. Complex impedance analysis studied by Z‘−Z’ and Cole–Cole plot at different temperatures revealed that bulk resistance decreases with temperature.

The calculated values of activation free energy, enthalpy and entropy change for different compositions of (AgPO₃)_1-x(Ag₂SO₄)_x showed an increase in activation energy and enthalpy when Ag₂SO₄ ratio is increased in (AgPO₃)_1-x(Ag₂SO₄)_x composition up to 20%, and then there is a decrease in their values at x = 25%, which may be explained based on non-bridging oxygen.

This paper aims to investigate the factors that motivate consumers to pay for halal logistics certification and consequently demand for its certification in Pakistan.

The study used a sample of 302 respondents from the city of Karachi, Pakistan and used partial least square structural equation model. The study used consumers’ perception, concern and personal societal perspective to determine their willingness to pay and the demand of halal certification.

Results revealed that all of the aforementioned variables are significant and positive except perspective usefulness which has insignificant and negative relationship with consumer willingness.

Pakistan is an Islamic state and people living there are very cautious about the food items they eat and the procedures they follow. Therefore, this study contributes to evaluate such factors that influence consumer willingness to pay for halal logistics in Pakistan. Furthermore, this study suggests policymakers and 3rd party logistics service providers to educate their potential consumers about halal logistics and halal certification.

Photovoltaic (PV) systems are experiencing exponential growth due to environmental concerns, unlimited and ubiquitous solar energy, and starting-to-make-sense panel costs. Alongside designing more efficient solar panels, installing solar trackers and special circuitry for optimizing power delivery to the load according to a maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithm are other ways of increasing efficiency. However, it is critical for any efficiency increase to account for the power consumption of any amendments. Therefore, this paper aims to propose a novel tracker while using MPPT to boost the PV system's actual efficiency accounting for the involved costs.

The proposition is an experimental pneumatic dual-axis solar tracker using light-dependent resistor (LDR) sensors. Due to its embedded energy storage, the pneumatic tracker offers a low duty-cycle operation leading to tracking energy conservation, fewer maintenance needs and scalability potential. While MPPT assures maximum load power delivery, the solar PV's actual delivered power is calculated for the first time, accounting for the solar tracking and MPPT power costs.

The experiments' results show an increase of 37.6% in total and 35.3% in actual power production for the proposed solar tracking system compared to the fixed panel system, with an MPPT efficiency of 90%. Thus, the pneumatic tracking system offers low tracking-energy consumption and good actual power efficiency. Also, the newly proposed pneumatic stimulant can significantly simplify the tracking mechanism and benefit from several advantages that come along with it.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work proposes, for the first time, a single-motor pneumatic dual-axis tracker with less implementation cost, less frequent operation switching and scalability potential, to be developed in future works. Also, the pneumatic proposal delivers high actual power efficiency for the first time to be addressed.

The purpose of this study are: to study the difference between halal awareness and halal certified awareness, and the relationship between the two variables; to study the differences in knowledge about halal and halal certified, as well as their relationship with halal awareness and halal certified awareness; and to build and test research models regarding factors that affect certified halal awareness.

The target population is Muslims who live in Indonesia and are 18 years old or more. The self-administered survey method is carried out based on a purposive sampling technique. The authors collect data from 428 Muslim respondents in Indonesia through an online survey. This study applies the partial least square–structural equation model to examine causal relationships and test hypotheses.

This study reveals several results: halal awareness is a different concept from halal-certified awareness; knowledge of halal is a different concept from knowledge of halal certificates; awareness is an outcome of knowledge, but knowledge is not an outcome of awareness; halal awareness has a significant effect on halal-certified awareness; knowledge about halal certificates has a significant effect on halal-certified awareness, but knowledge about halal does not have a significant effect; knowledge of halal certificates is not influenced by knowledge of halal and halal awareness; and exposure and religious commitment have a significant role in increasing knowledge and awareness.

Research that explores the difference between halal awareness and halal certified awareness, and Muslim knowledge about halal and halal certified, especially in the context of halal-certified food, is still very limited in the literature provided, if not unavailable. Furthermore, this study also builds and tests research models regarding the factors that affect certified halal awareness, which is limited or may not have been found in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to empirically analyze the factors affecting Muslim consumers’ willingness to pay (WTP) for Halal food, products and operations by employing theory of reasoned action.

This study has used quantitative research methodology and collected data from 350 questionnaires from a densely populated city of Pakistan. Partial least squares-structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data.

The results show that the concerns about Halal, religiosity, perception of usefulness of Halal and product ingredients have a significant impact on WTP for Halal foods, while attitude has an insignificant impact on WTP. Moreover, the extent of demand for Halal certification is significantly affected by WTP.

The study highlighted the concerns of the Muslim consumers with respect to Halalness of the products and operations despite living in a Muslim country. It is recommended that the policy makers, food authorities and health institutions should conduct regular inspections of foods, products and producers’/manufacturers’ operations to ensure that all the procedures from manufacturing of the raw material till the finished goods follow Islamic principles to make them completely Halal.

This case study aims to present the implementation of knowledge management (KM) in the Ministry of Health (MoH) of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Ministry is a very complex environment and it is suffering from information overload. The health care industry is a very intensive knowledge field where experience and tacit knowledge play an important part in delivering efficient health care to the nation.

The paper takes the form of a case study conducted by people involved in the implementation of the KM initiative at the MoH and by the observation and interviews conducted by external researchers.

The paper finds that the implementing of KM had many positive impacts on the MoH in terms of planning and decision making. Even though it is difficult to create a knowledge sharing culture in an environment under pressure involving medical and administrative staff, the initial KM initiatives implemented at the MoH of Bahrain are believed to be the start for a serious and comprehensive KM drive within the Ministry in the coming few years.

The lessons learned from this case can help other health organizations to better understand the barriers and enablers associated with implementing a KM initiative in a complex environment.

The apparel industry of Bangladesh is rethinking lean manufacturing (LM) deployment because of the challenges imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to COVID-19, LM implementation in the apparel industry has become more difficult. Thus, the purpose of this study is to explore the barriers to implementing LM practices in the apparel industry of Bangladesh in the context of COVID-19 pandemic.

For evaluating the barriers, an integrated framework that combines the Delphi method and fuzzy total interpretive structural modeling (TISM) has been designed. The application of fuzzy TISM has resulted in a structured hierarchical relationship model of the barriers with driving and driven power.

The findings reveal that “lack of synchronization of lean planning with strategic planning”, “lack of proper understanding of lean concept” and “low priority from the top management” are the three top most important barriers of LM implementation in apparel industry.

These findings will help the apparel industry to formulate strategy for implementing the LM practices successfully. The proposed model is expected to contribute to the sustainable development goals (SDGs) such as Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12); Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8); Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure (SDG 9) via resilient strategies.

This study is one of few initial efforts to investigate LM implementation barriers during the COVID-19 epidemic in a real-world setting.

The barriers to integrating sustainable practices into construction project management require extensive resource allocations to resolve. Within developing countries such as Iran (where resources are scarce), remedial strategies adopted must prioritise tackling those barriers that can be expected to yield maximum return on investment. The candidate barriers are many, and this paper aims to identify a hierarchy of barriers, providing a priority list of remedial targets.

A mixed philosophical stance of interpretivism and post-positivism is adopted within a deductive approach and survey strategy. A list of 30 known barriers are identified from extant literature and used to formulate a questionnaire data collection instrument administered within the Iranian construction industry. Data collected from 176 practitioners are analysed using the relative importance index and Mann–Whitney U test to compare groups based on the participants' demographic variables.

The findings challenge the common assumption that items related to market and workforce experience are major inhibitors of change. That is, economics and regulatory dependent barriers have a higher impact on the failure of a shift to sustainable practices in Iran. The most influential barriers to incorporating sustainability in construction projects are: (1) lack of understanding of the potential benefits; (2) insufficient cooperation among practitioners, research institutions and environmental organisations; and (3) a lack of a systematic approach to pursuing sustainability goals. No significant associations are detected between the affiliation of the respondents and their attitude towards the issue. Thus, a generalised approach can be applied to a broader range of organisations and construction projects in Iran.

While studies on sustainability impediments at the firm or project level are ubiquitous within literature, this research identifies that the most significant barriers to sustainable project management in Iran, as an underexplored context, are those experienced at the economic and institutional level. Moreover, this novel research presents important insights into the potential effects of participants' demographic profiles on their view of the importance of identified barriers.