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In this work, a user-friendly Java-based open-source software has been developed for internal radiation dosimetry. Based on values published by the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP), the software calculates the estimated absorbed dose for each organ and also the estimated effective dose, this for about forty of the most known radioactive drugs. In addition, the present software offers many features which include: 1) a very friendly graphical user-interface (GUI) designed to facilitate the process of selecting mandatory input data such as radiopharmaceutical product, administered activity and patient's data, 2) a tool for generating a medical report, which can be exported as PDF file or printed directly and then incorporated into the patient's record, 3) a SQLite database for storing patient's specific and dosimetric data. We believe that the present software can be a useful tool for nuclear medicine workers. It is freely available for download on GitHub (https://github.com/EL-Bakkali-Jaafar/RadioPharmaDose).

The purpose of this paper is to explore the possible relationship between knowledge management infrastructures (KMI) and organizational intelligence (OI) in two country-wide research centers dependent to Ministry of Science, Research and Technology, namely, Iranian Research Institute for Information Science and Technology (IRIIST) and Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies (IHCS).

The research is a survey in a descriptive manner. Using two validated questionnaires related to KMI and OI, the research was conducted among 175 faculty members and staffs of the two research centers. Using structural equation modeling (SEM) procedures, collected data were then analyzed by software SPSS and partial least squares.

Factor analysis showed a high factor loading related to the two main variables and all of the items indicated goodness of fit (GoF) related to the questions. The variance-mean ratio between two variables was higher than 0.5 indicating a high convergent validity. R² for OI showed fitness of SEM. The GoF for IRIIST was 0.642 lower than IHCS with 0.645. Also, path analysis indicated a significant relationship between two variables by 95 percent degree of confidence accepting the two research hypothesis.

By comparison, KMI was more correlated with OI in IHCS than IRIIST. KMI in IRIIST predicted OI by 0.826 percent while in the IHCS by 0.848 percent.

The paper aims to explore the development of the halal industry in Thailand. It endeavours to investigate the main factors behind the country’s success as one of the largest exporters of halal-certified foods and products in the Southeast Asian region, in spite of the fact that Thailand is a non-Muslim-majority country. Only 4.3 per cent of the 69-million population of Thailand is Muslims.

In articulating the issue objectively, qualitative research method was adopted. This paper used structured literature study by analysing various subjects of halal pertaining to Thailand’s halal sector. At the same time, several in-depth interviews with the corresponding halal authorities in Thailand, as well as site visits, were also conducted. We also undertook observations in several sites in Thailand to analyse the issue further.

Findings from the research show that the strong presence of Thailand in the global halal industry is because of its bustling tourism industry that helps to bolster the country’s halal branding, its uniformity of halal definition and standards and effective support to the local SMEs.

This research implies that the standardisation of halal in a country is imperative in the Muslim-majority or Muslim-minority countries. This study gives a benchmark for the non-Muslim-majority countries which endeavour to embark on the halal industry. Muslim-minority counties that envision to succeed in the global halal market could emulate Thailand’s approach in branding itself as a recognised non-Muslim-majority country in producing certified halal foods and products.

The paper provides guidelines and standards for Muslim-minority countries that envision success in the global halal market.

This conceptual study investigates the adoption of education technology (EdTech) products among college students, focusing on identifying the key factors influencing the adoption process within educational institutions. Technology integration in education has rapidly gained prominence, with EdTech offering innovative solutions to enhance teaching and learning experiences. However, understanding the determinants that affect EdTech adoption remains critical for its successful implementation and impact. This paper aims (1) to identify the factors influencing the adoption of EdTech by college students (2) to create a conceptual model that shows the connections between the elements that lead to college students adopting EdTech.

The research employed a mixed-methods approach, combining qualitative data analysis and conceptual modeling to achieve the objectives. The underlying knowledge required to create a qualitative data gathering tool was obtained through a thorough literature analysis on innovation dissemination, educational psychology and technology adoption. College students, teachers and administrators participated in semi-structured interviews, focus groups and surveys to provide detailed perspectives on their attitudes about and experiences with EdTech. The Scopus and Web of Science databases are searched for relevant information in an organized manner in order to determine the factors influencing the adoption of EdTech. Second, an extended version of the technology adoption model is adopted to develop a qualitative data-based conceptual framework to analyze EdTech adoption in the Indian context.

Overall, by highlighting the critical components that emotionally influence college students' adoption of EdTech products in educational institutions, this course adds to the body of information already in existence. The conceptual framework model serves as a roadmap for educational stakeholders seeking to leverage EdTech effectively to enrich the learning environment and improve educational outcomes. By recognizing the significance of the identified factors, academic institutions can make informed decisions to foster a climate conducive to successful EdTech integration.

A comprehensive conceptual framework model was developed based on qualitative data analysis to illustrate the interrelationships between the identified factors influencing EdTech adoption. This model presents a valuable tool for educational institutions, policymakers and EdTech developers to comprehend the complex dynamics of implementing these technological solutions.

The findings of this study demonstrated a number of important variables that affect the uptake of EdTech products in educational settings. These factors encompassed technological infrastructure, ease of use, perceived usefulness, compatibility with existing academic practices, institutional support, financial constraints and individual attitudes towards technology. Additionally, the research explored the significance of institutional preparation for embracing technological advancements as well as the influence of socio-cultural elements.

The manufacturing industry is presently experiencing technological disruption on a global scale. Consequently, to tackle such disruption, firms are identifying a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) scenario and seeking ways to counter it. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the employee performance through assessing organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) among the shop floor employees of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry where a high-performance work system (HPWS) has been implemented.

A descriptive research design was used in the study, and 395 shop floor employees working in leading multinational firms, with a minimum global turnover of US$1bn, were interviewed. These manufacturing firms were located in three industrial clusters in the northern part of India.

The results indicate that HPWS influences OCB. Most of the dimensions of HPWS and OCB were found to be positively associated. The findings also disprove the labour process theory in the context of the study.

The findings report a broad view of the relationship between HPWS and OCB in the Indian manufacturing context. The study offers the practical insights that HPWS is a universally accepted framework and that organizations should focus on the effective implementation of HPWS in a VUCA scenario, which is in line with past studies. The study also provides future directions for research.

This paper has established the relationship between HPWS and OCB in the manufacturing sector, especially for shop floor employees.

The purpose of this paper is to design a hybrid robust tracking controller based on an improved radial basis function artificial neural network (IRBFANN) and a novel extended-state observer for a quadrotor system with various model and parametric uncertainties and external disturbances to enhance the resiliency of the control system.

An IRBFANN is introduced as an adaptive compensator tool for model and parametric uncertainties in the control algorithm of non-singular rapid terminal sliding-mode control (NRTSMC). An exact-time extended state observer (ETESO) augmented with NRTSMC is designed to estimate the unknown exogenous disturbances and ensure fast states convergence while overcoming the singularity issue. The novelty of this work lies in the online updating of weight parameters of the RBFANN algorithm by using a new idea of incorporating an exponential sliding-mode effect, which makes a remarkable effort to make the control protocol adaptive to uncertain model parameters. A comparison of the proposed scheme with other conventional schemes shows its much better performance in the presence of parametric uncertainties and exogenous disturbances.

The investigated control strategy presents a robust adaptive law based on IRBFANN with a fast convergence rate and improved estimation accuracy via a novel ETESO.

To enhance the safety level and ensure stable flight operations by the quadrotor in the presence of high-order complex disturbances and uncertain environments, it is imperative to devise a robust control law.

A new idea of incorporating an exponential sliding-mode effect instead of conventional approaches in the algorithm of the RBFANN is used, which makes the control law resistant to model and parametric uncertainties. The ETESO provides rapid and accurate disturbance estimation results and updates the control law to overcome the performance degradation caused by the disturbances. Simulation results depict the effectiveness of the proposed control strategy.

This study aims to investigate the impact of outside financing (equity and debt financing) on the quality of financial reporting in Iran.

Sample includes the companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange – 152 companies in a period of four years during 2010-2013. Data were analyzed by using multiple linear regressions with the benefits of the combined data.

The results indicates that there is a positive relationship between the quality of financial reporting based on the qualitative characteristics of the theoretical principles of the Iranian Financial Accounting Standards Board and debt financing. Moreover, there is a negative relationship between the quality of financial reporting based on the Dechow and Dichev (2002) model and debt financing. Additionally, there is a negative relationship between the quality of financial reporting (based on the qualitative characteristics of the theoretical principles of the Iranian Financial Accounting Standards Board as well as the Dechow and Dichev models) and equity financing.

Financial statements as the output of the accounting system has always been considered by the investors, the creditors and the government; nonetheless, its dependability in making decisions has always been doubted because of using the accrual principle in the calculation of the reported figure in the statements and, consequently, the possibility of being manipulated by the managers as well as the likelihood of conflict of interest among the managers and the shareholders.

Hospital structures serve to protect and improve public health; however, they are recognized as a major source of environmental degradation. Thus, an effective performance evaluation framework is required to improve hospital sustainability. In this context, this study presents a holistic methodology that integrates the sustainability balanced scorecard (SBSC) with fuzzy Delphi method and fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making approaches for evaluating the sustainability performance of hospitals.

Initially, a comprehensive list of relevant sustainability evaluation criteria was considered based on six SBSC-based dimensions, in line with triple-bottom-line sustainability dimensions, and derived from the literature review and experts’ opinions. Then, the weights of perspectives and their respective criteria are computed and ranked utilizing the fuzzy analytic hierarchy process. Subsequently, the hospitals’ sustainable performance values are ranked based on these criteria using the Fuzzy Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution.

A numerical application was conducted in six public hospitals to exhibit the proposed model’s applicability. The results of this study revealed that “Patient satisfaction,” “Efficiency,” “Effectiveness,” “Access to care” and “Waste production,” respectively, are the five most important criteria of sustainable performance.

The new model will provide decision-makers with management tools that may help them identify the relevant factors for upgrading the level of sustainability in their hospitals and thus improve public health and community well-being.

This is the first study that proposes a new hybrid decision-making methodology for evaluating and comparing hospitals’ sustainability performance under a fuzzy environment.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the fabrication technology and test of thermo-pneumatic actuator utilizing Si₃N₄-polyimide thin film membrane. Thin film polyimide membrane capped with Si₃N₄ thin layer is used as actuator membrane which is able to deform through thermal forces inside an isolated chamber. The fabricated membrane will be suitable for thermo-pneumatic-based membrane actuation for lab-on-chip application.

The actuator device consisting of a micro-heater, a Si-based micro-chamber and a heat-sensitive square-shaped membrane is fabricated using surface and bulk-micromachining process, with an additional adhesive bonding process. The polyimide membrane is capped with a thin silicon nitride layer that is fabricated by using etch stop technique and spin coating.

The deformation property of the membrane depend on the volumetric expansion of air particles in the heat chamber as a result of temperature increase generated from the micro-heater inside the chamber. Preliminary testing showed that the fabricated micro-heater has the capability to generate heat in the chamber with a temperature increase of 18.8 °C/min. Analysis on membrane deflection against temperature increase showed that heat-sensitive thin polyimide membrane can perform the deflection up to 65 μm for a temperature increase of 57°C.

The dual layer polyimide capped with Si₃N₄ was used as the membrane material. The nitride layer allowed the polyimide membrane for working at extreme heat condition. The process technique is simple implementing standard micro-electro-mechanical systems process.