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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of time-periodic thermal boundary conditions on natural convection flow in a vertical micro-annulus.

Analytical solution in terms of Bessel’s function and modified Bessel’s function of order 0 and 1 is obtained for velocity, temperature, Nusselt number, skin friction and mass flow rate.

It is established that the role of Knudsen number and fluid–wall interaction parameter is to decrease fluid temperature, velocity, Nusselt number and skin friction.

No laboratory practical or experiment was conducted.

Cooling device in electronic panels, card and micro-chips is frequently cooled by natural convection.

In view of the amount of works done on natural convection in microchannel, it becomes interesting to investigate the effect that time-periodic heating has on natural convection flow in a vertical micro-annulus. The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of time-periodic thermal boundary conditions on natural convection flow in a vertical micro-annulus.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate electrokinetic and mixed convection (pressure gradient and buoyancy) effects on reverse flow formation at the channel walls.

The electrical potential distribution was modelled using the Poisson–Boltzmann equation while the governing momentum and energy equations are modelled from the Navier–Stokes equations and solved exactly.

It is found that flow reversal at the walls is enhanced by electrokinetic parameter whereas increasing degree of asymmetric parameter up to symmetric heating eliminates reverse flow formation at the walls no matter the electric charge distribution.

The results of this paper indicate that degree of asymmetric heating, mixed convection parameter and electrokinetic parameter regulate fluid velocity, rate of heat transfer, skin friction and reverse flow formation at the walls.

In many developing and developed countries, small/medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are a very important part of the economy and are commonly referred to as the lifeblood of the economy. SMEs in Nigeria have contributed around 48% of the national gross domestic product (GDP) in recent times and account for about 17.4 million jobs. Considering how much they contribute to national economies, it is expedient to seek ways in which they can derive value from innovative technologies to further strengthen their position. Web 2.0 technologies and associated social media applications such as social network sites, microblogging, weblogs and similar technologies are known to improve communication and collaboration among employees and customers. SMEs typically have a small budget for branding, advertising and corporate communication. Consequently, social media provides a ready and inexpensive tool that can be used to communicate with customers and for internal communication and collaboration. Several studies in the area of diffusion of innovations to SMEs argue that they do not usually use adopted technologies to its full potential and as such do not add as much value to the business. Extant research on corporate communication using social media focuses on large organizations’ adoption and use of the technology with little focus on SMEs. This contribution aims to fill this gap by considering how SMEs in Nigeria adopt and use social media to improve corporate communication.

This study aims to explore the factors influencing the intention to use e-democracy. The literature depicted conflicting results regarding such domain and especially in the Middle East, where the authors aim at establishing a solid view of the discipline.

A research model was developed based on the theory of planned behavior, technology acceptance model and unified theory for acceptance and use of technology-2. The model hypothesized that perceived public value (PPV), ease of use and enjoyment are major antecedents of attitudes, and subjective norms (SNs), perceived behavioral control (PBC) and attitudes are significant predictors of behavioral intentions. A quantitative cross-sectional design was used. A questionnaire was used to explore Jordanian citizens’ perceptions regarding the research model constructs. A sample of 302 Jordanian citizens filled the surveys based on their awareness of e-democracy concepts and their willingness to participate in the study. This study uses the structural equation modeling approach with partial least square as an analysis method.

Findings indicated that PPV, perceived ease of use and enjoyment jointly determine the attitudes of citizens toward e-democracy. Results also suggest that attitudes, PBC and SNs have a significant effect on citizen’s intention to use e-democracy. Finally, this research supported the role of enjoyment as the most significant determinant of citizen’s attitude toward using e-democracy.

This study is limited by its small sample size and newly developed Arabic instrument. Still, results imply that more research is needed to replicate and validate the instrument and support the role of the selected research constructs. Public institutions are required to make e-democracy applications enjoyable and easy to use. They also need to demonstrate its value to the public.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is one of the few studies to explore e-democracy and the first to conduct an empirical study (survey-based) in Jordan. The foundation of the study depended on three robust theories in the technology adoption theories.

Blockchain is an emerging digital technology proposed and trialled among different built environment professions. The technology has been proposed to introduce transparency, security and trust in property transactions. Despite this proposition, few studies have analysed the barriers and prospects in property valuation, especially in markets plagued by low transparency and a lack of stakeholder trust. Using Nigeria as a case study, this study assesses the barriers and prospects for adopting blockchain technology in property valuation.

Data was collected from 180 valuers practising in Nigeria through an online survey, and the data was analysed using mean score ranking and the chi-square (χ²) test of independence.

Firstly, there was a low awareness of the application of blockchain technology and an association between the number of valuation jobs executed annually and awareness of the application of blockchain technology. The most important barriers revolved around the knowledge, technical know-how of blockchain and the cost of implementing such technology. The prospects for blockchain are very high as all identified prospects were considered important, with transparency being the most crucial factor for its adoption, followed by the monitoring activities in real time and the permanence in storing records.

This study's implications lie in the potential benefit of transparency identified for blockchain, which could act as a tool to introduce transparency into valuation industries that battle key issues surrounding transparency and trust. Furthermore, this study can be utilised by policymakers and property industry players in mapping strategies to adopt the beneficial use of blockchain as one among the suite of proptech tools disrupting the property valuation scene, in their practice. This also presents an opportunity to draw upon insights from this study to better prepare for using blockchain in property valuation.

This study appears to be the first to empirically assess barriers and prospects for blockchain in property valuation practice. It contributes to the literature by identifying key factors that will deter and/or promote the application of blockchain, an emerging and disruptive digital technology.

This study aims to determine whether the relationship between the Muslim community and moneylenders is important even though the practice of moneylenders is clearly forbidden in Islam. This study examines a model consisting of two major theories, namely, the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and marketing theory, and the existence of the religiosity variable as a moderator.

This study uses a structural equation modeling (SEM); SEM was chosen because it has effectiveness in revealing estimates of direct and indirect effects and shows moderating values. Manual questionnaires were distributed to 385 Acehnese who use loan shark services.

The combination of TPB and marketing theory constructs has a significant influence on the intention to use loan shark services. Then, the existence of the word-of-mouth variable significantly mediates the relationship between service and subjective norms and the intention to use loan shark services. In fact, the position of the religiosity variable has a significant negative effect on the intention to use loan shark services, and in terms of the moderating effect, it has been demonstrated that religiosity weakens the relationships between the services provided by loan sharks and the intention to use loan shark services.

This study has several limitations. First, sampling is still limited and can still be expanded. Second, it is difficult to get data and there are people who refuse to be sampled. Third, this study succeeded in capturing the phenomenon of the behavioral intentions of people who have a religious spirit but are still associated with moneylenders.

This research provides material implications for the Aceh Government, especially in managing public funds. Indeed, Aceh is a productive province that has produced policies and regulations that encourage the Sharia economy; it is just that the use of social funds and Islamic philanthropy in Aceh has not been maximized, which has led to the growth of a network of moneylenders. Because of this, Aceh, which has been successful in producing the law for Islamic financial institutions, should also be successful in destroying the moneylender network by synergizing to create alternatives and financial solutions for the community, especially the lower and middle classes.

This research explains that the level of religiosity can dampen and reduce the intention to use loan shark services; therefore, it is important for the community to understand the dangerous impact of using loan shark services and expand the role of community leaders in socializing the idea of lending money to loan sharks.

Due to the lack of studies on the behavior of Muslims using the services of moneylenders, therefore, this study provides new knowledge of the literature on the economic behavior of Muslim communities who continue to use the services of moneylenders. This study develops TPB theory and marketing theory in one model and involves the religiosity variable as a moderator.

The study aims to determine the level of e-reading habits and preferred electronic reading materials among nursing college students. The study examines students’ problems and difficulties using electronic resources and their knowledge of electronic literacy. Over the recent years, worldwide interest in reading electronic books has skyrocketed.

This study uses a survey research design and a structured closed-ended questionnaire as the data collection instrument. The sample population consists of college students. The study uses a quantitative method to investigate this population’s e-reading habits and preferred electronic reading materials.

The study findings indicate that while students prefer electronic resources, they need help accessing them due to various factors such as cost and availability. The survey results show that libraries must subscribe to a broader range of electronic resources, and academics and publishers must promote open-access articles to address these limitations.

The study addresses a current issue of students’ reading habits and preferred electronic reading materials and examines the limitations they face in accessing these resources. This research concludes that 21st-century students have transitioned from traditional to digital reading habits. They have a preference for electronic resources but their access to these resources is limited.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the mediating effect of emotional exhaustion (EE) in between bundled high-performance human resource practices (HPHRPs) and intention to leave (ITL) in the education sector.

A survey questionnaire method was used to collect data from a sample of 514 teachers working in different professional colleges in Jammu and Kashmir (North India). Data were validated with CFA and SEM was used to test hypothesised relations.

The results show that bundled HPHRPs have greater impact on EE and ITL as compared to individual HPHRPs. Further, the study also confirmed that EE partially mediates the bundled HPHRPs and ITL relationship.

Future research need to explore same relationships in different sectors with longitudinal data at the multi-level approach.

Educational administration should focus on the bundled HPHRPs, which will benefit not only the teachers, but the students too. It should adopt relaxation techniques like mindfulness training approach, yoga and meditation. Further, to reduce their career-related confusions management should organise career awareness programmes.

The results from this study explored new and untested mechanism, i.e. EE as mediator between bundled HPHRPs and ITL relationship in the professional degree colleges in India, has not been previously researched.

Microcredit schemes fashioned after the Grameen Bank model are widely acclaimed for their potential for empowering the poor through access to credit based on social collateral. However, women market vendors in Ibadan refer to microcredit loans as owo komulelanta, a term which translates as “resting the breasts on a hot kerosene lantern,” a plain critique of the stringent conditions of loan repayment. This paper presents the lived experience of borrowers based upon ethnographic fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2019. It reflects on the Nigerian state's neoliberal policies of microfinance and the experience of women borrowers. The paper argues that social–emotional vulnerability of women borrowers is exacerbated by the acceptance of a loan due to the rigid system of repayment and harassment from providers.