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This review aims to focus on recent reported research work on the construction and function of different electrochemical DNA biosensors. It also describes different sensing materials, chemistries of immobilization probes, conditions of hybridization and principles of transducing and amplification strategies.

The human disease-related mutated genes or DNA sequence detection at low cost can be verified by the electrochemical-based biosensor. A range of different chemistries is used by the DNA-based electrochemical biosensors, out of which the interactions of nanoscale material with recognition layer and a solid electrode surface are most interesting. A diversity of advancements has been made in the field of electrochemical detection.

Some important aspects are also highlighted in this review, which can contribute in the creation of successful biosensing devices in the future.

This paper provides an updated review of construction and sensing technologies in the field of biosensing.

Women entrepreneurs are considered here as a backbone of economic growth and development. This research is conducted to explain the role of microfinance banks in women's financial, socioeconomic, and political empowerment. The sample was gathered from the customers of microfinance banks operating in the specific areas of Sukkur, Pano Aqil, and Khairpur districts of Sindh province. Women perception about the microfinance bank was found to be positive as they give positive feedback about the banks. According to the findings, limited knowledge about business and financial matters make it highly challenging for women entrepreneurs to start and run business smoothly. However, most of the women are living separate with their husbands, and due to more children, women enjoy freedom of mobility.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review knowledge hiding (KH) behavior in higher education institutions (HEIs). KH is regarded as an unethical and antisocial behavior by many scholars, which should not be prevalent in HEIs.

A two-phase analysis through quantitative scientometric analysis and qualitative systematic literature review method through the preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (PRISMA) model was applied. In phase 1,174 articles were analyzed using the VOSviewer through co-word and co-citation analyses. In Phase 2, 20 related studies on KH in HEIs were qualitatively analyzed on the fundamental concept of KH. The main themes were determined based on current research findings, through the identification of relevant gaps in the context of higher education.

In Phase 1, co-word and co-citation analyses resulted in six and three clusters, respectively. Subsequently, in Phase 2, five themes were discovered: terminology of KH, scale of KH, cultural and geographical context, KH among academics and students and relevant theories. Further, discussion on the institutional factors of individuals, organizations, technology and culture is presented.

This review lays out a practical guide to facilitate HEIs in managing KH behavior among academics, employees, and students. Strategies can be planned and implemented to foster and inculcate knowledge sharing behavior to circulate knowledge while at the same time diminishing KH behavior in HEIs.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this study is the first to review KH behavior in the context of HEIs through quantitative and qualitative analysis.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review knowledge hiding (KH) behaviors in the team context. KH behavior is regarded as unethical and antisocial behavior, detrimental to team development and performance. The nature of its existence should not be allowed in team activities.

Applying a systematic literature review, this study investigated 39 related quantitative studies on KH behavior of employees in team and group contexts. This study discusses the fundamental concept of KH, analyzes current research findings, identifies relevant gaps in the team and group context and sheds light on future direction.

Findings observed that the KH phenomena had gained the interest of scholars since the year 2010. Five main research streams identified in this systematic review are role of leadership, team creativity and innovation, underlying theory, multilevel modeling and KH scale.

The value of this paper is subjected to the specific notion of KH in team background where knowledge sharing should have been promoted instead of KH. This systematic review serves as insight and recognition on the importance of mitigating KH in team. Existing current literature, future research work and trends of KH in the organization may benefit from this new and anticipated behavior within the knowledge management field.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this review is the first to review KH behavior in the team context.

The breakout of the COVID-19 pandemic has forced governments all over the globe to bring radical changes to all walks of life. Strict lockdowns are not only adversely affecting the social, economic, and psychological wellbeing of individuals but also questioning the sustainability of most businesses. In wake of the current scenario, this study is aimed at exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic is influencing the sustainability of entrepreneurship particularly from a female perspective and further providing insights into the role of Islamic financial institutions in the sustainability of businesses during COVID-19.

This is a qualitative study that takes social constructivism approach to study the underlying phenomenon. Semi-structured interviews are conducted to collect primary data. Secondary data are also utilized in this study to theoretically define various concepts relating to entrepreneurial sustainability. The application of thematic analysis revealed various risks associated with sustainability. The interviews reveal the ground realities and tell us about the hardships being faced by the entrepreneurs due to ongoing crises. The participants of the study also shed light on the role of Islamic financial institutions during the pandemic.

The study results revealed that it may look impossible for women entrepreneurs to halt or avoid the adverse consequences of the pandemic; however, a few female entrepreneurs strived to guard their existing portfolios with the help of Islamic microfinance institutions. Whereas, several women, especially those running home-based businesses, lost their income streams. Despite these rapid challenges, most female entrepreneurs are working on inventive online systems to sustain their business activities during the crisis. Finally, guidelines are suggested which can help achieve sustainability of the entrepreneurial startups.

The outcomes of this study are expedient for funding agencies, government authorities and Islamic financial institutions as well as for non-government institutions to establish sustainable and broader policies for women to become successful entrepreneurs during severe disasters like COVID-19. Moreover, the study is a helpful tool for women entrepreneurs to avert the worst impact of the pandemic with the help of Islamic microfinance institutions. The themes of this study help generate realistic information to appraise the strategies to create facilitating business environments that drive the women to carry out the entrepreneurial activity during any crisis like the COVID-19.

The results of this study provide evidence that crisis can be anticipated up to some extent if entrepreneurs become able to take proactive decisions in case of expected or identifiable threats. The study may also help the women entrepreneurs to comprehend the serious consequences of the pandemic by shifting their mode of financing to Islamic finance. Although this pandemic is a cause of physical discomfort instead this research may encourage the female entrepreneurs not to lose heart, just find the potential opportunities for their home-based and small businesses and manage funding from the Islamic microfinance institutions.

The study adds to the existing literature on entrepreneurial sustainability with a particular focus on the role of Islamic microfinance institutions for women entrepreneurs' sustainability in Pakistan. Secondly, the study employs the entrepreneurial sustainability model (ESM) that, according to the best of our knowledge, has not been used by the researchers earlier to study the given research phenomenon. Thirdly, the study findings are expedient for funding agencies, government authorities and financial institutions as well as for non-government institutions to establish sustainable and broader policies for women to become successful entrepreneurs during disasters like COVID-19.

This study examines the relationship between entrepreneurial passion, entrepreneurial support programs and entrepreneurial intention, and the moderating role of entrepreneurial support programs in the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention, among students with physical disabilities in Nigerian tertiary institutions.

This study used a closed-ended questionnaire survey, composed of previously validated scales, to sample 209 students with physical disabilities at tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Hierarchal regression was performed to assess the relationships between the variables and test the hypotheses.

Both entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial support programs were found to be significantly positively related to entrepreneurial intention, and entrepreneurial support programs also moderated the relationship between entrepreneurial passion and entrepreneurial intention.

This research paper identifies that developing entrepreneurial passion and providing accessible and inclusive entrepreneurial support programs are valuable in supporting and facilitating a passage into entrepreneurship for those with disabilities.

This research paper addresses calls for further understanding of how those with disabilities can be supported into entrepreneurship, by identifying supporting factors. The research paper provides further understanding of the entrepreneurial passion and intention nexus by exploring the relationship within those with a physical disability, where significant barriers exist and within a developing country context where entrepreneurship might be a necessity rather than driven by passion.

The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between knowledge-hiding behaviors (evasive hiding, playing dumb and rationalized hiding) and employees’ silence (defensive silence, relational silence and ineffectual silence). Besides, this paper investigates the relation mediated by psychological contract breach.

The data were collected with three-time lags (40 days each) through a structured questionnaire from 389 employees of registered software houses in Pakistan. The structural equation modeling (partial least squares) approach is used for data analysis.

The findings of this study confirm that knowledge-hiding behaviors have a significant and positive relationship with employees’ silence, and psychological contract breach significantly mediates the relationship between knowledge-hiding behaviors and employees’ silence.

The implications of this study are very supportive to the knowledge-intensive organizations, i.e. software houses. The management should increase the knowledge sharing and trust culture among employees to discourage the knowledge-hiding behaviors among employees. Moreover, supervisors should develop trust among employees, motivate them to avoid knowledge hiding and encourage the employees to raise their voices against their problems in a formal way.

The present study highlights the impact of different dimensions of knowledge hiding on employees’ silence and the role of psychological contract breach as a mediator in this scenario.

This paper aims to examine the association between political connections, political uncertainty and audit fees. The authors use various measures of political connections and uncertainty: political connections (civil and military), political events (elections) and a general measure of political stability (i.e. a world bank index).

The authors measure the association between political connections, political uncertainty and audit fees. Audit fees reflect auditors’ perceptions of risk. The authors examine auditors’ business risk, clients’ audit and business risk after controlling for the variables used in prior audit fee research.

Results indicate that civil-connected firms pay significantly higher audit fees than non-connected firms owing to the instability of civil-political connections. Military-connected firms pay significantly lower audit fees than non-connected firms owing to the stable form of government. Furthermore, considering high leverage as a measure of clients’ high audit risk and high return-on-assets (ROA) as a measure of clients’ lower business risk, the authors interact leverage and ROA with civil and military connections. The results reveal that these risks moderate the relationship between political connection and audit fees. Election risk is independent of risk associated with political connections. General political stability reinforces the theme that a stable government results in lower risks.

The authors combine cross-sectional measures of political uncertainty (civil or military connections) with time-dependent measures (general measures of political instability and elections).

The paper seeks to document attitudes and patterns of behavior in Pakistan's criminal justice system over the past 30 years.

A conceptual discussion and approach are taken following extensive interviews, conducted in 1992‐1993, with members of the police, judges, civil service bureaucrats, torture victims, psychiatrists, political detainees, criminal lawyers and others.

The patterns of behavior are longstanding and deeply rooted despite periodical changes in political leadership. Cynicism about law enforcement is widespread throughout the country and much crime goes unreported as a result. There is a lack of faith and support for police officials and legal safeguards for criminal suspects are often ignored.

The conditions in Pakistan's criminal justice system are explained theoretically with reference to the concept of hegemony in Pakistan's prevailing political culture.

The research analyzes the influence of three environmental triggers, i.e. awareness, concern and knowledge on environmental attachment and green motivation that affect tourists' pro-environmental behavior in the Pakistan’s tourism industry. Furthermore, this study has analyzed the moderating role of moral obligation concerning environmental attachment and green motivation on tourists' pro-environmental behavior.

Data were gathered via a structured questionnaire by 237 local (domestic) tourists of Pakistan. Furthermore, the data were examined by employing SmartPLS.

Findings demonstrate that all three environmental triggers have a positive and significant relationship with environmental attachment and green motivation. Accordingly, environmental attachment and green motivation promote tourists' pro-environmental behavior. Furthermore, the moderating role of moral obligations has also been incorporated in the study. The finding reveals a strong and positive relationship among environmental attachment and tourists' pro-environmental behaviors during high moral obligations. In contrast, moral obligations do not moderate association between green motivation and tourists' pro-environmental behavior. Therefore, competent authorities should facilitate tourists to adopt environmentally friendly practices; which will ultimately promote pro-environmental behavior.

This study provides useful insights regarding the role of tourism in fostering environmental attachment and green motivation that sequentially influence tourist pro-environmental behavior. Secondly, this research has employed moral obligations as a moderator to identify the changes in tourists’ pro-environmental behavior based on individuals' ethical considerations. Hence, the study provides an in-depth insight into tourists' behavior. Lastly, the present research offers effective strategies for the tourism sector and other competent authorities to increase green activities that can embed the importance of the environment among individuals.