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The purpose of this paper is to develop some interesting results in the field of chaotic synchronization with a new finite-time controller to reduce the time of convergence.

This article proposes a finite-time controller for the synchronization of hyper(chaotic) systems in a given time. The chaotic systems are perturbed by the model uncertainties and external disturbances. The designed controller achieves finite-time synchronization convergence to the steady-state error without oscillation and elimination of the nonlinear terms from the closed-loop system. The finite-time synchronization convergence reduces the hacking duration and recovers the embedded message in chaotic signals within a given preassigned limited time. The free oscillation convergence keeps the energy consumption low and alleviates failure chances of the actuator. The proposed finite-time controller is a combination of linear and nonlinear parts. The linear part keeps the stability of the closed-loop, the nonlinear part increases the rate of convergence to the origin. A generalized form of analytical stability proof is derived for the synchronization of chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems. The simulation results provide the validation of the accomplish synchronization for the Lu chaotic and hyper-chaotic systems.

The designed controller not only reduces the time of convergence without oscillation of the trajectories which can run the system for a given time domain.

This work is originally written by the author.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the current construction progress monitoring (CPM) process in relation to the contractual obligations, how project management teams carry out this activity in the field and why teams continue to adopt the current method. The study aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current monitoring process and its effectiveness, identify any shortcomings and propose recommendations for improvements that can lead to better project outcomes.

The study conducted semi-structured interviews with 28 construction management practitioners to explore their views on contractual requirements, traditional progress monitoring practices and advanced monitoring methods. Thematic analysis was used to identify existing processes, practices and incentives for advanced monitoring.

Standard construction contracts mandate current progress monitoring practices, which often rely on manual, document-centric and labor-intensive methods, leading to slow and erroneous progress reporting and project delays. Key barriers to adopting advanced tools include rigid contractual clauses, lack of incentives and the absence of reliable automated tools. A holistic automated approach that covers the entire CPM process, from planning to claim management, is needed as a viable alternative to traditional practices.

The study's findings can inform researchers, stakeholders and decision-makers about the existing monitoring practices and contribute to enhancing project management practices.

The study identified contractually mandated progress monitoring processes, traditional methods of collecting, transferring, analyzing and dispensing progress-related information and potential incentives and points of departure towards technologically advanced methods.

The research intended to identify the impact of employee exploitation on knowledge-sharing behavior and withdrawal, not in isolation, but by taking psychological ownership and psychological detachment as mediating variables. Moreover, the research aims to identify optimism’s moderating role concerning employee exploitation and psychological ownership. The research aims to suggest the management implementation of the human-centric business process and, subsequently, management to obtain maximum output from employees.

Positivism research philosophy followed by a deductive approach is adopted to meet the objectives of the current study. Survey techniques with a self-administrated questionnaire were used to collect data from employees working in public sector organizations. Moreover, 255 employees with the highest qualification were shortlisted to capture the variables’ impact. Data analysis was done by using SEM-AMOS approaches and obtained structural and path models to test the formulated hypotheses.

Results suggested that employee exploitation has a significant relationship with withdrawal, and psychological detachment mediates the relationship. The other path suggested the insignificant role of optimism as a moderator in the relationship between employee exploitation and psychological empowerment. However, psychological empowerment fully mediates the relationship between employee exploitation and knowledge-sharing behavior.

A plethora of research is available on employee exploitation; however, the current research is first to capture both positive and negative paths in public sector organizations. It provides clear insights for managers to reformulate and reanalyze their organizational policies to get employees' positive attitudinal and behavioural outcomes.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has affected the global economy and, thus, the global construction industry. This paper aims to study the impact of COVID-19 on construction project performance in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

This study adopted a qualitative and exploratory approach to investigate the impact of COVID-19 and its policies on project performance in the UAE construction industry in critical areas of the project management body of knowledge (e.g. schedule, cost, resources and contracts). Semi-structured interview questions were asked from ten construction professional to obtain valuable insights into the pandemic’s effects on the UAE construction industry and the effectiveness of policies implemented to rectify the damage and identify the industry’s new normal.

The findings indicate that the construction industry faced several challenges such as schedule delays, disrupted cashflows, delayed permits, approvals and inspections, travel restrictions, serious health and safety concerns, material and equipment shortages, among others which hindered the timely delivery of construction projects. It also indicates that efforts made by the government institutions and the construction industry of the UAE such as economic support programs, digitization of processes, fee and fine waivers, health facilities, among other statutory relaxations proved effective in supporting the construction industry against the adverse effects of the pandemic.

The research findings are limited to the literature review and ten semi-structured interviews seeking an expert’s opinion from industry professionals working in the UAE construction industry. The research team did not get access to project documents, contracts and project progress reports which may be required to validate the interview findings, and to perform an in-depth analysis quantifying the impact of COVID 19 on construction projects performance, which is a limitation of this research.

The implication is that, owing to the imposed lockdowns and strict precautionary measures to curb the rapid spread of the pandemic, smooth execution of the construction project across the country was affected. The government institutions and stakeholders of the construction projects introduced and implemented various techniques and solutions which effectively handled the implications of the COVID-19 pandemic on the construction industry of the UAE.

This study has identified the challenges faced by the construction industry of the UAE in the context of the management of project schedule, project cost, construction contracts, health and safety of construction employees and other related aspects of the construction projects. This study also identified the techniques and solutions adopted by various public and private institutions of the country and their implications on construction projects. Therefore, this study provides guidelines for policymakers and future research studies alike.

This study aims to explore the impact of monetary policy on house prices in Pakistan.

This study uses monthly time-series data of house prices, monetary policy, inflation and stock market index ranging from January 2011 to December 2016. All the series were checked for stationarity by using augmented Dickey–Fuller test, and lag length of 11 was decided on the basis of Schwert’z rule of thumb. Vector autoregressive (VAR) model was used because the series were not co-integrated.

The analysis revealed that monetary policy significantly affects house prices in Pakistan. Tight monetary policy results in lower house prices and vice versa. The relationship between monetary policy and house prices is unidirectional. The study also finds that higher inflation also leads to soaring house prices, but the variation in stock market index does not affect house prices.

To the best of authors’ knowledge, none of the existing studies explores the impact of monetary policy on house prices in Pakistan. The findings help investors and policy makers to understand the relationship between monetary policy and house prices to make better decisions.

purpose of this study is to present a Lean Readiness Assessment Model (LRAM) for assessing the readiness of Humanitarian Organizations (HO) for adopting Lean Management (LM) (Johanson et al.) practices. Literature reveals that implementation of LM itself is a cost and most organizations have failed to adopt LM techniques due to a non-readiness status and a non-supportive organizational culture. This situation indicates that the assessment of organizations' readiness before implementation of lean techniques is necessary.

This was an empirical quantitative study. Based on a synthesis of the literature, a conceptual model was developed by identifying seven critical success factors (CSFs). The CSFs were validated by HO professionals via a questionnaire-based survey. The data from the responses were analysed by applying partial least square structured equation modelling (PLS-SEM) using the SmartPLS3 software.

A proven LRAM was constructed that consists of CSFs (independent and mediating variables), which have reflected positive coefficients and significant t >1.96 and p < 0.05 values. The CSFs that are significant include process management, planning and control management, customer relationship management, human resource management, communication and coordination management and a positive organizational culture. The CSFs of supplier relationship and top management and leadership had insignificant t and p values and were dropped from the final LRAM.

This is a unique and rare study in its nature which developed LRAM for HO sector. The contribution of this model is to improve the efficiency and sustainability (economic and social aspects) of an HO under scarce resource conditions.

Customer reviews of mobile banking (m-banking) apps contain the most direct and first-hand accounts of customer experiences with m-banking. However, surprisingly little effort has been made to understand m-banking service quality using these reviews. Therefore, this study aims to discover m-banking service quality dimensions from customers' reviews of the m-banking apps through a text mining approach.

Reviews of m-banking apps of 24 banks operating in Pakistan were scraped from Google Play Store. Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) method was applied to discover the dimensions of m-banking service quality from 24,529 positive and 29,569 negative useable reviews.

Different dimensions of m-banking service quality are discussed in positive and negative reviews. Positive reviews focus on security, convenience, ease of use, continuous improvement, usefulness and app attributes, whereas negative reviews discuss system availability, responsiveness, faulty updates, login problems and reliability.

The results are based only on customer reviews in one country and generalization may not be possible. Moreover, due to the unavailability of demographic information about reviewers, the effect of demographic characteristics on users' perceptions of m-banking quality could not be determined.

The study provides managers with useful insights to improve the service experience of m-banking customers. The study also demonstrates how managers can employ text analytical techniques to assess and improve the quality of m-banking services.

In addition to enriching the understanding of m-banking quality based on direct and first-hand user experiences, the current study also provides initial evidence for the two-factor structure of m-banking service quality.

The cowpea plant, being affordable and protein‐rich, is considered poor man's meat. The aim of this paper is to undertake a detailed investigation regarding in vitro total antioxidant capacity (TAC) and chemical constituents of the vegetable oils from seeds of this plant, taking its nutritional value into consideration.

Vegetable oils of different indigenous cowpea varieties were obtained using soxhelt extraction assembly and subjected to GC‐MS analyses and various antioxidant assays including 2,2′‐azinobis(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulpohonic acid) (ABTS) radical cation scavenging, ferr, 2.2′‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazil (DPPH) radical scavenging, total phenolic contents (TPC), lipid peroxidation inhibition, and iron chelation activity.

Various chemical constituents including different hydrocarbons, tocopherols, ketones, fatty esters, estragole and cedrene were identified. TPCs were found to be 5.439, 5.7279, 7.6126, 6.7573 and 10.0591 mg/L gallic acid equivalent for S.A. Dandy, Elite, White Star, CP‐386 and FBD Rawan varieties, respectively. Employing ABTS radical decoloration assay a significant linear correlation (R²=0.997, 0.996, 0.997, 0.996 and 0.997 for S.A. Dandy, Elite, White Star, CP‐386 and FBD Rawan varieties, respectively) was found between the percent inhibition of ABTS radical cation and the amount of vegetable oils. The percent inhibition of the Fe(II)‐Ferrozine complex formation was found to be 29.45, 53.76, 82.91, 86.59 and 57.87 for the same varieties, respectively.

GC‐MS and standard in vitro antioxidative capacity analyses data clearly demonstrated the potency of the cowpea as antioxidant and radical scavenger plant which may be used as a good source of natural antioxidants. The plant seeds may prove a better and cost‐effective substitute of expensive food items.