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This chapter focuses on the heterogeneous pathways (including marital and cohabiting union and parenting histories) through which people navigate their family life courses from adolescence through mid-life, and their implications for union dissolution in middle and later life. The analyses draw on data (retrospective, cross-sectional) from the 2011 and 2017 Canadian General Social Surveys. The study sample includes individuals aged 50 and over (n = 14,547) who were in a union at age 50. Sequence analyses are used to identify the most common family life course trajectories among these individuals from adolescence through midlife (ages 15–50). Logistic regression analyses then address the implications of these trajectories for union dissolution in middle and later life (ages 50+). The results reveal four main family trajectories that characterize the earlier years of the adult life course: married with children, cohabiting with children, single or cohabiting without children, and married without children. These family trajectories, together with their level of complexity, play an important role in relation to both marital and cohabiting union dissolution outcomes in later life.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the reliability and structure function of refrigeration complex system consisted of four components in complex manner.

Although, a variety of methodologies have been used to assess the refrigeration system's reliability function that has proven to be effective, the universal generating function approach is the basis of this research study, which is used in the calculation of a domestic refrigeration system with four separate components that are related in series and parallel with a corresponding sample to form a complex machine.

In this paper, signature reliability of the refrigeration system has been evaluated with the universal generating function technique. There are four components present in the proposed system in complex (series and parallel) manner. The tail signature, signature, Barlow–Proschan index, expected lifetime and expected cost of independent identically distributed are all computed.

This is the first study of domestic refrigeration system to examine the signature reliability with the help of universal generating function techniques with various measures. Refrigeration systems are an essential process in industries and home applications as they perform cooling or the maintain temperature at the desired value. A cycle of refrigeration consists of four main components such as, heat exchange, compression and expansion with a refrigerant flowing through the units within the cycle.

This paper considers the brand awareness and anchor influence on consumers' live-streaming purchases, and explores the existence of “free-riding” behavior, the comparison of brand promotion effect and active live-streaming effect and the optimal strategic combination between the brand and the anchor. The authors investigate the evolutionary stabilization strategies of the bounded rational brand and anchor, and explore the conditions for the realization of the optimal strategy. Management suggestions for the development of live streaming commerce can be provided in this paper.

Two significant models are used in this paper. The Stackelberg model is used to study the “free-riding” behavior, the comparison of brand promotion effect and active live-streaming effect and the optimal strategic combination between the brand and the anchor. Using evolutionary game theory to get the evolutionary stable equilibrium strategies and analyze the binary equilibrium strategy of the bounded rational brand and anchor. In addition, relevant simulation analysis is conducted using realistic data to verify the conclusions and for further analysis, making the conclusions of the paper have realistic significance.

The study shows that “free-riding” behavior exists and the positive effect of brand promotion is greater than that of active live-streaming. The brand and the anchor take active actions as the optimal strategy. As the sensitivity coefficient of consumers to live-streaming effort and the sensitivity coefficient of consumers to brand promotion change, various evolutionary stabilization strategies will appear. When the two sensitivity coefficients are below a certain threshold, the game sides will reach the optimal strategic combination to obtain the maximum benefits. When they rise above this threshold, it is counterproductive instead. The system achieves the optimal strategic combination when the difference factor between effort cost and promotion cost must be higher than a certain value, but when it takes the smallest possible value, the game sides tend to take active actions. This study can provide management suggestions for the sustainable development of the live-streaming model.

This paper shows that under certain conditions, the brand and the anchor can evolve into the optimal strategy to maximize the profits of both parties, which has certain practical significance for the prosperous development of live streaming commerce. In future research, the authors will consider the regulatory role of the government and construct a more realistic game model to provide constructive suggestions for the sustainable prosperity of live streaming commerce. Meanwhile, there are also games between multiple brands and multiple anchors, as well as games among brands-anchors-the live streaming platforms, and the authors will conduct more in-depth research in the future.

So far, the co-impact of anchor influence and brand awareness has not been considered simultaneously in published articles. This paper provides theoretical guidance for the behavioral choices of the brand and the anchor under the live streaming commerce, which is conducive to the prosperous development of live streaming commerce.

Despite the vast potential of mobile phone use, grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with mobile phone use has attracted insufficient attention among scholars in Tanzania. The study examined factors influencing satisfaction with mobile phone use for accessing agricultural marketing information.

The study used a cross-sectional research design and a mixed research method. Structured questionnaire and focus group discussions were used to collect primary data from 400 sampled grape smallholder farmers. Data were analysed inferentially involving two-way analysis of variance, ordinal logistic regression and thematic analysis.

The findings indicate a statistically significant disparity in grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction across different types of agricultural marketing information. Grape smallholder farmers exhibited higher satisfaction levels concerning information on selling time compared to all other types of agricultural marketing information (price, buyers, quality and quantity). Factors influencing grape smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with mobile phone use were related to perceived usefulness, ease of use, experience and cost.

This study contributes to scientific knowledge by providing actionable insights for formulating unique strategies for smallholder farmers’ satisfaction with agricultural marketing information.

This study aims to examine the effect of the different forms of attitudes on the behavioural intentions to adopt solar energy technologies (SETs) in Uganda. Although commonly examined, the effect of attitudes on people’s behavioural intentions to adopt SETs ought to be more distinctively examined to have a clear picture of how each of the identified sets of attitudes influences the adoption of SETs.

Based on a sample of 360 households from three urban districts in Uganda sampled using a multi-stage sampling technique, data were collected using a self-administrated structured questionnaire. The data were then analysed using partial least square–structural equation model with SmartPLS 3.0 software.

The study establishes that more specific attitudes affect behavioural intentions to adopt SETs than general pro-technology attitudes. Results reveal that both pro-environment and application-specific attitudes matter for behaviour intentions to adopt SETs amongst households. However, the general pro-technology attitudes are not significantly associated with behavioural intentions to adopt SETs.

The results are important for producers and promoters of solar technology to craft appropriate promotion campaigns intended to increase the acceptance and usage of SETs. This means focussing on creating positive attitudes specific to particular applications and popularising specific uses of solar technologies.

The study provides an alternative approach to the general representation of the attitudes–intentions relationships by examining the differences in the attitudes developed towards the different aspects of these technologies as a substantial source of variations in adoption behaviour, which is rarely addressed.

There is a contradictive debate on factors influencing mobile phone usage awareness among scholars. This study aims to examine factors influencing mobile phone usage awareness for accessing agricultural marketing information.

A descriptive cross-sectional research design was used with 400 smallholder grape farmers. The use of structured questionnaires, focus group discussions and key informant interviews helped to collect primary data. Data analysis was subjected to descriptive, ordinal logistic regression and thematic approaches.

This study found that farmers were mostly aware of voice calls helping to access buyers and price information. Education, age and sex were the critical factors influencing mobile phone usage awareness among grape smallholder farmers.

This study contributes to scientific knowledge by providing an understanding of the perceived factors on mobile phone usage awareness within the grape subsector to inform policymakers.

The present study intends to highlight the issues and challenges pertinent to sanitation practices among urban slum women in India.

The primary qualitative data has been collected from 100 households sampled by stratified random and purposive sampling through in-depth interviews, and a structured interview schedule and themes were developed accordingly.

The main theme-based results of the study included the challenges of open defecation in slums, public toilets as an alternative, sanitation-related stress in slum women, compromised state of health of women and children, menstrual hygiene among women in slums and increasing burden on women in terms of water management. The study recommends the creation of toilets in every slum locality with maintenance and awareness to be raised.

Urban sanitation has received less research than rural sanitation. The present study focused on the issues of urban sanitation, which are often neglected. To ensure the study's uniqueness, researchers visited and mentioned each open defecation site to understand the situation.

The peer-review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-12-2022-0782

According to Global Healthcare Security Index 2021, India ranked 66 out of 195 countries, indicating the need and scope for improvement. The Cooperative healthcare system which has been rendering exemplary services is yet to gain visible recognition in India. Given the need for upgrading the health infrastructure in India and providing more affordable health services to the country’s growing population, it would help appreciate the large role that cooperative healthcare can play along with others. This study explores the structure, conduct, and performance of healthcare co-operatives in India, the factors contributing to their success and failure, and the challenges they face. The Health Cooperatives have a strong presence in Kerala and Karnataka and are also coming up in other parts of the country. However, a detailed database of them for public awareness is very limited. The cooperative hospitals can meet the basic requirements of curative treatment in rural and poorly-endowed urban areas. The democratic way in which they function makes them a destination for a financially weaker section. They must retain this feature. The study covers two successful cases which reveal that India needs a more dense healthcare cooperative network. Since cooperative hospitals in tune with the spirit of service run on the principle of being ‘Not-for-Profit’ they need to be supported by the governments more liberally, without however interfering with their governance and administration.

This research integrates maintenance planning and production scheduling from a green perspective to reduce the carbon footprint.

A mixed-integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model is developed to study the relation between production makespan, energy consumption, maintenance actions and footprint, i.e. service level and sustainability measures. The speed scaling technique is used to control energy consumption, the capping policy is used to control CO2 footprint and preventive maintenance (PM) is used to keep the machine working in healthy conditions.

It was found that ignoring maintenance activities increases the schedule makespan by more than 21.80%, the total maintenance time required to keep the machine healthy by up to 75.33% and the CO2 footprint by 15%.

The proposed optimization model can simultaneously be used for maintenance planning, job scheduling and footprint minimization. Furthermore, it can be extended to consider other maintenance activities and production configurations, e.g. flow shop or job shop scheduling.

Maintenance planning, production scheduling and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are intertwined in the industry. The proposed model enhances the performance of the maintenance and production systems. Furthermore, it shows the value of conducting maintenance activities on the machine's availability and CO2 footprint.

This work contributes to the literature by combining maintenance planning, single-machine scheduling and environmental aspects in an integrated MINLP model. In addition, the model considers several practical features, such as machine-aging rate, speed scaling technique to control emissions, minimal repair (MR) and PM.

Healthcare is indispensable for any civilisation to attain a good quality of life and well-being on both mental and physical levels. The healthcare domain primarily falls under pharma, medical, biotechnology, and nursing. Also, other fields may be aligned with these primary fields. Healthcare amasses the contemporary trends and knowledge of upcoming techniques to improve healthcare processes. The practitioners are primarily doctors, nurses, specialists and health professionals, hospital administrators, and health insurance.

It is a fundamental attribute needed for any society to attain good quality of life and well-being in mental and physical health. It is a fundamental right of people to receive good healthcare where drug treatment and hospitalization are available at a nominal cost, as a requirement of today’s modern era. There appears to be a significant disparity in the availability of good healthcare in rural areas compared to urban in India. Even though we enter the digital era with the facilities offered in Industry 4.0 and other advanced technologies brings about a significant change of overall processing within healthcare systems. During the pandemic of COVID-19, there has been digital transformation with success globally. Healthcare cooperatives are a new norm to support the healthcare systems globally. The chapter discusses Gampaha healthcare cooperative and reviews Ayushman Sahakar scheme in India. The reforms require time to evolve.