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The purpose of this paper is to optimize the design and power management control fuel cell/supercapacitor and fuel cell/battery hybrid electric vehicles and to provide a comparative study between the two configurations.

In hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs), the power flow control and the powertrain component sizing are strongly related and their design will significantly influence the vehicle performance, cost, efficiency and fuel economy. Hence, it is necessary to assess the power flow management strategy at the powertrain design stage in order to minimize component sizing, cost, and the vehicle fuel consumption for a given driving cycle. In this paper, the PSO algorithm is implemented to optimize the design and the power management control of fuel cell/supercapacitor (FC/SC) and fuel cell/battery (FC/B) HEVs for a given driving cycle. The powertrain and the proposed control strategy are designed and simulated by using MATLAB/Simulink. In addition, a comparative study of fuel cell/supercapacitor and fuel cell/battery HEVs is analyzed and investigated for adequately selecting of the appropriate HEV, which could be used in industrial applications.

The results have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly improve the hydrogen consumption in fuel cell hybrid electric vehicles (FCHEVs) by applying the PSO approach. Furthermore, by analyzing and comparing the results, the FC/SC HEV has slightly higher fuel economy than the FC/B HEV.

The addition of electrical energy storage such as supercapacitor or battery in fuel cell‐based vehicles has a great potential and a promising approach for future hybrid electric vehicles (HEV). This paper is mainly focused on the optimal design and power management control, which has significant influences on the vehicle performance. Therefore, this study presents a modified control strategy based on PSO algorithm (CSPSO) for optimizing the power sharing between sources and reducing the components sizing. Furthermore, an interleaved multiple‐input power converter (IMIPC) is proposed for fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle to reduce the input current/output voltage ripples and to reduce the size of the passive components with high efficiency compared to conventional boost converter. Meanwhile, the fuel economy is improved. Moreover, a comparative study of FC/SC and FC/B HEVs will be provided to investigate the benefits of hybridization with energy storage system (ESS).

The purpose of this paper is to analyze and simulate the control techniques that can be used to control the on-board conductive battery chargers (OCBCs) for electric vehicles applications. This paper also provides a comparative study of these control techniques.

Battery chargers would play an important role in the development of new battery electric vehicles (BEVs). The control techniques of these OCBCs can significantly influence the BEV performance during the charging mode from the ac grid. In addition, the proper selection of control systems of the OCBCs has a great impact on the power quality of the AC grid during the charging period. Therefore, this paper presents the analysis of different control techniques that are commonly used to control the battery chargers. In addition, a comparative study of different control techniques of the OCBCs for BEVs is provided.

The results have demonstrated that it is possible to significantly improve the efficiency, power factor and total harmonic distortion by using proportional-integral control and proportional-resonant control. The digital control can be used to validate the selected control technique.

The main objective of this paper is to analyze the different control methods that can be used to control the OCBCs during charging mode from the ac grid. In addition, this paper presents a comparative analysis between these control methods. In this paper, a digital control based on TMS320F2808 DSP is used to implement the proper control method for OCBCs.

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 purpose of this study is to inspect the corrosion inhibition of API N80 steel pipelines in uninhibited solution and inhibited with a synthesized surfactant compound [N-(3-(dimethyl octyl ammonio) propyl) palmitamide bromide] (DMDPP), which is prepared through a simple and applicable method.

Weight loss was inspected at five different temperatures of 25°C, 30°C, 40°C, 50°C and 60°C Potentiodynamic polarization, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and electrochemical frequency modulation were used at room temperature. Density functional theory was used to study the relation between the molecular structure and inhibition theoretically.

Adsorption of the prepared DMDPP fits the Langmuir isotherm model. The inhibition efficiency of the prepared DMDPP amphipathic inhibitor is directly proportional to temperature increase. Polarization results reveal that the investigated DMDPP amphipathic compound behaves as a mixed-type inhibitor. EIS spectra produced one individual capacitive loop.

The originality is the preparation of cationic surfactants through a simple method, which can be used as corrosion inhibitors in oil production. The synthesized inhibitors were prepared from low-price materials. The work studied the behavior of the synthesized surfactants in inhibiting the corrosion of the steel in an acidic medium. Electrochemical and theoretical studies were presented, besides gravimetric and surface examination.

The aim of this research is to examine the selection criteria of customers for Islamic home financing in the context of Pakistan and to examine these factors with respect to gender, age, income, and occupation.

This study uses a quantitative approach to investigate the choice criteria for Islamic home financing. All 18 independent variables are taken from previous research; for their analysis, descriptive statistics, independent sample t‐tests and ANOVA was used. Data were gathered from the customers of Islamic banking who use the services of Islamic home financing. The sample consists of 200 respondents. For the collection of data, a survey questionnaire with closed‐ended questions and a five‐point Likert scale was employed. The questionnaire was designed into two sections, one consisting of demographic information and the second relating to the selection criteria of Islamic home financing.

The results indicate that the shariah principle, fast and efficient services, price, bank reputation, and terms and conditions of product flexibility are the five most important factors considered by customers in choosing Islamic mortgages.

The limitations relate to the sample area for the study, which is confined to Lahore, and due to the limited sample size, the findings cannot be generalized. Second, only four banks are considered.

This study is beneficial for practitioners in Pakistan by offering insight into choice criteria for Islamic home financing. The results should also be useful for Islamic bank managers who are also policy makers, as they can study and plan for attractive schemes and policies for customers through which they can fulfill their needs and expectations. For the researcher, this study will also add to the existing body of knowledge by providing novel evidence on the selection criteria used for Islamic home financing.

This topic has never been examined in the context of Pakistan, so this study initiates the choice criteria for Islamic home financing among Pakistani banks' customers. The paper provides potentially useful information for both customers (in selecting Islamic banks) and bank managers to identify the factors needed to attract customers.

This paper aims to analyze the relationship between the following auditor's characteristics with detecting frauds in the listed companies on the Tehran Stock Exchange.

A multiple regression model is used to test the research hypothesis. The hypothesis was further tested with a sample of 187 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (1,309 observations) from 2012 to 2018 and by using multiple regression models based on panel data and the random-effects model.

The results suggest a positive and significant relationship between audit firms' size, auditor rotation, specialization in the industry, the audit market's focus, auditor's independence, audit report lag and renewal of financial statements with fraud detection. The results revealed a significant relationship between the period of auditor tenure, auditor's narcissism, audit fees and the type of auditors' opinion (un-qualified opinion) with fraud detection.

As the present study is a pioneer in examining this issue in the emerging markets, it provides users, analysts and legal entities with useful information about auditor characteristics that significantly affect the fraud detection of financial statements. The results mitigate the literature gap and improve knowledge in this area.

Islamic banking is an increasingly important factor in the UK financial environment. With Islamic banks entering the industry in significant numbers – and competing directly with the incumbent “conventional” ones – the question of selection criteria of the banks' customers is of obvious interest. The purpose of this paper is to study the decision‐making process of a sample of UK customers and the factors that may influence them.

The paper uses a sample of 156 UK questionnaire respondents, comprising Muslim and non‐Muslim bank customers alike. The methodological approach is partly borrowed from Masood et al. with the chosen questions aimed at finding out what drives the selection process of bank customers.

The paper's major findings show that, irrespective of the demographic features and the religion of the respondents, the criterion “low services charges” is the top customers' criteria. The Islamic nature of the bank is, however, placed second, pointing to the importance of religious orientation.

The major limitation of the paper relates to the size of the sample of respondents. The findings of the paper are likely to be of interest to UK banks determining how best to attract customers in the new era. Future research may usefully focus on an international comparison of bank selection criteria by employing an index of religiosity.

The paper is of particular value because it focuses on the choice of banking in the context of the recent significant growth in the Islamic banking industry in the UK.

The integration of building information modelling (BIM) and integrated project delivery (IPD) is highly recommended for better project delivery. Although there is a methodology for this integration, the BIM requires some improvements to foster the adoption of IPD. The purpose of this paper is to present an innovative way to support 4D BIM automation/optimisation within the IPD approach. Similar to structural and architectural design libraries, this research proposes a planning library to enable automating the formulation of schedule, as well as embedding the multi-objective optimisation into the 4D BIM.

The literature review was used to highlight the existing attempts to support the automation process for 4D BIM and the multi-objective schedule optimisation for construction projects. A case study was done to validate the developed framework and measure its applicability.

The results show that there is a cost-saving of 22.86 per cent because of using the proposed automated multi-objective optimisation. The case study shows the significance of integrating activity-based costing into 4D BIM to configure the hierarchy level of overhead activities with the IPD approach; therefore, the maximum level of contribution in managing the IPD project is 33.33 per cent by the trade package level and the minimum contribution is around 8.33 per cent by the project level.

This research presents a new philosophy to develop the 4D BIM model – planning and scheduling – a BIM library of the project activities is developed to enable the automation of the creation of the project schedule with respect to the 3D BIM design sequence. The optimisation of the project duration is considered to be automated within the creation process by using the proposed genetic algorithm model.

The purpose of the paper was to investigate the use of aqueous extract of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) leaf as a green inhibitor for corrosion of carbon steel in 1M hydrochloric acid (HCl) solution.

Extracts from the date palm were used as the main component of an environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitor for use in HCl pickling processes. Inhibition behavior on carbon steel in HCl was investigated using weight loss measurements, linear and potentiodynamic polarization curves, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

The results show that the extract exhibited good inhibition performance in 1M HCl. The inhibition efficiency increased with increase in the concentration of the inhibitor but decreased with increase in temperature. Inhibition efficiency also was found to increase as immersion time increased. The inhibitive action was due to adsorption of the date palm leaf components on the steel, which was consistent with the Langmuir isotherm.

Date palm leaf extract (DPLE) is an effective inhibitor at room temperature and can be used to protect plain carbon steel from corrosion in HCl solution.

This study provides new information on the inhibiting characteristics of DPLE under specified conditions. The environmentally friendly inhibitor could find possible applications in metal surface anodizing and acid pickling processes.

The purpose of this paper is to explain three additional parameters, namely maqasid al‐Shariah, financial reporting, and legal documentation of contract for determining Shariah legitimacy of financial instruments in Islamic financial institutions. Currently, contract ('aqd) is the only parameter recognized by Shariah scholars at the supervisory level.

This analysis begins with examining the pitfalls of the contract approach and proceeds to present the maqasid, financial reporting and legal documentation approaches in ascertaining absolute Shariah compliant of financial products.

The paper argues that the four approaches must be applied in package in determining Shariah compliant status to avoid costly errors that might lead to litigations and loss of competitiveness in the Islamic financing business.

The paper provides new insights and integrated analysis of Shariah auditing where knowledge clusters concerning the Shariah, economics, finance and accountancy, and law are algamated to ascertain wholesome Shariah viewpoint.