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There is an ever-increasing number of patients suffering from various forms of acute and chronic pain and getting treatment for such ailments is a basic human right. Opioid analgesics remain one way of managing and attending to such patients. However, due to the prevalence of opiophobia, many doctors avoid prescribing opioid-based medicines, even at the cost of patients suffering leading to a hindrance in providing optimal health care. Up till now, there has been no reliable and valid instrument to measure the severity of opiophobia in doctors. For this reason, the purpose of this study is to represent the construction of a precise and reliable instrument for measuring opiophobia along with its validation for doctors in Pakistan.

Interviews and theoretical knowledge relating to opiophobia were used as the basis for the purpose of generating an item pool. The generated item pool was evaluated by subject matter experts for content validity and inter-rater reliability, followed by Velicer’s minimum average partial method and maximum likelihood factor analysis for establishing the factorial structure of the scale. As opiophobia in doctors prevails the most and causes a lower ratio of prescription of opioid analgesics. The present sample selected for the study was that of n = 100 doctors (men = 50; women = 50) from various hospitals, treating patients with chronic pain, in Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

A two-factor structure was suggested by Velicer’s minimum average partial method and maximum likelihood factor analysis, which were labeled as fear of opioid analgesics and justified acceptance of opioids. The developed opiophobia questionnaire along with its subscales displayed appropriate levels of reliability α = 0.733, α = 0.760 and α = 0.725, respectively, suggesting the scale to be reliable.

Like any other study, this study also tried to address every essential aspect, but still lacked at some places which should be considered and catered for in future studies. In the first place the sample size was very limited which was due to the fact, the study was conducted during a pandemic and physically going for data collection was unavailable, thus leading to consequent sample size. It is recommended a correspondent study can be conducted with larger sample size, so they can get more reliable results with greater precision and power. Then, they will have the advantage of a small margin of error. The second limitation was the study involved only doctors as that was the main focus of the present study. However, other hospital staff such as nurses should also be incorporated to assess their level of opiophobia. The current scale suggests the severity of opiophobia with higher scores though no cutoff point has been suggested. Future studies should try and incorporate a cutoff point to assess the difference between doctors who have conventional levels of reservations against opioids and those suffering from opiophobia. Another limitation was that the present scale did not establish additional validities such as convergent and divergent validity. Future studies should collect data from a larger sample to establish these validities to further refine the scale.

This instrument can be immensely effective in identifying doctors who have concerns and fears about prescribing opioids to patients with chronic pain. The findings acquired on such a scale can help in developing appropriate academic and psychological interventions which can help such doctors to overcome their opiophobia. This can enable more doctors to prescribe appropriate medicine to their patients instead of letting them suffer from pain. Additionally, researchers can equally benefit from the instrument as it can enable them to investigate opiophobia with other possible variables.

Developing such a scale about the fear faced by doctors while treating patients would be very useful as it is not possible to take such fear when it comes to a patient’s life. This fear is also common among patients where they have a fear about the undesirable effects, addiction of drugs and fear of dying. Better awareness should be given to them which will be helpful for successful and less painful treatment in hospitals.

This scale is an original work with the aim of accessing opiophobia among doctors toward (chronic) patients with severe pain. There was a lot of research work that has been done on opiophobia in developed countries and few Pakistani researchers have also worked on opiophobia and its impact on pain management but still, no scale has been developed to measure the extent or tendency of opiophobia among doctors or patients. This scale can be used globally on both men and women doctors to access the tendency of opiophobia among them.

The use of three-dimensional virtual worlds (3DVWs) is increasingly becoming a common practice in language education to provide digital learning environments for second-language (L2) communicative classes. This study aimed to identify the key factors underlying communication in 3DVWs that can improve the communication skills of L2 learners.

To achieve this, exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) were conducted to validate the identified factors affecting communication in 3DVWs. A self-reported questionnaire with 47 items on a five-point Likert scale was administered to 513 pre-service teachers, teachers and lecturers in the field of language education.

The results of the EFA revealed four factors that contribute to communication in 3DVWs, namely learner motivation, interaction pattern, language development and learner autonomy. CFA results provided support for the updated model, with statistically significant Chi-square results (χ² (df = 83) = 181.049, p < 0.001) indicating a good fit between the model and the data.

The findings suggest that the four EFA-derived parameters are valid and can assist instructional designers and L2 instructors in creating 3DVWs that enhance L2 learners' communication abilities. This study provides valuable insights for educators, instructional designers and researchers in the field of language education and technology-enhanced learning.

This study aims to examine the effect of application architecture and application efficiency on the intention to continue using Islamic bank with data security as a moderator. The investigation was situated within the framework of a hacker attack that compromised the security of customer data at one of Indonesia’s largest Islamic bank.

A survey questionnaire method was used, and the sample population comprised users of Islamic bank in Indonesia. The respondents were then selected purposively with the criteria of individuals who were using mobile banking services. Furthermore, data collection in this study was carried out by distributing questionnaires online. To validate the questionnaire, consultation and validation were conducted by engaging four experts and conducting a pilot study. Hypothesis testing was performed using the structural equation modeling method based on partial least squares.

The results of the partial least square structural model assessment showed that application efficiency and data security positively influenced the intention to continue using Islamic bank, while application architecture had no effect. Furthermore, data security could not moderate the relationship between application architecture and efficiency toward the intention to continue using Islamic bank.

The results of this study suggested that Islamic banking practitioners must prioritize the enhancement of digital banking services, with a specific focus on improving application efficiency and ensuring robust data security. These two dimensions were critical determinants influencing the intention to continue using Islamic bank.

This study addressed the issue of data security as a moderator, particularly in the context of hacker attacks targeting a major Islamic bank in Indonesia. Furthermore, this current report expounded on the study conducted by Mir et al. (2022) by introducing novel dimensions to the e-service quality of internet banking.

During a pandemic, risk and uncertainty are the most important factors affecting consumer behavior. Near Eastern marketplaces are undergoing dramatic change during the COVID-19 global pandemic. As a result, this paper aims to investigate the impact of COVID-19 on food shopping habits in four countries of the Near East sub-region, namely, Lebanon, the Palestinian territories, Oman and Qatar.

The research is based on an online survey conducted on 1,456 subjects using a snowball sampling technique. The questionnaire consisted of 24 different questions (multiple-choice, one option) regarding the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic on food habits such as food shopping, preparation, eating and food waste.

The findings show that consumers’ shopping habits and food sourcing in the region changed due to the risk and uncertainty connected with the COVID-19 pandemic. Firstly, respondents decreased their shopping frequency and, as a result, increased the amount of food purchased each trip. Secondly, because of food safety concerns, respondents boosted their purchases of local products. Thirdly, the data revealed an increase in online food shopping, mainly in high-income countries, namely, Qatar and Oman. Fourthly, the findings revealed significant disparities in food stockpiling behavior across the countries investigated.

The major limitation of this study is the survey bias. The survey respondents were randomly hired. The questionnaire was completed by volunteers who were not rewarded. Only those motivated by a personal interest in the topic took part in the study. The sample had a high number of educated individuals, which does not represent the overall populations of the studied countries. In this case, generalizing the findings is inaccurate. A segment of the population with lower accessibility, such as individuals who are not web-literate, as well as the elderly, poor households and informal workers, especially in the Near East and North African (NENA) region, is often underrepresented in online surveys.

The findings provide insight into how consumers’ food shopping habits have changed due to the pandemic. This and other research will help governments and other organizations better prepare for future disasters and pandemics. The study’s results will also be useful in formulating evidence-based policies for the four countries studied and the NENA area as a whole throughout the post-pandemic recovery phase. The findings, for example, emphasized the necessity of encouraging online shopping by upgrading information and communication technology infrastructure and internet speed, particularly in middle-income and developing countries like Lebanon. Furthermore, in Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, the findings provide insights to international organizations (both humanitarian and development ones) to pay more attention to issues of food and nutrition security to avoid the financial and political crises combined with the COVID-19 health crisis, become a humanitarian crisis for locals as well as the hundreds of thousands of refugees (primarily Syrians in Lebanon). Finally, the pandemic’s long-term impact on food activities and food security must be mitigated by including agricultural and food systems in recovery efforts. Several issues are posing a threat to food systems. Addressing them successfully involves developing cross-disciplinary research that innovates at their intersections to provide different solutions that address the social, economic, technological and policy components of these issues.

The paper’s findings indicate that the pandemic’s consequences will most certainly differ from country to country, based not just on the epidemiologic condition but also, inter alia, on the level of pre-COVID socioeconomic development.

The purpose of this global study is to investigate the critical failure factors (CFFs) in the deployment of operational excellence (OPEX) programs as well as the key performance indicators (KPIs) that can be used to measure OPEX failures. The study also empirically analyzes various OPEX methodologies adopted by various organizations at a global level.

This global study utilized an online survey to collect data. The questionnaire was sent to 800 senior managers, resulting in 249 useful responses.

The study results suggest that Six Sigma is the most widely utilized across the OPEX methodologies, followed by Lean Six Sigma and Lean. Agile manufacturing is the least utilized OPEX methodology. The top four CFFs were poor project selection and prioritization, poor leadership, a lack of proper communication and resistance to change issues.

This study extends the current body of knowledge on OPEX by first delineating the CFFs for OPEX and identifying the differing effects of these CFFs across various organizational settings. Senior managers and OPEX professionals can use the findings to take remedial actions and improve the sustainability of OPEX initiatives in their respective organizations.

This study uniquely identifies critical factors leading to OPEX initiative failures, providing practical insights for industry professionals and academia and fostering a deeper understanding of potential pitfalls. The research highlights a distinctive focus on social and environmental performance metrics, urging a paradigm shift for sustained OPEX success and differentiating itself in addressing broader sustainability concerns. By recognizing the interconnectedness of 12 CFFs, the study offers a pioneering foundation for future research and the development of a comprehensive management theory on OPEX failures.

Although there are several established frameworks for health and safety in construction, there are inadequate health and safety conditions at informal construction sites, and no framework has been designed to address this problem. The purpose of this paper is to develop a validated framework for health and safety risk management (HSRM) in informal construction sites with the aim of supporting Sustainable Development Goals 3, 8 and 11 of the 2030 Agenda, which are to ensure everyone enjoys a healthy life and to create inclusive, secure, robust and sustainable cities and human settlements, respectively.

The study is based on HSRM questionnaire survey and interviews with construction workers working on informal construction sites in Tanzania. A total of 13 health and safety specialists in construction were specifically chosen to validate the proposed framework for HSRM in informal construction to determine its applicability, efficacy and adaptation.

The validation results demonstrated that all of the suggested metrics within the framework for HSRM in informal construction scored higher than the test value, proving the framework’s feasibility

This research adds to the body of knowledge on the issue in a never-before-seen setting. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first empirical study in Tanzania to develop and validate a framework for HSRM in informal construction.

The purpose of this research is to develop through a two-stage verification and validation process a novel implementation framework for collaborative BIM, utilising experts from academia and industry as well as a real-world case study project.

The aim of this research was to build upon previous research findings by the authors in order to develop an implementation framework that stems from ousting the inefficiencies of current collaborative BIM practices. This is achieved by a more objectified and quantified approach towards seeking heightened transparency and objectivism of what is required through the implementation of BIM. The mixed research methods technique of both qualitative and quantitative data collection was utilised, with the structure consisting of a two-stage approach utilising the Delphi model for verification and validation. This was developed to test the novelty and beneficial structure hypothesis involving 15 core BIM experts from academia, construction and design with c. 22 years average experience. Validation was undertaken on a complex, high value real world building structures project in central London, inclusive of 8 core project BIM experts. The research utilised a developed solution that mirrored and provided a more holistic representation guiding the practitioners as a project team step by step through the determination of underpinning elements, which support the goal of enhanced information requirements as well as executing the prioritisation measurement tools as part of the framework. Data ascertained at the workshop case study prioritised areas of importance that are core in supporting the delivering of these enhanced information requirements at a project delivery level, which were in order of prioritisation determined by the project team (1) constraints (39.17%), (2) stakeholder requirements (35.78%), (3) coordination (existing asset) (15.86%), (4) exchange requirements (5.38%) and (5) level of information need (3.81%). Furthermore, risk mitigations for the top three priorities were focussed on early stakeholder engagement, appropriation of survey data collection, focus on quality of outputs and applying toolsets and processes with meaning and emphasis on the defined high-level requirements.

Findings show that the framework and the developed solution translate the process methodology of the framework schema into a useable and beneficial tool that provides both qualitative and quantitative inputs and outputs. Furthermore, a collective agreement on the objectives, risk mitigations and assignment of tasks in order to achieve outcomes is presented, with evidence on numerical weightings and goal achievement.

Due to the impacts of COVID-19 on physical engagements both the verification (electronic survey questionnaire) and validation (case study project) were undertaken remotely, using available technologies and web interfaces.

The case study workshop was limited to one building structures project in central London of a value of c. £70 m design and build cost that the project team (participants) were actively engaged with.

The social impacts of this research has resulted in the review of existing systems, methods and approaches from a wider perspective of theoretical and applied environments, which led to the development of a novel approach and framework guided by an interactive and useable solution.

As shown within the core findings, experts across academia and industry (design and construction) confirmed that the framework methodology and application were 100% novel, and added a benefit to the existing collaborative BIM approach. Value added is that through objectifying, weighting/prioritizing and creating a discussion supported by qualitative and quantitative reasoning the focus on what collaborative BIM is to achieve is increased, and thus the likelihood of successful implementation.

To protect the environment and society, research on responsible behavior and personal values has increased. Values have been identified as important for understanding and predicting environmental preservation behaviors. The purpose of this study is to analyze the validity and reliability of the Environmental Portrait Value Questionnaire in the Spanish context.

The new version of this questionnaire was administered to 742 university students (46.4% male and 53.6% female) from 16 regions in Spain.

The results of adapting and testing the instrument’s psychometric properties were consistent with accepted criteria for validity and reliability. Therefore, this updated and contextualized instrument has the potential to contribute to academic advances in the sense of expanding the empirical practice of studying environmental values. Fifteen items from the original version were retained, grouped into four factors as in the original version: Altruistic – five items; Egoistic – four items; Biospheric – three items; and Hedonic – three items. The final version showed adequate fit indices and reliability measures.

This instrument is a powerful resource for the Spanish academic community because using this application it will be possible to assess the degree of commitment of young adults to the goals of sustainability and environmental protection.

Time and again, scholars have emphasized the vitality of mental toughness for success in performance-oriented contexts. Despite the awareness about the significance of mental toughness, there is ambiguity in the conceptual consensus of the factors that comprise of the construct in an organizational setup. Second, there is a dearth of a psychometrically sound measure that assesses mental toughness among employees.

The study follows a multi-method approach to develop a mental toughness questionnaire. First, to arrive at a consensus of the factors that construe mental toughness, a meta-ethnography was done. Subsequently, a measure of mental toughness was developed and tested following scale development norms.

Drawing from the results of qualitative inquiry, four factors of mental toughness were derived, namely, perseverance, control, challenge and commitment. Then, the scale development process was followed. Results of psychometric testing using three samples were above the acceptable range, justifying the use of developed scale for academic and professional purposes.

This study is a novel attempt in the literature to extract factors of mental toughness through meta-ethnography and consequently develop a scale.

This study aims to identify the suitable indicators and their scale for measuring the level of logistic halal implementation and then develops the measurement system based on those indicators and scales. Moreover, this research also applies the measurement system in food, beverage, and ingredient companies.

This study collected data through web-based closed questionnaires and short telephone interviews. This study succeeded in obtaining seven valid data sets from filling out validation and analytical hierarchy process questionnaires by a panel of experts. This study also obtained 97 valid data sets from filling out the questionnaire about the current condition of each indicator related to halal logistics (HL) implementation. Then, the framework for measuring HL implementation was designed based on the multi-attribute value theory approach.

The aggregate value of HL implementation in ingredient companies belongs to the excellent implementation category. In contrast, the aggregate value of HL implementation in food and beverage companies only belongs to the good implementation category. Then, according to the size of the company, the large-sized companies have the higher means of the aggregate value of HL implementation for preferred indicators than small- and medium-sized companies. However, all size companies belong to the good implementation category.

This research has several limitations. The preferred indicators are only measured by the Likert scales. Future research may benefit from inducing the qualitative approaches to measure the condition of each indicator better. Secondly, this research only consisted of 97 food, beverages and ingredients companies. Thirdly, this research only measured the HL implementations to a particular sector or industry. Future research could benefit from replicating the work in similar and dissimilar contexts, adding the sample size and comparing the level of HL implementation between Muslim and non-Muslim companies, and moreover, enhance the measurement of HL implementation by including consumers and other actors involved, such as the government.

This research provided a basis for helping the government and policymakers understand and evaluate non-performing indicators in HL implementation before formulating several actions.

Understanding the current HL implementation conditions could facilitate a more effective response in designing some appropriate alternative actions.

This research contributed to measuring HL implementation with a new indicator, a new scale and a new object in an empirical case of food, beverages and ingredient companies in Indonesia.