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This paper aims to measure the severity, frequency and importance of the factors causing delays in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) construction industry following the Covid-19 pandemic onset. The study also measures the likelihood of the effects caused by these delays.

A mixed approach of both qualitative and quantitative. Literature review was conducted to extract 40 factors of delays and 10 effects of delays. A survey was then administered to construction professionals in the UAE to collect the perceptions on the severity and frequency of factors of the causes of delays using a Likert Scale of 1–5 where 1 represented very low and 5 represented very high. Similarly, the respondents were also asked to rate the likelihood of the occurrence of the effects of the delays based on a Likert scale of 1–5 as well. Furthermore, Spearman’s rank correlation was also conducted to compute the level of agreement between the different parties; owner, consultants and contractors.

The results revealed that the top five factors of delays include: award the project for the lowest bidder, delay in progress payment, change orders by the owner, poor subcontractor performance and inadequate planning and scheduling by the contractor. The findings of this study emphasize the financial challenges and economic crisis brought upon the construction industry due to the pandemic. Furthermore, the pandemic also shifted the perceptions of construction professionals, who are now more aware of the delays caused by awarding the project to the lowest bidder who would not have the required qualifications to conduct efficient planning and scheduling that are relevant in the case of extraordinary events such as Covid-19. Moreover, a high level of agreement between the consultants and contractors was observed, with a Spearman’s rank correlation of 0.804. Additionally, the most likely effects of delays concluded from this study were time overrun/extension and poor quality of work.

Literature review is very rich in the field of construction projects delays. However, there is very limited research on the impact of Covid-19 in the context of construction projects delays, and insights from construction professionals regarding this matter are particularly lacking in literature. Therefore, this paper bridges the gap in literature by providing perceptions of construction professionals on the impact of Covid-19 on the factors causing delays in the UAE construction industry. The findings of this research are expected to be an invaluable resource for future to help the construction industry heal faster when encountering similar epidemics or extraordinary events.

Padmanabhan A. 2017 “Civilian drones and India’s regulatory response”. Moushami P. Joshi and Jennifer E. Trock (2016) “India Moving Forward with Unmanned Aircraft Systems Regulations for Civil and Commercial Use” www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=6d596577-7a4a-4ecc-916e-83c4d37cc90c. www.indrones.com/2017/04/27/drone-industry-india/.Zeimpekis, Vasileios; Ichoua, Soumia; and Minis, Ioannis (2013), Humanitarian and Relief Logistics. Research Issues, Case Studies and Future Trends;Operations Research/Computer Sciences Interfaces Series. Springer Publications, www.springer.com/in/book/9781461470069.

The learning outcomes are to illustrate the concept and features of cost-effective and responsive supply chain, to explain the concept of hub and spoke and milk run methods used for delivery, to identify financial, operational and technological risks, to elaborate the importance of social dimension (behavioral dimension) in any technological change in an organization and to understand the concept of management of change in organizations.

The case deals with a typical challenge of periodical delivery systems, in this case specifically of The Topical, an Indian periodical. The service manager of the company, Sara Jindal, recognized a problem with customer retention. She explored the causes and found that The Topical, a 20-year-old company, was losing its popularity due to the untimely delivery of the magazines. To solve the problem Jindal, tried to gain an understanding of the operational processes and realized that there was no issue in the warehouse regarding inventory control, management or order pickup. However, she found that the magazines were parceled through book post and that there was no tracking policy in the company for the deliveries. Therefore, it was not possible to know whether the magazines got delivered on time. The matter was taken seriously and as a solution, the possibility of integrating drones into the delivery system came up.

Undergraduate and Postgraduate students.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics

The purpose of this paper is to explore the dynamic relationships among the essential knowledge management (KM) constructs, i.e. strategy, enablers and processes, and to establish their links to organizational performance using a holistic integrated model.

The structural equation modeling approach was used in the research study. The primary data were collected from IT managers in Indian software firms.

The study successfully tested an integrated KM model in an Indian scenario. The study found that the KM strategy, enablers and processes had a significant positive relationship with the organizational performance. An appropriately designed KM strategy significantly influenced the KM enablers and KM process. KM enablers nurtured in an organization positively impacted the KM process. Furthermore, the KM process partially mediated the relationship between the KM strategy and organizational performance, and partially mediated the relationship between KM enablers and organizational performance.

This study is one of the few to empirically establish how the essential KM constructs of strategy, enablers and processes together impact organizational performance.

The application of synthetic dyestuffs in the dyeing and printing industries has been criticized because of the introduction of contaminants into the environment. With time, the increasing international awareness of environment and ecology preservation has led to the industry’s attention towards natural dyes and their efficient usage compared to synthetic counterparts. Because the need for “Green” goods and services are rising public awareness, this paper aims to use a banana bio-resource waste to dye cotton fabric.

Factorial design with three variables, including parts of a banana plant, combination of alkalis and application temperature at three different levels, was studied to identify a significant correlation between the effect of these variables on the colour strength and fastnesses of the dyed cotton fabrics.

Dyeing samples achieved with various parts of banana are found to offer significant colour strength and a good wash and rub fastness. Experimental design analysis helped to formulate a standard workable dyeing recipe with the minimum use of resources exhibiting reasonably good wash and rub fastness.

This dyeing technique is novel and can be found useful for partially replacing synthetic dyes with natural colourants possessing good washing and rubbing fastness.

The application of indigo dyes in the denim industries has been criticised due to the introduction of non-renewable oxidation products into the environment. Previous studies have investigated that reducing sugars can be used as green alternatives to sodium dithionite in the indigo dyeing of cotton fabric owing to their reduced and stable redox potential in the dye bath. The purpose of this study was to dye denim cotton fabric with indigo dye using various reducing sugars and alkalis. The use of sucrose and potassium hydroxide (KOH) for indigo dyeing has been explored for the first time.

A mixed factorial design with four variables including alkali, pH, number of dips and type of reducing sugar at different levels was studied to identify a significant correlation between the effect of these variables on the colour strength and fastness properties of the dyeings.

Investigations were made to examine the significant factors and interactions of the selected responses in the eco-friendly dyeing method. This process has the potential to reduce the load of sulphite and sulphate generated in the dyebath due to the use of a conventional reducing agent, sodium dithionite. The colour strength of the dyeing reduced with fructose was found to be better than other reducing sugars and significantly influenced by the number of dips, pH levels and the interaction between pH and reducing sugars. Using fructose for indigo dyeing with two dips at a pH of 11.5, using KOH as an alkali, results in higher colour strength values. The fastness properties of the indigo-dyed sample with reducing sugars ranging from fair to good or good to excellent. Specifically, colour change receives a rating of grey scale 3–4, staining 4–5, dry rubbing 4 and light fastness 3–4. These assessments hold true across various factors such as the type of reducing sugar, alkali, pH and the number of dips. The optimised parameters leading to improved colour strength and fastness properties are also discussed.

This dyeing technique is novel and a green alternative to dithionite denim dyeing. This process is found to be useful for indigo dyeing of denim fabric leading to reduced and stable redox potential in the dyebath and acceptable colour strength of the dyed fabric.

Porosity is one of the most important properties of the textile substrate. It can influence the comfort of a garment by affecting its breathability and thermal conductivity. During the process of dyeing, the dye liquor comes in contact with the substrate; the absorption of the dye liquor into the substrate will be dependent on its porosity. The concept of porosity between the yarns of fabric is a common phenomenon; however, the porosity between the fibres in the yarn can also influence the dyeing behaviour of the fabric.

In this research, ring and rotor yarns of 25/s and 30/s counts are considered as textile substrates. The porosity of yarns was determined theoretically and experimentally using the image analysis method.

It was found that theoretical porosity is independent of the yarn manufacturing method. In addition, 30/s yarn was more porous as compared with 25/s yarn having a higher pore area. Rotor yarns had higher porosity, dye fixation and K/S as compared with ring yarns. Dyeing behaviour was also dependent on the count of yarn. Specifically, 30/s yarns have higher dye fixation as compared with 25/s yarns. However, 25/s yarns were dyed with deeper shades showing higher K/S values. Also, 25/s yarns are coarser than 30/s yarns having higher diameters and cross-sectional area, thus resulting in deeper shades and higher K/S values.

This novel technique is based on the comparative study of the porosity of various types of yarns using the image analysis technique. This investigation shows that the porosity between the fibres in the yarn can also influence the dyeing behaviour of the yarn.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the principal determinants of women’s employment in the manufacturing sector of Bangladesh using a firm-level panel data from the World Bank’s “Enterprise Survey” for the years 2007, 2011 and 2013. The paper sheds light on the demand-side factors, mainly firm-level characteristics, which also influence this decision.

The authors estimate a fractional logit model to model a dependent variable that is limited by zero from below and one from above.

The results indicate that firm size, whether medium or large, and firms’ export-oriented activities, have an important impact on women’s employment in the manufacturing sector in Bangladesh. Moreover, the authors find that women are significantly more likely to work in unskilled-labour-intensive industries within the manufacturing sector.

The research is limited to Bangladesh; however, much of the evidence presented here has implications that are relevant to policymakers in other developing countries.

The study identifies factors that affect female employment, that is, where the main constraints to increase female labour force participation. The study focuses on the demand-side factors, which has been somewhat neglected in recent years. As such, it has practical policy implications.

Focusing on female employment in Bangladesh also sheds light on the nexus between labour market opportunities and social change within a country that is characterised by extreme patriarchy, which has wide-reaching implications.

This is an original and comprehensive paper by the authors.

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

It is imperative that firms develop effective knowledge management (KM) systems in order to remain competitive in today’s challenging business environment. By focusing on the different KM constructs and the important associations between, organizations will become better placed to enhance overall performance.

The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

The purpose of this paper is to assess nurse’s knowledge and practice regarding basic life support (BLS) skills while working with SARS-CoV-2 patients in Jordanian hospitals.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 386 nurses with direct contact with SARS-CoV-2 patients at Jordanian hospitals. A self-administered structured questionnaire was used based on the American Heart Association (AHA) guidelines.

A total of 386 participants were recruited. The mean years of experience were 7.89 (SD = 5.97). About three quarters of participants revealed they deal with SARS-CoV-2 patients directly (n = 284, 73.6%). The total mean score of nurse’s knowledge was 4.44 (SD = 1.22), while the total mean score of practice was 8.44 (SD = 2.05). Independent t-test was used, which revealed a statistically significant difference between educational level and total score of nurse’s knowledge [t(386) = 0.215 and p = 0.001] and between training to deal with SARS-CoV-2 during BLS and total score of practice [t(386) = 2.66 and p = 0.008]. Pearson correlation discloses a positive correlation between the total score of knowledge and practice (r = 0.343 and p = 0.001).

In general, nurses revealed a moderate level of knowledge and practice of BLS skills. However, assessing nurse’s knowledge and practice during the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 plays a key role in identifying the gap in nurse’s knowledge and practice, and therefore, it will have an impact on providing high-quality BLS to save infected patients while providing maximum safety according to AHA guidelines.

This study is the first study that examined the level of knowledge and practice of BLS skills during SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in Jordan.

The purpose of the paper is to conduct a numerical and experimental investigation into the properties of nanofluids containing spherical nanoparticles of random sizes flowing through a porous medium. The study aims to understand how the thermophysical properties of the nanofluid are affected by factors such as nanoparticle volume fraction, permeability of the porous medium, and pore size. The paper provides insights into the behavior of nanofluids in complex environments and explores the impact of varying conditions on key properties such as thermal conductivity, density, viscosity, and specific heat. Ultimately, the research contributes to the broader understanding of nanofluid dynamics and has potential implications for engineering and industrial applications in porous media.

This paper investigates nanofluids with spherical nanoparticles in a porous medium, exploring thermal conductivity, density, specific heat, and dynamic viscosity. Studying three compositions, the analysis employs the classical Maxwell model and Koo and Kleinstreuer’s approach for thermal conductivity, considering particle shape and temperature effects. Density and specific heat are defined based on mass and volume ratios. Dynamic viscosity models, including Brinkman’s and Gherasim et al.'s, are discussed. Numerical simulations, implemented in Python using the Langevin model, yield results processed in Origin Pro. This research enhances understanding of nanofluid behavior, contributing valuable insights to porous media applications.

This study involves a numerical examination of nanofluid properties, featuring spherical nanoparticles of varying sizes suspended in a base fluid with known density, flowing through a porous medium. Experimental findings reveal a notable increase in thermal conductivity, density, and viscosity as the volume fraction of particles rises. Conversely, specific heat experiences a decrease with higher particle volume concentration.xD; xA; The influence of permeability and pore size on particle volume fraction variation is a key focus. Interestingly, while the permeability of the medium has a significant effect, it is observed that it increases with permeability. This underscores the role of the medium’s nature in altering the thermophysical properties of nanofluids.

This paper presents a novel numerical study on nanofluids with randomly sized spherical nanoparticles flowing in a porous medium. It explores the impact of porous medium properties on nanofluid thermophysical characteristics, emphasizing the significance of permeability and pore size. The inclusion of random nanoparticle sizes adds practical relevance. Contrasting trends are observed, where thermal conductivity, density, and viscosity increase with particle volume fraction, while specific heat decreases. These findings offer valuable insights for engineering applications, providing a deeper understanding of nanofluid behavior in porous environments and guiding the design of efficient systems in various industrial contexts.