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This study aims to fabricate and investigate the tribological performance of ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE)-based composite materials reinforced with 0.5, 1 and 2 weight percentage of graphene nanoplatelets (GNPs) while keeping the weight percentage of vitamin C constant at 2% for each composite.

In this paper, the composites were fabricated using hot pressing, and the dispersion of GNP/vitamin C/UHMWPE hybrid composite was investigated by X-ray diffraction. Experimental trials were performed according to ASTM F732 on a reciprocating sliding tribometer (pin-on-disc) at human body temperature of 37 ± 1 °C, for a load of 52 N, to assess the role of these fillers on the tribological properties of UHMWPE against Ti6Al4V counter body material under dry and lubricating (human serum) environment.

In this study, it has been observed that friction and wear behavior of the developed composites improve with increase in weight percentage of GNP, and human serum adheres to the surface of the composite pins upon sliding, resulting in the formation of a film, which results in better wear resistance of the composite pins under human serum lubrication than dry sliding. Scanning electron microscope was used to investigate the worn surface morphological examination of the composite materials. Specific wear rate of 0.76 × 10⁻⁷ mm³/Nm was attained for 2 Wt.% GNP-filled composite under human serum lubrication.

The results indicate the compatibility of the composite material used in this study and suggested the in vitro implant application.

The presented work includes novel study of synergistic effect of GNP (which acts as a solid lubricant) and vitamin C (added as an antioxidant) on the tribological performance of UHMWPE under dry and human serum lubrication.

The purpose of this paper is to determine current and potential takaful customers’ perception of takaful product and its adoption in Somalia.

This study used three originally selected constructs of perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility and perceived complexity of diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory and adds three additional constructs of level of customer awareness, culture and perceived trust. A total of 427 questionnaires were collected from the participants of the study using a nonprobability convenience sampling technique. For data analysis, Smart PLS3 and SPSS software were used. The survey was conducted in Somalia, with respondents being current and potential takaful product’s customers. The DOI theoretical model was put to the test using structural equation modeling.

The findings showed that perceived relative advantage, perceived compatibility, awareness, perceived culture and perceived trust have a positive and significant influence, whereas perceived complexity has an insignificant influence on the adoption of takaful products.

This research is a pioneering attempt to investigate the determinants of current and potential takaful customers’ adoption by changing the DOI theory, and it presents a unique contribution to the field with regard to Somalia.

This study explores the countermeasures taken by retailers to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on supply chain disruptions.

This research uses a multiple case study approach and undertakes 36 semi-structured interviews with senior management of the four largest retailers of the United Arab Emirates. The respondents were designated at different positions such as Vice President, Director and Project Manager.

Results reveal that retailers are employing six countermeasures to mitigate the effects of COVID-19 on supply chains. Particularly, retailers are securing required demand, preserving cash flows, redirecting inventory, adding capacity to their distribution centres, becoming more flexible with their direct or third-party logistics provider and finally widening delivery options for their suppliers to mitigate the impact of COVID-19.

This study has some limitations. First, the results of this study cannot be generalized to a broader population as it attempts to build an initial theory. Second, this study uses a cross-sectional approach to explore the countermeasures employed by retailing firms to mitigate the effects of COVID-19.

A notable weakness in a supply chain disruption literature is an unfulfilled need for research examining the strategies employed by retailers to respond to/address the challenges posed by COVID-19. Our study fills this gap.

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the impact of psychological entitlement and perceived organizational justice on cyberloafing.

In this study, a cross-sectional research design based on a questionnaire method was used to collect the required data from a sample of 226 employees working at selected universities in the city of Isfahan, Iran. To test the research hypotheses, structural equation modeling was used.

According to the findings, psychological entitlement could have a significant impact on perceived organizational justice and consequently perceived organizational justice could significantly influence cyberloafing. Moreover, psychological entitlement could significantly influence cyberloafing and finally, psychological entitlement could have a significant effect on cyberloafing through perceived organizational justice.

This research provides valuable insight for studying the relationship among psychological entitlement, perceived organizational justice and cyberloafing.

This research aims to determine the levels of education quality (EQ), technology usage (TU), students' satisfaction (SS) and the impact of EQ on SS. Also, it seeks to find out how TU as a moderator affects EQ and SS in Pakistani private higher education institutions (HEIs).

A total of 440 postgraduate students at eleven private universities in Lahore, Punjab Province, Pakistan, participated in empirical research and data were obtained through the use of an online questionnaire. Simple random sampling was used to choose participants and partial least square structural equation modeling was employed to analyze the data.

The findings revealed that Pakistani private HEIs have a medium level of EQ, TU and SS. Furthermore, the data reveal the existence of a significant positive relationship between EQ and SS, whereas TU as a moderator was found to negatively affect EQ and SS.

Postgraduate students of private HEIs in Pakistan were considered for this investigation and this study was limited to testing only in Punjab province. Another limitation of this study is that it was based on a research framework from previous research and literature. This study employed questionnaire surveys to conduct evaluations of teachers' teaching quality by university students. Furthermore, the questionnaire employed student self-evaluations to assess the quality of teaching. The research data would be more detailed if it were possible to include teachers' self-evaluations of their teaching quality.

The current study provides key insights for policymakers, higher education commission and HEIs. The results suggest leveraging the identified medium levels of EQ, TU and student satisfaction in Pakistani private HEIs. In an effort to boost the medium levels, policymakers are encouraged to enhance the teaching and learning experience by robustly integrating Web 4.0 technologies. Institutions can intervene strategically by investing in infrastructure and innovative tools aligned with students' technological needs. Likewise, policymakers and institutions can optimize learning management systems (LMS) by developing and implementing policies that encourage their adoption and optimization across HEIs. This may contribute to the accomplishment of the United Nations' sustainable development goal of providing quality education. Moreover, with the help of this research HEIs can establish minimum quality standards regarding academic teaching and learning materials. Implementing the above-mentioned practical implications might boost student satisfaction in HEIs which would benefit not only students but also the institutions.

The novelty of the article lies in the fact that it addresses the gap in the existing literature by exploring the levels of EQ, TU and student satisfaction in the context of private higher education in Pakistan. Furthermore, this study investigated whether TU served as a moderator in the relationship between student satisfaction and UNESCO-recommended EQ. This study elaborates on EQ indicators recommended by UNESCO in Pakistan’s private higher education sector.

Analysis of relationship between energy and growth offers the sustainable energy pathway for a country’s sustainable economic development. This study aims to focus on the evaluation of the Pakistan’s energy system using long-run energy alternative planning (LEAP) modeling framework through different growth scenarios.

Principal component analysis has been adopted for indicators index formation. Study period of 1980 to 2030 is covered by forward and backward simulations in LEAP software.

The study reveals that current energy policy does not have the potential to lead the country toward a desired goal of economic sustainability.

In falling off scenario, negative growth rate (-5 per cent) assumption is also debatable; LEAP shows an error in the analysis and takes the last positive available value for any further analysis as a default. This case could have been simply omitted from results but for research contribution, the computations for this case are also reported.

Long-range energy alternative planning model has been applied to answer the corresponding question for simulation period of 1980 to 2030 to better compare the past trend and future expectations. Critical analysis of four selected scenarios (BAU, moderate, advanced and falling off) indicate that energy policy of Pakistan is poorly managed to maintain energy system’s effectiveness.

As far as statistical difference is concerned, early years have more fluctuation; however, from 2009, curve flattens for energy consumption and energy demand. The increasing demand of energy impacts the society and hence disturbs all sectors.

Policymakers have been so dragged off from the main route to sustainability, despite all odds there is a huge unexplored potential in the country for use to move in step with the world for a better tomorrow. The study educates the policymakers to comprehend the future energy scenarios and make rational decisions based on the study outcomes.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between electricity access, population growth and economic growth in Pakistan.

Phillips–Perron unit root test was applied to check the stationarity of the variables and an Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to co-integration was used to investigate the causality link between the study variables. Finally, a projection method was applied to check the future trend of the variables.

The study results show the long-term connections among the variables; further, the results illustrate that the electricity access to the urban population and the urban population growth has a significant impact on the economic growth, while the electricity access to the rural population and the rural population growth has a negative impact on the economic growth in Pakistan.

The electricity sector needs further attention from the Government of Pakistan to boost the production from different energy sources, such as oil, gas, solar, nuclear and hydropower to be able to fulfill the country’s growing demand.

By using the ARDL bounds testing approach to co-integration, this study addressed the literature gap regarding electricity access, population growth and economic growth in Pakistan.

This paper aims to examine the assumption used in previous studies that all Muslims adopt and believe the same law on the prohibition of bank interest and to investigate the indirect effect of religiosity on customers’ decision for using Islamic banking services.

This study uses an exploratory approach and the natural experimental design with seemingly causal models. A total of 363 questionnaires were distributed to three groups of bank customers, i.e. Islamic banks customers, conventional banks customers and customers of both banks (121 respondents in each group).

The results show that the role of religiosity in the customers’ decision for using the Islamic banking services depends on religious norms variable. Religiosity affects the decision of customers in the traditional group, but it does not have any effect for the contemporary group. Other findings suggest that religiosity indirectly affects the decision for using the Islamic banks through intervening variables of trust and information source.

This is the first paper to investigate the relationship between religiosity and customers’ decision for using the Islamic banking services by considering the religious norm variable. This paper also examines indirect affects of religiosity to the Islamic banks’ choice through intervening variables of trust and information source.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the significance of culture generally, and Arab culture in particular, for the development of trust in business-to-business (B2B) banking relationships.

Qualitative fieldwork was employed, gathering in-depth interview data from bankers and their business clients in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). In total, 80 relationships between bankers and business clients were investigated.

The development of trusting relationships between bankers and clients is affected by the cultural origins of the relationship partners. Strongly held religious beliefs, and loyalty to family, tribe and nation, lead to strong affect-based trust between bankers and clients from Arab culture. Cognitive-based trust is more characteristic of UAE banker/client relationships that involve partners from outside the Arab world.

The study was conducted in the UAE. Additional tests in other Arab countries would be valuable. The qualitative nature of the study means that statistical generalizations cannot be drawn.

The cultural origins of banking relationship managers are of considerable importance when seeking to develop relationships of trust with business banking clients in the Arab world.

This substantial, qualitative study of banker relationships with business clients throws considerable light on the importance of culture as an antecedent to trust in B2B banking relationships.