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The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of two green leafy vegetables (Gongronema latifolium and Celosia argentea) on the hepatic biomarkers [Alanine Aminotransferase (ALT) and Aspartate Aminotransferase (AST)], cardiac biomarkers [Creatine Kinase (CK) and Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH)] and histopathology of the heart of high-fat diet-induced hyperlipidemic rats, with the aim of evaluating the vegetables as functional foods.

Experimental diets consisted of Control Diet (CD), High-Fat Diet (HFD), High-Fat Diet with Blanched Celosia argentea (HCB), High-Fat Diet with Unblanched Celosia argentea (HCU), High-Fat diet with Blanched Gongronema latifolium (HGB) and High-Fat Diet with Unblanched Gongronema latifolium (HGU). Seventy-five albino male rats (weighing 180–200 g) were used. The animals were divided into 15 groups of five albino rats each. Animals in Groups 1, 2 and 3 were fed with CD, HFD only and HFD with Atorvastin (5 mg/kg b.w), respectively. Animals in Groups 4, 5 and 6 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% HCB, respectively. Animals in Groups 7, 8 and 9 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% HCU, respectively, whereas animals in Groups 10, 11 and 12 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% HGB, respectively, and animals in Groups 13, 14 and 15 were fed with 5, 10 and 15% diet-inclusion of HGU, respectively.

The incorporation of the vegetal matter into the diet brought about a significant reduction (p = 0.05) in the activities of ALT, AST, CK and LDH when compared with HFD. However, the histological examination showed no pathological lesion, only at 15% inclusion of the vegetables.

The paper established that the incorporation of Celosia argentea and Gongronema latifolium into diet, most especially at 15% inclusion, may serve as functional food in the management of hyperlipidemia and associated complications.

The purpose of this research is to propose a new choice of nonnegative parameter t in Dai–Liao conjugate gradient method.

Conjugate gradient algorithms are used to solve both constrained monotone and general systems of nonlinear equations. This is made possible by combining the conjugate gradient method with the Newton method approach via acceleration parameter in order to present a derivative-free method.

A conjugate gradient method is presented by proposing a new Dai–Liao nonnegative parameter. Furthermore the proposed method is successfully applied to handle the application in motion control of the two joint planar robotic manipulators.

The proposed algorithm is a new approach that will not either submitted or publish somewhere.

The purpose of this paper is to conceptualize corporate entrepreneurial strategy using collaborative dynamics of contingency and agency theories, and to demonstrate how some constructs of these two theories are integrated to support long-term strategies of entrepreneurial firms in sustaining their competitive advantages and enhancing their performance.

Review of literature on strategic entrepreneurship, firm growth, contingency and agency theories were explored to support the conceptualized framework of the entrepreneurial strategy developed in this paper. The authors adopt a vignette approach to problematize theoretical gaps identified. The vignette was also used to embody the entrepreneurial strategy matrix developed.

This paper suggests that the effectiveness of corporate entrepreneurial strategies is influenced by the impacts of contingent environment and agency problem of goal conflicts. It provides some propositions for qualitative and empirical research that will extend the rigours of strategic entrepreneurship literature.

This paper highlights the implications of understanding and adopting diverse competitive and sustenance strategies. It provides avenues for entrepreneurial firms to take cognizance and use of the contingency and agency approaches to influence their long-term strategic directions to stay competitive. Institutional authorities will also benefit from having a conceptual reference and guide to further improve their entrepreneurship policies.

The authors took three novel steps to address the existing gap in the literature. First, the theories of entrepreneurship, contingency and agency were bound together and unified as a single framework to conceptualize entrepreneurial strategy. Second, the identified gaps were embodied in a vignette to problematize the theoretical issues and lastly, some testable propositions were put forward to explain different forms of entrepreneurial strategy. The authors also developed a corporate entrepreneurial strategy matrix based on the Covin and Miles (1999) forms of corporate entrepreneurship. It forms the basis for the propositions.

This paper aims to establish the effect of bank regulations on financial stability in Kenya. Specifically, the study seeks to uncover the effect of micro and macro prudential regulations on financial stability and their trade-offs or complementarities.

Using annual time series data over the period 1990–2017, the study uses structural equation model (SEM) estimation technique. This solves the problem of approximating measurement errors, using both latent constructs and indicator constructs.

Study findings reveal that macro and micro prudential regulations are significant drivers of financial stability. Further, prudential regulations are more effective when they complement each other.

This study centers on how bank regulations affect financial stability. Future research could be carried out on the effect of Non-Bank Financial Institutions regulations on financial system stability.

Complementing macro and micro prudential regulation is more effective and efficient in ensuring stability of the financial system other than letting the two policy objectives operate independently.

Regulatory authorities should introduce prudential regulations that would encourage innovations in the banking sector. This ensures easy deposit mobilization that enhances financial inclusion. Prudential regulations that ensure financial stability will be effective when low income earners are included in the financial system.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate the role of banking regulations on financial stability. This study is also pioneering in the use of SEM estimation technique, in examining how prudential regulations affect financial stability. Previous cross-country studies have focused on macro prudential regulations ignoring the importance of micro prudential regulations.

This paper aims to explore financial anxiety and generalized anxiety as the serial mediators linking perceived organizational support (POS) to career commitment.

Data were collected from 388 managerial and nonmanagerial employees in diverse service areas, such as restaurants, airlines and hotels in Turkey. The direct and mediating effects were tested via the PROCESS macro.

Financial anxiety partly mediates the impact of POS on career commitment. The findings further reveal that financial anxiety and generalized anxiety serially mediate the effect of POS on career commitment.

Management should work with mentors to provide employees with psychosocial support during the COVID-19 pandemic. When employees perceive that the firm really cares about them and values their contribution during these challenging days, they display lower anxiety and higher career commitment. Management should also retain employees who are high on career commitment because such employees possess a sense of calling and are unlikely to quit. These implications may not be considered new. However, management would need such employees concerning the firm’s performance recovery after COVID-19.

Workers in the service industries suffer from financial and generalized anxieties and display reduced career commitment during COVID-19. However, little is known about the antecedents and outcomes of financial anxiety among hospitality and tourism workers. More importantly, no empirical piece has tested these anxiety variables as the mediators linking POS to career commitment in the pertinent literature so far.

This study aims to examine how board gender diversity and foreign directors influence the sector-wise corporate philanthropic giving (donation) of Islamic banks in Bangladesh.

Unbalanced panel data were extracted from the annual reports of Islamic banks in Bangladesh over 11 years, from 2010 to 2020.

The findings indicate that gender diversity significantly improves corporate philanthropic giving for the education sector but insignificantly influences corporate philanthropic giving for health and humanitarian and disaster relief sectors. In contrast, the results show that foreign directors significantly and positively affect the banks' corporate philanthropic giving for the three sectors.

This paper used only secondary data extracted from the annual reports of Islamic banks in Bangladesh between 2010 and 2020. Besides, only three sectors of corporate social responsibility activities were considered. Hence, the findings could not be generalized, as the study used only data from one country.

The findings can be useful to policymakers and regulators to provide policies and regulations that ensure the appointment of women and foreign directors to boards that can competently promote Islamic banks' charitable donations.

Inducing Islamic banks to provide corporate donations for activities related to education, health and humanitarian and disaster relief can contribute directly to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) like SDG-3 (good health and well-being) and SDG-4 (quality education) and impliedly support attaining some indicators of SDG-1 (no poverty), SDG-2 (zero hunger) and SDG-10 (reduced inequality).

This study contributes to the literature by investigating how board gender diversity and foreign directors influence sector-wise corporate donations for the education, health and human and disaster relief sectors instead of aggregate donations studies concentrated by previous studies.

Disaster management and humanitarian logistics (HT) play crucial roles in large-scale events such as earthquakes, floods, hurricanes and tsunamis. Well-organized disaster response is crucial for effectively managing medical centres, staff allocation and casualty distribution during emergencies. To address this issue, this study aims to introduce a multi-objective stochastic programming model to enhance disaster preparedness and response, focusing on the critical first 72 h after earthquakes. The purpose is to optimize the allocation of resources, temporary medical centres and medical staff to save lives effectively.

This study uses stochastic programming-based dynamic modelling and a discrete-time Markov Chain to address uncertainty. The model considers potential road and hospital damage and distance limits and introduces an a-reliability level for untreated casualties. It divides the initial 72 h into four periods to capture earthquake dynamics.

Using a real case study in Istanbul’s Kartal district, the model’s effectiveness is demonstrated for earthquake scenarios. Key insights include optimal medical centre locations, required capacities, necessary medical staff and casualty allocation strategies, all vital for efficient disaster response within the critical first 72 h.

This study innovates by integrating stochastic programming and dynamic modelling to tackle post-disaster medical response. The use of a Markov Chain for uncertain health conditions and focus on the immediate aftermath of earthquakes offer practical value. By optimizing resource allocation amid uncertainties, the study contributes significantly to disaster management and HT research.

The purpose of this study is to dope silver (Ag) and fluorine (F) in zinc oxide (ZnO) for the enhancement of electrical and optical properties of ZnO, as previous studies reported the improvement of these properties using individual doping of F and Ag. In this paper, F and Ag co-doped ZnO nanorods were synthesized using a modified hydrothermal method.

The hydrothermal method was modified and used for the synthesis of the doped ZnO nanostructures, where stainless autoclave and oven were replaced with the Duran laboratory bottle and water boiler system in the process. The ultraviolet metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (PD) was fabricated using DC sputtering method.

Vertically aligned nanorods images were captured from field emission scanning electron microscopy. XPS analysis confirmed greater spin-orbital interaction in the F and Ag co-doped ZnO sample and revealed the presence of F, Ag, Zn and O in the samples, indicating a successful doping process. X-ray diffraction revealed a hexagonal wurtzite structure with enhanced crystal quality upon co-doping. The bandgap decreased from 3.19 to 3.14 eV upon co-doping because of reduced defects density in the sample. Finally, an ultra-violet PD was fabricated with enhanced sensitivity and response times upon co-doping.

The low-cost, less energy-consuming Duran laboratory bottle and water boiler system were used as the substitute of expensive, more energy-consuming stainless autoclave and oven in a hydrothermal method for synthesis of F and Ag co-doped ZnO and subsequent fabrication of PD.

Islamic banks, despite being Shariah-compliant, have long been criticized for mimicking conventional banks in terms of their products and processes (Khan, 2010; Kuran, 1996). However, several Islamic banks do engage in philanthropy (zakat and charity) and risk-sharing financing (mudarabah and musharakah) instruments that better meet their raison d'etre, the fulfillment of Maqasid al-Shariah (Jatmiko et al., 2023). These contracts, however, are more susceptible to moral hazard and adverse selection problems than traditional debt-based finance (Azmat et al., 2015) and may impair Islamic bank stability. This paper explores the relationship between social finance and the stability of Islamic banks, and whether institutional quality moderates this relationship.

Using hand-collected annual data on social finance from 12 Islamic banks in four countries: Bangladesh, Bahrain, Indonesia and Malaysia, between 2006 and 2019, the authors employ the feasible generalized least squares and the panel-corrected standard errors methods for the analysis. The Stata version 16 software was used to analyze the data for the study.

The results indicate that mudarabah and musharakah financing raises the stability of Islamic banks. The authors also found that mudarabah and musharakah expose Islamic banks to more risk-taking behavior amidst the conditioning effect of institutional quality. On the other hand, charity induces the stability of Islamic banks, while zakat increases the risk-taking behavior of the banks. Further, when the quality of institutions was used as a moderator, both zakat and charity induced the stability of Islamic banks. The results were robust when liquidity risk was used and partially robust when portfolio risks were employed as measures of stability.

One concern regarding the application of Islamic social finance is that it might be a risky strategy for Islamic banks. In terms of research implications, the available evidence suggests that the use of Islamic social finance instruments is not detrimental to the stability of Islamic banks. Hence, regulators and policymakers should not penalize Islamic banks for using Islamic social finance instruments that help provide financial solutions to the underserved and unserved. In terms of research limitations, the study could not include other relevant Islamic social finance instruments such as waqf and qard al-hassan. Furthermore, data availability restricts the analysis to only 12 Islamic banks in fourcountries. As more Islamic banks in different countries venture into Islamic social finance, and the quantity and quality of information improve, future studies could explore the issue further.

The available evidence suggests that the use of Islamic social finance instruments does not worsen the stability of Islamic banks. Given the dominance of sale- and lease-based contracts in Islamic financing (Aggarwal and Yousef, 2000; Šeho et al., 2020), these findings should encourage other Islamic banks to provide financial solutions using other Shariah-compliant contracts including those based on risk-sharing and philanthropy. This would be a better reflection of the Islamic banks’ value proposition as it helps boost social activities that have a high impact on the activities of small businesses, contributing to the real economy and promoting well-being in society.

Previous studies mainly relied on mudarabah, mushakarah and zakat separately as they relate to the performance of Islamic banks. This study explores the impact of social finance which includes charity and zakat to examine their impact on Islamic banks’ stability. Further, the authors use institutional quality as a moderating variable in the relationship between Islamic social finance instruments and the stability of Islamic banks.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-06-2022-0441