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This study aims to examine the associations between socioeconomic status, types of rigging (pre- polling-day and post-), politics and voting behavior, vote casting and perceptions of rigging in Pakistan’s most recent elections, and attitudes toward electoral integrity.

Data were collected from students at three different universities. In all, 748 units of analysis (488 male and 260 female) recorded their responses by means of a self-structured questionnaire. Linear regression was applied to measure the associations between variables, and the reliability and validity of the scales were tested.

A significant relationship was found between pre-poll rigging, post-poll rigging, politics and voting behavior, socioeconomic characteristics (i.e. age, education, father’s education, background or place of residence and monthly household incomes), the perception of rigging in the last elections and attitudes toward electoral integrity.

Pakistan’s history has been blemished by electoral malpractices during both de facto and de jure regimes. Attention has formerly been paid to either polling-day or post-election rigging. The relationship of electoral integrity with different factors explored in this study have usually been ignored or overlooked. The findings of this study would help policy-makers, youth experts and academicians to reorient their behaviors to strengthen political stability, the rule of law and the continuation of democracy via their participation in the system.

To the researchers’ best knowledge, there has not been a single peer-reviewed study of Pakistan which has explored the associations between the variables examined for this study. The main academic challenge the researchers faced was to find a standardized and contextualized scale or tool to explore how different types of vote-rigging affected attitudes toward electoral integrity. Thus, the structured scales for types of rigging and electoral integrity developed here would be useful for future studies in the field of electoral integrity in democratic countries.

Self-localization of an underwater robot using global positioning sensor and other radio positioning systems is not possible, as an alternative onboard sensor-based self-location estimation provides another possible solution. However, the dynamic and unstructured nature of the sea environment and highly noise effected sensory information makes the underwater robot self-localization a challenging research topic. The state-of-art multi-sensor fusion algorithms are deficient in dealing of multi-sensor data, e.g. Kalman filter cannot deal with non-Gaussian noise, while parametric filter such as Monte Carlo localization has high computational cost. An optimal fusion policy with low computational cost is an important research question for underwater robot localization.

In this paper, the authors proposed a novel predictive coding-biased competition/divisive input modulation (PC/BC-DIM) neural network-based multi-sensor fusion approach, which has the capability to fuse and approximate noisy sensory information in an optimal way.

Results of low mean localization error (i.e. 1.2704 m) and computation cost (i.e. 2.2 ms) show that the proposed method performs better than existing previous techniques in such dynamic and unstructured environments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work provides a novel multisensory fusion approach to overcome the existing problems of non-Gaussian noise removal, higher self-localization estimation accuracy and reduced computational cost.

This study investigated the role of brand experience dimensions (behavioral, intellectual, sensory and affective) to predict consumer loyalty (repurchase intention (RPI), word of mouth (WOM) and willingness to pay more (WPM)) through the mediating role of perceived brand authenticity (PBA) in the global branding context.

A total of 422 consumers participated in this study and provided feedback on top authentic global brands after completing a self-administered online survey. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to conduct the data analysis.

This study discovered that brand experience dimensions positively influenced PBA (predominantly sensory and intellectual experiences), which significantly predicted consumer loyalty (RPI, WOM and WPM).

This research uncovered some limitations that can be used to investigate new research possibilities. From a theoretical standpoint, this study offers new insights into brand experience dimensions (BEDs), PBA and consumer loyalty in order to develop consumer-brand relationships.

This study offered several managerial recommendations. By considering brand authenticity as a positioning tool, global managers can effectively develop and implement various experiential marketing strategies to develop long-term relationships with consumers to attain their loyalty.

This is a new study that uses Fournier's relationship theory to investigate BEDs on PBA to predict consumer loyalty in the context of authentic global brands.

The purpose of this paper is to study the 100 percent pure cotton and 50:50 cotton and regenerated fibers (tencel, modal, bamboo, viscose) blends. The blends of regenerated fibers with cotton are studied so as to replace 100 percent cotton fabrics with the cotton blends as cotton cannot fulfill the demand of clothing due to the increasing population.

In order to conduct this study, cotton, as natural cellulose fiber, was used. Regenerated fibers include viscose, tencel, modal and bamboo. Five yarn samples of Ne 30/1 of 100 percent cotton and blends (50:50) of cotton with tencel, modal, bamboo and viscose fibers were produced. The blending was done in the Blow-room, and yarn samples were produced by employing the ring spinning technique. Plain woven fabrics samples with Ends (76) and Picks (68) per inch of 120 gsm were prepared. The fabric samples were tested for mechanical (warp and weft tensile and tear strengths) and comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance).

Cotton:tencel fabric has the excellent mechanical (tensile and tear strength) as well as comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance). It means that the most suitable blend that cotton can make with the regenerated fibers is the tencel. Therefore, to have more comfortable fabrics, the fabrics which are being made by 100 percent cotton can be replaced with the cotton:tencel.

To the authors’ information, no study has been reported in which all the regenerated fibers blended with cotton were studied. Hence, the aim of this work is to study the mechanical and comfort properties of the regenerated fibers (modal, tencel, viscose and bamboo) blended with cotton. The blends of cotton with regenerated fibers might replace 100 percent cotton in clothing applications as cotton cannot fulfill the increasing demanding of clothing.

This study aimed to Simultaneous matching of color and antimicrobial properties of silk fabric treated with silver nanoparticle. The antimicrobial finishing using silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is one of the most important finishing processes in the textile industry. Color matching is widely applied in the textile industry, but there has been a need for the prediction of AgNPs concentration for the matching of dyed silver-treated samples.

In this research, the silk fabrics were dyed with various concentrations of C.I. Acid Red 359 dye at 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 per cent (w/w). The dyed fabrics were then coated with AgNPs in several concentrations at 0.015, 0.030, 0.050, 0.100 and 0.250 ml/l. The prediction of dye and AgNPs concentrations were evaluated using single constant color matching and artificial neural network techniques.

The obtained results indicate that the accuracy of dye concentration prediction, as well as AgNPs concentration prediction, was improved by using a neural network method. Also, the correlation between actual and predicted dye and AgNPs concentrations in the best neural networks is more than the single constant color matching method.

Simultaneous antibacterial and color matching of nanosilver-treated fabric is novel. This method achieved acceptable accuracy for antibacterial and color matching.

To deal with the issue of irresponsible consumer behavior, this study aims to find out the significant determinants that direct sustainability in consumers' responsible behavior.

The study is quantitatively designed (survey approach) and targeted 520 respondents by deploying multistage sampling technique. The collected data is statistically analyzed in SEM-path analysis technique through Smart PLS 3.

The outcomes of study indicated that awareness of wasteful consumption (ß = 0.27, p = 0.00) and wastophobia (ß = 0.73, p = 0.00) strongly influence consumers’ mind to bring sustainability in responsible behavior.

This study suggests that the empirically tested wastophobia model can pave foundations in the theoretical literature to manage waste other than electricity waste, including time, food, water, agriculture, garbage, hazardous environmental pollution and natural reservoirs waste.

The study originates that promoting various conscious and unconscious aspects of wasteful consumption by focusing on fearful consequences of electricity waste supports to bring sustainability in consumers’ responsible behavior.

Organizational culture is a determinant for quality improvement. This paper aims to assess organizational culture in a hospital setting, understand its relationship with perceptions about quality of care and identify areas for improvement.

The paper is based on a cross‐sectional survey in a large clinical department that used two validated questionnaires. The first contained 20 items addressing perceptions of cultural typology (64 respondents). The second one assessed staff views on quality improvement implementation (48 faculty) in three domains: leadership, information and analysis and human resource utilization (employee satisfaction).

All four cultural types received scoring, from a mean of 17.5 (group), 13.7 (developmental), 31.2 (rational) to 37.2 (hierarchical). The latter was the dominant cultural type. Group (participatory) and developmental (open) culture types had significant positive correlation with optimistic perceptions about leadership (r=0.48 and 0.55 respectively, p<0.00). Hierarchical (bureaucratic) culture was significantly negatively correlated with domains; leadership (r=−0.61, p<0.00), information and analysis (−0.50, p<0.00) and employee satisfaction (r=−0.55, p<0.00). Responses reveal a need for leadership to better utilize suggestions for improving quality of care, strengthening the process of information analysis and encouraging reward and recognition for employees.

It is likely that, by adopting a participatory and open culture, staff views about organizational leadership will improve and employee satisfaction will be enhanced. This finding has implications for quality care implementation in other hospital settings.

The paper bridges an important gap in the literature by addressing the relationship between culture and quality care perceptions in a Pakistani hospital. As such a new and informative perspective is added.

This era is the time for upskilling and producing workforce that is capable of effectively dealing with the day-by-day increasing demand of the industry. As the world is changing, its needs are changing in the same way and at the same speed. The world has become more digitized now. Moreover, we have a dramatic shift from Education 1.0 to Education 4.0 these days. The world now is practicing the internet of things, cloud storage, cyber-physical system and artificial intelligence. The purpose of this study is to identify the factors that affect the level of motivation toward the integration and implication of Industrial Revolution (IR) 4.0 in the education system of Pakistan by considering the Government policies.

For analyzing these factors, 150 research articles were sought out, out of which 84 were chosen for reviewing purpose based on the authentication of and relevance to this study by considering the Pakistani context. All the research articles have been selected from reputed indexed journals from databases (Scopus and Web of Science).

The findings of this review suggest that many factors affect the motivation toward integration and implementation of IR 4.0. These factors mainly include human factors, intrinsic values and influencing factors. Moreover, there is no such framework that provides the base to Education 4.0 in Pakistan because the things exist but are not systematic. Educators are motivated, but there are no resources; policies are there, but there is no practice or implementation. Pakistan is lacking in the latest trends related to Education 4.0 and even has no experience because people are used to doing things manually, but technology is the need of this era. Furthermore, the findings of this study will be useful for developing a systematic plan or a framework of the integration and implication of IR 4.0 that ultimately gives rise to Education 4.0 in the education system of Pakistan.

To the authors’ knowledge, no other study has been conducted on this topic in Pakistan. Also, there is a very little work done on this topic anywhere else in the world. The world is still exploring the IR 4.0, and our topic is solemnly related to these resolutions. Thus, there is a very little amount of literature related to this study.

Quality 4.0 is being presented as the new stage of quality development. However, its overlying concept and rationale are still hard to define. To better understand what different authors and studies advocate being Quality 4.0, a systematic literature review was undertaken on the topic. This paper presents the results of such review, providing some avenues for further research on quality management.

The documents for the systematic literature review have been searched on the Scopus database, using the search equation: [TITLE-ABS-KEY (“Quality 4.0”) OR TITLE-ABS-KEY (Quality Management” AND (“Industry 4.0” OR “Fourth Industr*” OR i4.0))]. Documents were filtered by language and by type. Of the 367 documents identified, 146 were submitted to exploratory content analysis.

The analyzed documents essentially provide theoretical discussions on what Quality 4.0 is or should be. Five categories have emerged from the content analysis undertaken: Industry 4.0 and the Rise of a New Approach to Quality; Motivations, Readiness Factors and Barriers to a Quality 4.0 Approach; Digital Quality Management Systems; Combination of Quality Tools and Lean Methodologies and Quality 4.0 Professionals.

It was hard to find studies reporting how quality is actually being managed in organizations that already operate in the Industry 4.0 paradigm. Answers could not be found to questions regarding actual practices, methodologies and tools being used in Quality 4.0 approaches. However, the research undertaken allowed to identify in the literature different ways of conceptualizing and analyzing Quality 4.0, opening up avenues for further research on quality management in the Industry 4.0 era.

This paper offers a broad look at how quality management is changing in response to the affirmation of the Industry 4.0 paradigm.

The purpose of this study is threefold: first, to determine whether civic education has a positive impact on voting intentions among the electorate; second, to establish whether attitudes towards voting behaviour (ATVB) mediate the relationship between civic education and voting intentions; and third, to determine whether educational level moderates the relationship between civic education and voting intentions.

This study adopted a survey research design and a quantitative approach. Data were collected from a sample of 1,450 registered voters from the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria. A regression-based approach was adopted to test the study hypotheses using Hayes-PROCESS Macro 3.5.

The results indicate that civic education is positively associated with voting intentions. Further analysis reveals that ATVB significantly mediates the association between civic education and voting intentions. Additionally, educational level positively moderates the relationship between civic education and voting intentions.

The findings offer implications for governments and democratic institutions.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to provide empirical evidence of the mediating effect of ATVB and the moderating effect of educational level on the relationship between civic education and voting intentions. This study provides useful insights into the factors that influence voting intentions.