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This study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of using a virtual patient (VP) software program in increasing clinical reasoning skills confidence among medical students.

A quasi-experimental design was used to compare the outcomes of students’ confidence levels on clinical reasoning between problem-based learning (PBL) and VP program with 122 pre-clinical Year 2 medical students. History taking, physical examination, clinical investigations and diagnosis was investigated using four PBL cases in the oncology block. Pre- and post-differences in mean confidence scores between the arms were compared, as well as mean difference by type of case and skill category.

A total of 122/156 (78.2%) students participated; n = 55 were from 7 VP groups and n = 67 were from 13 control arm groups. For the primary outcome, the VP arm showed a statistically significant increase in confidence measures among 11/16 (4 cases × 4 skills) categories, compared to 4/16 for the control arm. The proportion of the students who indicated an improved confidence was statistically significant for the cervical cancer case for physical examination (60.0% improved in VP vs 12.5% in control), investigation (60.0% VP vs 18.8% control) and diagnosis (60.0% in VP vs 25.0% in control). Finally, analysis by case showed an increment in overall mean scores from the start to end of the case within the VP arm while the pattern was erratic in the control arm cases.

The study results showed that incorporating the VP into PBL was more effective in increasing students’ clinical reasoning confidence levels compared to the usual PBL. As the study utilized existing PBL cases, it demonstrates how medical schools can incorporate digital VP tools into pre-clinical years before students' transition to learning from actual patients in the clinical years.

Despite the burgeoning popularity of virtual gifting in live streaming, research lacks an in-depth understanding of the drivers behind this behavior. Using para-social relationship (PSR), this study aims to capture viewers’ lively social feelings toward the streamer as the key factor leading to the purchase behavior of virtual gifts. It also aims to establish a theoretical link between PSR and viewers’ holistic experience in live streaming as captured by cognitive absorption and aims to investigates the role of technological features (i.e. viewer–streamer and viewer–viewer interactivity, streamer-level and viewer-level deep profiling and design aesthetics) in shaping viewers’ experience.

Based on 433 survey responses, this study employs a combination of structural equation modeling and neural networks to offer valuable insights into the relationships between the technological environment, viewer experience and viewer behavior.

Our results highlight the salience of PSR in promoting the purchase of virtual gifts through cognitive absorption and the importance of the technological environment in eliciting the viewer experience. This study sheds light on the development of PSR in a technological environment and its relationship with cognitive absorption.

By applying PSR to conceptualize viewers’ perceived connection with the streamer, this study extends the research on purchase behavior in the non-shopping context by providing an enlightened understanding of virtual gift purchase behavior in live streaming. Moreover, by theoretically linking PSR with cognitive absorption, virtual gift purchase and technological features of live streaming, it enriches the theory of PSR and bridges the gap between the design practice of supporting the IT infrastructure of live streaming and research.

This study examines how users' multidimensional representational fidelity factors affect sociability and cyberself engagement in the Metaverse platform; that is, how they interact with newly defined self-images as their personas in the environments. It investigates how representational fidelity serves platform users to perform social roles and increase their sociability by establishing a new cyberself, thus influencing continuous platform use.

This study surveyed 314 users of the Metaverse platform Horizon, where users can create a virtual agent avatar, meet people in the same online environment in real time, and interact with a sense of three-dimensional immersion. Data were analyzed using partial least squares regression models.

User socialization significantly influenced the intention to use the Metaverse platform. Representational fidelity was a crucial variable for sociability, and activity representational fidelity was the most influential aspect among the four other elements. Platforms should consider how to enable users to create and use activities that faithfully represent their personas.

The novelty of this study is that it introduces representational fidelity based on representation theory into the context of virtual persona in the Metaverse platform. This study extended representational fidelity to the socialization perspective by utilizing the integrated model of user satisfaction and the technology acceptance model. Through the results, this study emphasized that users' sociability significantly influences their intention to use the Metaverse platform. Finally, this study provides a feasible guideline on how practitioners could design and strengthen their platforms so that users can represent their cyberselves faithfully.

Social entrepreneurship is a topical issue in the context of entrepreneurial intention. Our quantitative study seeks to explore the complex and dynamic nexus of the ever-evolving landscape of entrepreneurial intentions, which results in socioeconomic development through the mediating influence of entrepreneurial knowledge.

The South Asian region was considered a research population, considering its characteristics and inclination toward social entrepreneurial activities. The required data were collected using an online survey questionnaire. 330 questionnaires were mailed online to the targeted participants, and 239 responses were received and analyzed using SPSS and AMOS software.

The study found a significant positive relationship between entrepreneurial intention and socioeconomic development. A 1% improvement in entrepreneurial intention corresponds to a 40% increase in socioeconomic development and 17% enhancement in entrepreneurial knowledge. Our study also demonstrates that a 1% improvement in entrepreneurial intention brings about a substantial improvement of 26% in socioeconomic development when mediated by entrepreneurial knowledge.

It is recommended that intentional learning spaces focus on intensifying social entrepreneurial intention and develop mechanisms for knowledge transfer platforms to facilitate knowledge sharing among social entrepreneurs. Organizations may support and take initiatives to bridge the gap between experienced and novice social entrepreneurs. Institutions may introduce incentive structures that promote sustainable entrepreneurship, highlight social entrepreneurs’ success stories, and emphasize the linkage between intention, knowledge, and positive societal outcomes.

Owing to the lack of literature and inadequate empirical research, our study was articulated to enhance existing knowledge and postulate the basis for high-order empirical studies in the context of social entrepreneurial intention backed by entrepreneurial knowledge. Moreover, this study provoked entrepreneurial intention based on the theory of planned behavior with the mediating influence of entrepreneurial knowledge, which adds a distinctive dimension to social entrepreneurial intention, enhances research originality, and provides practical implications for individuals seeking to thrive in dynamic environments.

In recent years, technology diffusion, globalization and the Internet revolution have accelerated the growth of online transactions and altered corporate operations systems. The emergence of computer technology and the Internet have changed the way businesses work. The purpose of this study is to find and identify any common patterns in the logistics and supply chain industries for job requirements using job posting content in Malaysia.

This study provides an exploratory assessment of the employability skill set required using online job posting advertisements. Online job posting advertising, also known as e-recruiting, is one field that has been significantly influenced by information technology. In addition, the current Covid-19 outbreak has created a new need for a long-term contactless talent acquisition process in the organization's operating systems.

Based on this study's findings, the top ten skills required by employers for logistics and supply chain positions are (1) supply chain analytics, (2) technological aptitude, (3) teamwork skills, (4) customer focus, (5) leadership skills, (6) interpersonal skills, (7) people skills, (8) creativity and resilience, (9) demand and supply forecasting ability, and (10) project management skills. Overall, the findings provide a road map for practitioners and academics interested in developing supply chain managers' necessary skills and competencies to manage current and future supply networks. It also allows companies to adjust their supply chain management hiring, training and retention methods.

Although the study was done in Malaysia, the supply chain skills and competencies stated in this study, as well as their categorization, can be applied in other developing countries.

The purpose of this study is to get a clearer knowledge of the reasons for, approaches to and challenges associated with integrating sustainable development concerns into pipeline construction projects in New Zealand. To achieve this, this study delves deeply into sustainable construction to understand the reasons behind and incorporate sustainable development trials into their newly established product management and development procedure. As a result, this study looks at identifying key elements of sustainable construction practices and various interpretations of sustainability in the construction industry; offering a strategy for incorporating sustainable construction practices into the pipeline construction project in New Zealand; and benefits and difficulties that the construction industry encounters when implementing sustainable construction. Finally, a framework is developed to help in understanding the issues and potential solutions for integrating sustainable building methods into the pipeline construction project in New Zealand.

This study followed a four-step method (Figure 1), beginning with the identification of the data, continuing with the first screening of the data, determining eligibility and, finally, including the data. This data collection is being done to provide knowledge and direction for further research. Data were collected from various websites on the Web of Science and from Scopus databases. Additionally, data were gathered with the assistance of aggregator databases such as Scopus (scopus.com) and publishing databases such as Elsevier (sciencedirect.com), Inderscience, Taylor and Francis (tandfonline.com), Emerald Insight (emeraldinsight.com) and Google Scholar. These databases have been considered by a number of scholars to be reputable databases.

This research provided a thorough description of the key justifications for sustainable construction. This study demonstrated how the idea worked in practice by reviewing the literature on the relevance and analysis of sustainability in construction. This body of research identified crucial components of sustainable construction techniques and varied interpretations of sustainability in the construction industry. To better grasp the current application considerations in the construction sector, it also offered literature on sustainable construction methods. To determine the most effective strategy to make certain adjustments to the current construction processes, the literature also includes a wide range of sustainability-related topics in both developed and developing country contexts. This study also demonstrated the many perspectives and strategies for sustainable behaviors. Because the purpose of this study was to develop a strategy for implementing sustainable construction in New Zealand, it was of the utmost importance to shed light on the most well-known and prominent sustainable construction applications from across the world. The output of this aim provided the literature on construction practices to acquire insight into the ongoing conversations on sustainable practices and systems in the construction industry. This was done to obtain insight into the existing talks.

This research's contribution to the body of knowledge is demonstrated by the fact that this study has led to a better understanding of sustainable construction practices in the construction industry as well as the identification of the most significant challenges that businesses, organizations, educators and policymakers must face to improve their ability to put these strategies into practice. This research has provided a solid foundation for future research that aims to advance knowledge in this field by providing options for future research to evaluate the influence that the approach has had on enhancing the implementation of sustainable construction. Additionally, this study presents options for future research to evaluate the influence the approach has had on improving the implementation of sustainable construction. The successful completion of the research aim in the more traditional forms of higher education in the built environment can contribute to a better representation of new trends in the practice area associated with expanding and improving the construction industry sustainably.

Despite the promising development and marketing potential of the metaverse, our understanding of how realistic metaverse environments impact user engagement and behaviours remains limited. This study investigates the role of perceived realism in influencing user engagement, thereby affecting external search behaviour and visit intentions.

We surveyed 270 active metaverse users to test the research model. The data were analysed using partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM).

The results of our study show that three dimensions of realism – avatar involvement, perceptual pervasiveness and social realism – significantly enhance user engagement, which in turn influences external search behaviour and visit intention. In contrast, simulation realism and freedom of choice have minimal effects on absorption and dedication.

This study highlights the role of perceived realism in enhancing user engagement with the metaverse and its impact on physical world behaviours. It contributes to metaverse literature by demonstrating that engagement within the metaverse significantly influences physical world behaviours, including visit intentions and external search behaviours.

This study offers practical guidance for developers to enhance user engagement in metaverse environments. Specifically, our findings advocate for visual and audio quality enhancements, greater persuasiveness of virtual spaces, improved avatar representativeness and a closer alignment of metaverse activities with real-life events.

This study advances the theoretical understanding of perceived realism by examining how its dimensions – such as visual and audio quality, avatar representativeness and alignment with real-life events – impact user engagement in the metaverse. It also explores how this engagement influences offline behaviours, thus bridging the gap between virtual and real-world interactions.

The purpose of this study is to understand the situation of hotels and tourism industry in Malaysia during and in post Covid-19 and to mitigate indirect damage caused by COVID-19 to the hotel business and tourism industry by examining the factors that have an influence on hotel’s customer satisfaction rating and revisit intention through an integration of service quality (SERVQUAL) framework and expectation-confirmation theory (ECT).

The SERVQUAL and ECT were considered the underpinning theoretical models but are integrated and extended by including a few additional variables. Data were collected from 458 respondents of travelers and hotel customers in Malaysia and analysed by applying partial least squares structural equation model technique.

The empirical results established that significant positive relationships exist between the three newly emerged independent variables (IVs), namely, hygienic practice, greenness of service and digitalization and hotel customer satisfaction towards hotel revisit intention, and only two variables from SERVQUAL, namely, reliability and assurance, have a significant relationship with hotel customer satisfaction towards hotel revisit intention. The results reveal that customer satisfaction has significant direct effect between above-mentioned IVs and customers revisit intention.

The use of purposeful sampling method in only one country might limit the generalizability of the results. Future research should be planned to duplicate the current study using a sizable sample of participants from multiple countries and include other related factors related to the pandemic phenomena such as safety, hotel location and health value offered.

Theoretical findings imply that service quality is a dynamic theory that should be examined continuously to achieve sustainable and resilient performance in today’s competitive business environment, as some modifications inevitably occur over time and new factors could be emerged. Regarding practical implications, study findings proved the great significance of assurance, reliability, digitalization, greenness and hygienic practices on customer satisfaction towards intention to revisit to hotel. Therefore, it is critical for hotel management to retain hotel business industry in a way that fits and matches customer’s health protection, meets customer’s newly prompted expectations and needs and ensures resilience during unsettled times.

This study is unique as the newly emerged variables are included in the research framework, and thus it helps to close the literature gap by introducing an integrated SERVQUAL and ECT theoretical model, which rarely performs in this context and can be replicated or extended with validated scales. This study contributes to enhancing hotel and tourism sustainable service quality performance to achieve myriad economic and health values.

This study aims to integrate Delone and McLean’s information system success (DMISS) model with the innovation resistance model to evaluate the relationship between behavioural intention to use (BIU) and innovation resistance in the context of neo-banking. The primary objective of this study is to identify the drivers of neo-banking adoption and the barriers to its adoption and incorporate constructs such as e-trust (ETR) and personal innovativeness (PIV) to provide a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing neo-banking adoption.

A structured survey-based questionnaire was used to gather data from a diverse sample population in India. The Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) model was employed to further examine the adoption of neobanking services and users' intention to use neobanking services.

This study reveals a significant correlation between BIU and the uptake of neobanking services, demonstrating the value of consumers' readiness to embrace these offerings. However, resistance to usage has emerged as a major obstacle for consumers concerned about data security, technology reluctance and perceived risks associated with digital-only neobanks.

Analysing the driving and restraining factors will provide substantial information on the formation of consumers' decision-making processes in the Indian banking industry, which is undergoing rapid digital transformation. This information is of great importance to scholars, practitioners and policymakers, as it highlights the factors that may facilitate or impede the adoption of neobanking in India. The outcomes of this analysis will be of particular interest to researchers, experts and stakeholders in the field as they will provide valuable insights into the dynamics of consumer behaviour in the Indian banking sector.

This study represents an initial effort to examine BIUs and usage resistance within the rapidly developing neobanking sector in India. The findings of this study build on the existing research in this area and contribute to the ongoing discussion on the adoption of neo-banking.

The aim of this study is to offer valuable insights to businesses and facilitate better understanding on transformer-based models (TBMs), which are among the widely employed generative artificial intelligence (GAI) models, garnering substantial attention due to their ability to process and generate complex data.

Existing studies on TBMs tend to be limited in scope, either focusing on specific fields or being highly technical. To bridge this gap, this study conducts robust bibliometric analysis to explore the trends across journals, authors, affiliations, countries and research trajectories using science mapping techniques – co-citation, co-words and strategic diagram analysis.

Identified research gaps encompass the evolution of new closed and open-source TBMs; limited exploration across industries like education and disciplines like marketing; a lack of in-depth exploration on TBMs' adoption in the health sector; scarcity of research on TBMs' ethical considerations and potential TBMs' performance research in diverse applications, like image processing.

The study offers an updated TBMs landscape and proposes a theoretical framework for TBMs' adoption in organizations. Implications for managers and researchers along with suggested research questions to guide future investigations are provided.