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This paper aims to analyze the effect of cerium addition on the microstructure and the mechanical properties of Tin-Silver-Copper (SAC) alloy. The mechanical properties and refined microstructure of a solder joint are vital for the reliability and performance of electronics. SAC305 alloys are potential choices to use as lead-free solders because of their good properties as compared to the conventional Tin-Lead solder alloys. However, the presence of bulk intermetallic compounds (IMCs) in the microstructure of SAC305 alloys affects their overall performance. Therefore, addition of cerium restrains the growth of IMCs and refines the microstructure, hence improving the mechanical performance.

SAC305 alloy is doped with various composition of xCerium (x = 0.15, 0.35, 0.55, 0.75, 0.95) % by weight. Pure elements in powdered form were melted in the presence of argon with periodic stirring to ensure a uniform melted alloy. The molten alloy is then poured into a pre-heated die to obtain a tensile specimen. The yield strength and universal tensile strength were determined using a fixed strain rate of 10 mm per minute or 0.1667 mm s^(−1). The IMCs are identified using X-ray diffraction, whereas the elemental phase composition and microstructure evolution are, respectively, examined by using electron dispersive spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy.

Improvement in the microstructure and mechanical properties is observed with 0.15% of cerium additions. The tensile test also showed that SAC305-0.15% cerium exhibits more stress-bearing capacity than other compositions. The 0.75% cerium doped alloy indicated some improvement because of a decrease in fracture dislocation regions, but microstructure refinement and the arrangement of IMCs are not those of 0.15% Ce. Different phases of Cu_6 Sn_5, Ag_3 Sn and CeSn_3 and ß-Sn are identified. Therefore, the addition of cerium in lower concentrations and presence of Ce-Sn IMCs improved the grain boundary structure and resulted refinement in the microstructure of the alloy, as well as an enhancement in the mechanical properties.

Characterization of microstructure and evaluation of mechanical properties are carried out to investigate the different composition of SAC305-xCerium alloys. Finally, an optimized cerium composition is selected for solder joint in electronics.

With the growth in online purchasing, the return of distressed shipments also increased. The return experience of the online shopper has a huge impact on their next purchase decision-making. This explanatory research aims to identify and empirically explain factors related to the online buyer’s return experience that influence the repurchase intention of young buyers.

Primary data were collected from 235 active online young buyers who have experienced returning the goods through a structured questionnaire. Structural equation modeling is used for analyzing the data.

This study reveals that an online return policy leniency strongly supports service recovery quality, expected return convenience, buyer trust and satisfaction, which lead to repurchase intentions. Moreover, return satisfaction positively impacts repurchase intention while mediating young buyer trust.

This study is one of the few relevant pieces of research that would benefit e-tailers to improve their product return policy and compel young buyers’ intention to make a repeat purchase.

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.

The purpose of the present study is to investigate the community’s view of power outages and their effect on sustainable community development. This research has three aims. This project will first investigate how a blackout affects a community’s ability to live sustainably.

A survey questionnaire was developed that included 22 factors from the literature. The questionnaire was distributed to diversified segments of society from different regions of Pakistan and examined critical factors affecting sustainable community development. A total of 349 (77%) responses were received.

The study results confirm that power failure negatively affects the sustainable life of a community. This study found that the reduced production of large manufacturing, decrease leisure and comfort, reduced public administrative efficiency, loss of educational opportunities and increased use of traditional energy sources are the most important factors for sustainable community development. Findings also suggest that policymakers and practitioners in public organizations need to ensure that projects are completed in a timely manner to meet growing community needs.

The purpose of this research is to address knowledge gaps related to power outages and sustainable community development. The major impact of power disruptions on communities was previously disregarded in development discourse. Participants in these discussions recognize communities as genuine stakeholders and acknowledge that power outages can have a substantial impact on their economic and social development. However, previous studies have neglected to address this phenomenon.

Entrepreneurship.

Undergraduate – Entrepreneurship.

The case concerns to an entrepreneur named Aamir Ghouri, a US graduate, who is concerned about managing the growth of his newly established venture named ICON Stores. The case presents the idea of entrepreneurial mindset characteristics and motivation besides which, it also explains the typical venture creation process in Pakistan and the general rubrics used to measure the entrepreneurial success in the economy.

The case is designed to help students to understand entrepreneurial mindset, characteristics and motivation; to understand entrepreneurial venture creation process; to learn the common practices regarding the measurement of entrepreneurial success of new venture; and to outline as to how growth of a new venture could be managed profitably.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

CSS 3: Entrepreneurship.

Playing video gaming is one of the most popular forms of leisure activities. This study looks into a specific video game genre, under the category of Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA) games. The purpose of this research is to investigate the factors that lead to the consumption of MOBA games. Three factors, imaginal, emotional and sensory experiences, are investigated through an integration of the hedonic consumption model, Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and Uses and Gratification Theory (UGT).

The study analyses a sample of 292 MOBA game players using the PLS-SEM model. The study comprises two stages; in the first stage, an estimation model was used to test the constructs' quality and legitimacy. In the second stage, we assessed the theoretical model to test the relationship between the principle constructs.

The study found that factors related to emotional experiences, namely enjoyment, emotional involvement, and arousal, led to greater intention to play MOBA games. Similarly, two factors related to imaginal experiences, escapism and role projection, also positively impacted while fantasy carried a negative impact. The study also found that sensory experiences had a significant positive impact on the intention to play MOBA games. Lastly, a positive correlation was also found between the intention to use and usage behavior in MOBA games.

This study contributes to the theoretical understanding of the playful-consumption experiences of pleasure-oriented information systems (I.S.) that is MOBA games that derive behavioral intention to play MOBA games, which in turn determines the usage behavior of MOBA players. The study also incorporates the uses and gratification theory to uncover the needs and experiences that trigger MOBA games' behavioral intention and its further impact on gamers' usage behavior. The study also presents useful insights for game developers and other relevant stakeholders in game development.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the perceptions of faculty members about the influence of family motivation on their self-efficacy and organizational citizenship behavior-individual (OCBI).

The proposed model was tested on a sample of 353 faculty members from different public and private universities of Pakistan. Partial least squares structural equation modeling was used to analyze data.

Surprisingly, results reveal that family motivation was not positively related to faculty members’ OCBI; instead, this relationship is fully mediated by self-efficacy. The findings suggest that it is employees’ self-efficacy belief through which their family motivation translates to their increased OCBI. This study also finds that supporting the family is a powerful source of motivation to work, offering meaningful practical and theoretical implications for policy-makers, leaders, managers and researchers on the new dynamics of work and family engagements.

The study contributes to human resource management (HRM) and organizational behavior (OB) literatures by providing some useful practical implications for managers and HRM and OB consultants who are interested in understanding the underlying psychological mechanisms (i.e. self-efficacy) through which employees’ family motivation results in the increased OCBI.

This paper aims to analyze the regional distribution, size and evolution of the knowledge base by identifying key authors, documents, keywords and journals while examining current literature and intellectual structure, and highlight topical trends of green human resource management (GHRM) research.

As scholarly interest in the environment has grown, a new research focus in the discipline of human resource management (HRM) has emerged. The term GHRM was coined to describe how HRM may contribute to environmental outcomes. This scholarly focus has led to an increasing number of publications in this field. To analyze the intellectual structure of the GHRM research, a bibliometric technique is used.

The findings revealed a knowledge base that is still in the new phase, with a global scope, but most scholarly work is concentrated in Asian societies. By presenting an overview of the present state of the knowledge base, this study intends to lead a new generation of GHRM scholars.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study of its kind, which probes the bibliometric reflection on green human resource management research history.