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This study aims to analyse the intellectual property rights (INPR), foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and technological exports of 32 developing and developed countries for the period of 2006–2020.

Diagnostic tests were used to confirm the panel least squares, fixed effect, random effect, feasible general least squares, dynamic ordinary least squares and fully modified ordinary least squares estimator results as well as to increase the robustness.

According to the findings for the developing countries, trademark, patent and industrial design applications, each had a significant positive long-run effect on FDI inflows. In addition, there was a significant positive long-run relationship between patent applications and medium- and high-technology exports. Meanwhile, trademark and industrial design applications had a significant negative long-term effect on medium- and high-technology exports. In developed countries, patent and industrial design applications each have a significant negative long-term on medium- and high-technology exports. Furthermore, patent and trademark applications each had a significant negative long-run effect on FDI inflows.

This study contributes significantly to the focus that host countries evaluate the technology gaps between domestic and foreign investors at different industry levels to select the best INPR rules and innovation process by increasing international cooperation. Furthermore, the host countries should follow the structure–conduct–performance paradigm based on analysis of the market structure, strategic firms and industrial dynamics systems.

This study aims to provide a qualitative framework for satisfactory sustainable education for international accounting students using a meta-synthetic approach.

To determine the components and indicators of satisfactory sustainable education for international accounting students, a meta-synthesis allows for the attainment of the objectives of study. In the first phase of study, international related literature was reviewed (n = 2,176). After several screenings for measuring the quality of the related literature including Critical Appraisals Skills Program (CASP), the total number of selected papers was 48, and 2,128 were excluded.

The present research proposed a comprehensive conceptual model for sustainable education and international accounting students’ satisfaction, with seven components and 63 indicators. To assess the credibility of phases, the indicators were presented to five experts independently. The reliability of the proposed conceptual model was tested using Cohen’s Kappa coefficient and analyzed in SPSS. Kappa’s coefficient showed that the agreement level was high and the reliability was high too.

Sustainable education and student satisfaction are crucial for maintaining a competitive international education market. There are ongoing debates about accounting education, particularly accreditation challenges and the need for clear regulations on academic interaction with practice. Accounting education has also been criticized for being outdated, promoting surface-level learning and neglecting the development of broader skills in university graduates. Therefore, it is important to understand sustainable education for international accounting students. The present study aims to identify the aspects of accounting educational services that international accounting students perceive important for increasing satisfaction. This research provides empirical evidence and suggests potential avenues for future research in other countries.

This study aims to examine whether firms that appear to exhibit high sustainable outputs are more likely to pay higher audit fees than firms without such outputs.

The sustainability outputs are measured using a sustainable product portfolio consisting of four products: clean energy products, eco-design products (EDP), environmental products (EP) and sustainable building projects (SBP). The audit fee variable is measured by the natural logarithm of the total amount of audit fees. The study tests two models of the association between these outputs and audit fees; Model 1 tests this association in the absence of the moderating variable (sustainability committee), and Model 2 tests the association in the presence of the moderating variable.

An analysis of data on 261 European firms from the Refinitiv Eikon database from 2010 to 2019 shows that high sustainability outputs are significantly and positively associated with audit fees. More importantly, this association is moderated by the presence of a board-level sustainability committee, suggesting that this type of committee reflects a factor considered by auditors in their audit risk assessment practices. The findings indicate that in Model 1, one (EP) out of four variables has a significant and positive association with audit fees, while in Model 2 and in the presence of sustainability committee, two variables (EP and EDP) have a significant and negative association with audit fees. However, the robust analysis shows that three variables (EP, EDP and SBP) have significant and negative associations with audit fees.

The study findings have important implications for policymakers, auditors and firms’ managers. For policymakers, the findings provide support for the argument that sustainable attitudes incentivise firms to manage sustainable product profiles more effectively. As such, policymakers should incentivise firms to establish a sustainability committee and regulate its role and responsibilities. Auditors should coordinate with the sustainability committee to facilitate audit efforts and reduce audit fees.

Understanding the relationship between sustainable products and audit fees will allow firms to improve their portfolio of sustainable products. In addition, other social implications of this study relate to improving relationships with society by establishing a sustainability committee that is responsible to communicate with that society.

The results support the argument that firms should manage sustainable product portfolios more effectively. In addition, the results of the study highlight the importance of a new variable as a moderator, the sustainability committee, which has not been examined before.

This examine the impact of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance on financial reporting quality (FRQ) before and during COVID-19 in the Egyptian market.

This study uses quarterly data from 2017 to 2021 to draw conclusions, with a sample consisting of 486 firm-year observations for 27 Egyptian companies listed on the Standard and Poor’s/Egyptian Stock Exchange ESG index. This study uses both firms’ ESG scores and the Beneish Model, an earnings detection model, as proxies for FRQ. COVID-19 effects on ESG performance and FRQ were examined by using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and two-stage least squares.

COVID-19 has a significant impact on the link between ESG and FRQ. This implies that corporations with high ESG performance are less likely to manipulate earnings (having a low M-score) and thus provide high FRQ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, there is a significant positive relationship between firm size, leverage and M-Score, indicating that large firms typically present a high FRQ.

The sample size and data availability are the main research limitations. Additionally, this study only considers the effects of firms’ ESG performance on FRQ during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, future research should consider other factors associated with investors’ corporate social responsibility (CSR).

This research has practical implications for market regulators seeking to establish a legislative framework and enhance guidance to mandate managers to provide ESG data and CSR reports appropriate for Egypt and other developing economies in times of crisis.

Promoting the adoption of ESG practices in business, particularly during crises, has the potential to effectively provide high-quality and reliable financial reporting required for investment.

This study aspires to address notable deficiencies in the pertinent literature concerning the relationship between ESG performance and FRQ during COVID-19. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, little is known about how ESG performance changes in response to pandemics in emerging markets. To address this gap, this study examines the effects of COVID-19 on the relationship between ESG performance and FRQ in Egyptian-listed firms from 2017 to 2021.

This study aims to analyse the existing literature on the utilisation of financial technology (FinTech) in the Islamic social finance (ISF) sector, focusing on tools, applications and benefits. From this study, it is to provide insights for literature or for practitioners on how FinTech can be used in ISF, such as using blockchain (tools) in waqf (application) that can help to enhance transparency and trust (benefits) with donors. It is important to explore new available tools or applications in ISF markets so that such effort can benefit the industry in promoting its growth.

A systematic literature review (SLR) was carried out using Reporting Standards for Systematic Evidence Syntheses (ROSES) which has been based on quality evaluation criteria, beginning with 41,945 entries in Scopus, 25,386 entries in the Web of Science and 1,590 entries in the Google Scholar databases and ending with 35 articles from data abstraction and analysis, all of which focus on tools, applications and benefits of FinTech in ISF sector.

This review yielded three primary themes and eleven sub-themes addressing FinTech, namely applications (four sub-themes: crowdfunding, blockchain, banking service and peer-to-peer (P2P), tools (three sub-themes: waqf, zakat and sadaqah), as well as benefits (four sub-themes: transparency, innovation, inclusiveness and efficiency).

This study emphasises on innovative application of FinTech used in ISF industry which focuses on applications, tools and benefits of FinTech to the industry. However, the findings indicate that there is plenty of room for future investigation. The current work outlines several methodological issues and concerns as well as provides recommendations for future research. Various challenges associated with FinTech applications include inadequate regulations, complex permit application procedures, misuse of FinTech for terrorist financing, the existence of fraudulent FinTech companies and consumer disputes in the FinTech sector concerning ISF. There are few in-depth studies on the possible use of FinTech models in ISF, compared to studies focusing on upcoming challenges. This study also highlights the methodological limitations in previous research efforts, which can be used to improve future studies in this area. To offer a more comprehensive analysis, additional search keywords and engines that have not been included in this study could be used in future investigations with different methodologies.

For practitioners, the paper has significant managerial consequences. The analysis provides insights into real-life opportunities, limits and solutions for improving performance management by looking at FinTech applications from a larger and more diverse perspective. The practitioners, especially the State Islamic Religious Council, can recognise the benefits of using FinTech technology in ISF (waqf, zakat and sadaqah), namely under their jurisdiction.

This systematic literature assessment identifies critical knowledge gaps that must be addressed such as the applications of FinTech that are still ambiguous, with certain applications not completely embraced in the ISF industry. This study uses SLR technique to categorise literature, identify gaps in current studies and provide recommendations for the research issue (Paul and Criado, 2020), instead of using the other previous methodology such as content analysis or qualitative review. Hence, FinTech is considered an innovative or new approach in ISF industry.

This study aims to investigate whether students would accept augmented reality technology in Al Ain University (AAU) libraries as part of digital library services.

This study used a modified technology acceptance model–based survey instrument for data collection. Data was collected through an online questionnaire, which was sent to 400 students via email in March 2023. Out of the total participants, 176 students completed the questionnaire.

This study found that AAU students have a positive perception of augmented technology use in the library. They believe that augmented technology will be useful and easy to use, and students are willing to use it to access library resources and services.

This study contributes to the digital library perspectives in academic libraries.

As lubricating oils are used, their performance deteriorates and they become contaminated. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lubrication performance of reclaimed 5 W-30 a fully synthetic used engine oil (UEO) with wear tests after refining it from a solvent-based extraction method using solvent (1-PrOH) and adsorbent materials such as cement, celite and deep eutectic solvent (DES).

The treated oil mixtures were prepared by blending engine oils with various adsorbent materials at 5% (w/w) in organic 1-PrOH solvent at a UEO: solvent ratio of 1:2 (w/w). The measurement of kinematic viscosity, density, the total acid number (TAN) and elemental analysis of oil samples was done by the ASTM standards D445/D446, D4052, D974 and D6595, respectively. Adsorbents and treated oil samples characterized by SEM-EDX, FTIR and UV analysis, respectively. Meanwhile, lubricating performance in tribological applications was evaluated through the wear test device using a rotating steel alloy 1.2379 cylinder and a stationary 1.2738 pin under 20, 40 and 80 kg load conditions. Worn surface analysis was done with SEM and 2.5D images.

It was found that when using the combination of cement and celite as an adsorbent in the reclamation of used engine oil demonstrated better lubricant properties. The properties of used engine oil were improved in the manner of kinematic viscosity of 32.55 from 68.49 mm²/s, VI (Viscosity index) value of 154 from 130, TAN of 3.18 from 4.35 (mgKOH/g) and Fe content of 11 from 32 mg/L. The anti-wear properties of used engine oil improved by at least 32% when 5% cement and 5% celite adsorbent materials were used together.

The paper is based on findings from a fully synthetic 5 W-30 A5 multi-grade engine lubrication oil collected after driving approximately 12.000 km.

The results are significant, as they suggest practical regeneration of used engine oil is achievable. Additionally, blending fresh oil with reclaimed used engine oil in a 1:1 ratio reduced wear loss by over 10% compared to fresh oil.

Reusing used engine oils can reduce their environmental impact and bring economic benefits.

This study showed that the properties of UEO can be enhanced using the solvent extraction-adsorption method. Furthermore, the study provided valuable insights into the metal concentrations in engine oil samples and their impact on lubrication performance. The order of the number of the grooves quantity and the possibility of the observed scuffing region trend relative to the samples was UEO > 5W-30 fresh oil > Treated oil sample with the adsorbent cement and celite together.

The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/ILT-06-2024-0209/

Diagnosing brain tumors is a process that demands a significant amount of time and is heavily dependent on the proficiency and accumulated knowledge of radiologists. Over the traditional methods, deep learning approaches have gained popularity in automating the diagnosis of brain tumors, offering the potential for more accurate and efficient results. Notably, attention-based models have emerged as an advanced, dynamically refining and amplifying model feature to further elevate diagnostic capabilities. However, the specific impact of using channel, spatial or combined attention methods of the convolutional block attention module (CBAM) for brain tumor classification has not been fully investigated.

To selectively emphasize relevant features while suppressing noise, ResNet50 coupled with the CBAM (ResNet50-CBAM) was used for the classification of brain tumors in this research.

The ResNet50-CBAM outperformed existing deep learning classification methods like convolutional neural network (CNN), ResNet-CBAM achieved a superior performance of 99.43%, 99.01%, 98.7% and 99.25% in accuracy, recall, precision and AUC, respectively, when compared to the existing classification methods using the same dataset.

Since ResNet-CBAM fusion can capture the spatial context while enhancing feature representation, it can be integrated into the brain classification software platforms for physicians toward enhanced clinical decision-making and improved brain tumor classification.

This research has not been published anywhere else.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the association between three corporate governance (CG) idiosyncrasies, namely audit committee characteristics, external audit quality (AQ), board diversity and firm performance (FP) in the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) nations.

The study used a sample of 200 listed nonfinancial firms in the SAARC nations from 2012 to 2021. The System Generalized Method of Moment model was applied to the data consisting of 2000 firm-year observations. The Generalized Estimating Equation population-averaged model was also employed for added robustness. The study employed Tobin's Q as the measure of FP.

The findings revealed that amongst the CG variables tested, external AQ exhibited a significantly positive relationship with Tobin's Q. Significant negative influences on FP have been demonstrated by the variables of audit committee meeting and board's independence. Furthermore, gender diversity, CEO duality, audit committee strength and independence failed to record any significant association.

This study is one of the first to investigate the association between CG idiosyncrasies and FP in the SAARC nations. The study findings have important implications for policymakers and regulators in the region.

This study aimed to examine the mediating role of corporate financial reporting quality in the impact of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on corporate green innovation, based on the integration of stakeholder theory, opportunity cost theory, innovation diffusion theory and signaling theory.

A deductive quantitative approach was used as the research methodology. Following a survey design, questionnaire responses were collected from a purposively chosen sample of 308 employees in China. The data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling, performed with SmartPLS4.0 software.

The findings show that CSR promotes green innovation, and that financial reporting quality mediates this relationship. It was further revealed that compared to employees’ CSR perception, consumers’ perception of firms’ CSR performance has a stronger positive effect on firms’ corporate financial reporting quality and green innovation. These findings provide insights into the impact of both internal and external CSR performance on corporate green innovation.

This study only sampled Chinese employees, meaning that the findings may not be representative of other regions. Also, as this study employed only the questionnaire instrument, future research may collect data through multiple sources, including financial reports, surveys and interviews, to better understand and estimate variations in the positive impact of CSR on green innovation.

This study establishes the mediating role of corporate financial reporting quality in linking CSR to corporate green innovation. It further examines green innovation in multiple dimensions (i.e. product, process, organizational), while also measuring CSR in dual perspectives, namely internal (employee awareness) and external (consumer awareness). The results of this study offer guidance to firms in improving their green innovation in various aspects, thus promoting sustainability and environmental friendliness in corporate development.