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This study aims to assess the information-seeking behaviors, attitudes and beliefs about pregnancy-related nutrition, food-related myths and taboos and supplementation among pregnant women in different communities of Pakistan.

A cross-sectional quantitative survey method was used in this study, which included 150 pregnant women from various locations in Lahore and Faisalabad.

Most participants were between the ages of 25 and 29, having 14 years of education. Regardless of age or number of children, all selected women had the same dietary awareness. Regarding myths and taboos, highly significant values (p = 0.001) were found in various studied variables. No significant difference was observed in knowledge level between age and number of children. It was observed that food myths and taboos significantly (p = 0.001) impact pregnant women’s dietary choices.

This survey experienced limited representativeness; many participants provided incomplete food and nutritional information. This research was conducted in two major districts of Pakistan, i.e. Lahore and Faisalabad; therefore, the results can be generalized for a population of pregnant women living in the northeastern region of Pakistan.

This study can provide helpful insight for health-care professionals to improve pregnant women’s nutritional status and knowledge.

The outcomes of this study can help guide how pregnant women might be educated and have better nutritional awareness at domestic and professional levels.

In Pakistan, there is a lack of research on pregnant women’s nutritional knowledge, and this research can assist health-care professionals in providing diversified knowledge to promote maternal health.

The present work is devoted to investigating the sensitivity analysis of the electroosmotic peristaltic motion of non-Newtonian Casson fluid with the effect of the chemical reaction and magnetohydrodynamics through the porous medium. The main focus is on flow efficiency quantities such as pressure rise per wavelength, frictional forces on the upper wall and frictional forces on the lower wall. This initiative is to bridge the existing gap in the available literature.

The governing equations of the problem are mathematically formulated and subsequently simplified for sensitivity analysis under the assumptions of a long wavelength and a small Reynolds number. The simplified equations take the form of coupled nonlinear differential equations, which are solved using the built-in Matlab routine bvp4c. The response surface methodology and artificial neural networks are used to develop the empirical model for pressure rise per wavelength, frictional forces on the upper wall and frictional forces on the lower wall.

The empirical model demonstrates an excellent fit with a coefficient of determination reaching 100% for responses, frictional forces on the upper wall and frictional forces on the lower wall and 99.99% for response, for pressure rise per wavelength. It is revealed through the sensitivity analysis that pressure rise per wavelength, frictional forces on the upper wall and frictional forces on the lower wall are most sensitive to the permeability parameter at all levels.

The objective of this study is to use artificial neural networks simulation and analyze the sensitivity of electroosmotic peristaltic motion of non-Newtonian fluid with the effect of chemical reaction.

This study aims to evaluate students' satisfaction with university library services in southern Punjab, Pakistan, emphasizing their perspective on service quality (SQ).

A LibQUAL+® survey with 22 core items was conducted within university settings using convenience sampling. In total, 345 usable responses were returned through Google Forms. Data analysis involved descriptive statistics, ordinal logistic regression test, Pearson and Deviance statistics and chi-square test to assess the satisfaction status of library users.

The study found that libraries generally meet SQ standards. However, there were minor gaps in information control (IC) and library as place (LP).

The study provides library administrators with actionable insights to enhance services, encouraging stakeholders to adopt optimal library practices for heightened efficiency and user satisfaction.

It highlights the crucial role of libraries in shaping future societal progress by emphasizing the need for elevated user services. Librarians can use this knowledge to modify their planning and take impactful initiatives that align with the evolving needs of their users.

While many studies have utilized LibQUAL, this research is unique for its focus on addressing university library services in underdeveloped regions facing economic challenges. It attempts to fill the information gap by offering a transferable approach for strategic priorities in similar settings.

This paper contributes insights into how different firm types in the emerging market (EM) of Turkey respond to upgrading pressures in terms of internationalization and the usage of domestic political support. It seeks to highlight how the usage of and the responses to different strategies, connections and policy instruments vary with firm types.

Binary logistic regression analysis is used to differentiate and identify characteristics of firms regarding market-seeking strategies and their usage of institutional and financial support. The analysis is based on survey data from firms located in the metro-region of Istanbul: advanced market multinational enterprises (AMNEs), Turkish MNEs (TMNEs) and domestic Turkish firms (DTFs).

Different types of firms within the population of innovative firms in the EM setting of Turkey show significant variety regarding the usage of and the responses to key factors affecting internationalization. AMNEs particularly benefit from investment and export incentives as well as from establishing political connections in Turkey. DTFs significantly use tax incentives and primarily seek advanced markets. TMNEs particularly benefit from investment and export incentives and prefer to target advanced markets.

Using Turkey as a single-country setting is a limitation to the generalizability of the results. Future studies could use more cases of AMNEs to compare different countries of origin. In addition, the intended focus on R&D-related firms produces specific outcomes for such companies.

National and regional policies need to pursue different strategies for the surveyed groups of firms to attract and maintain foreign direct investments (FDIs) of AMNEs as well as to support outward FDIs of domestic firms and EM MNEs. In particular, policies for market entries and knowledge sourcing in advanced markets are becoming a crucial factor for EM firms in overcoming a shortage of resources at home.

This paper’s findings challenge existing theories such as the concept of psychic distance or liabilities of foreignness, which do not always provide an adequate explanation for internationalization activities of EM firms. In addition, it is highly relevant to apply an eclectic or multidimensional concept when conducting research in EMs in order to capture the interrelated constructs of upgrading, internationalization and political support.

This study aims to examine the influence of training and development (TAD), including performance appraisal (PFA), on the performance of microfinance institutions in a developing economy.

A random sampling drew 100 microfinance institutions in Ghana's Greater Accra Region. Then, a purposive sampling approach selected a cross-section of employees in these institutions. Finally, the data were collected from a sample of 367 respondents, such as managers, utilizing a survey questionnaire. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test hypothesized relationships.

The study results indicate that PFA has a statistically significant positive relationship with organizational performance, and this relationship is partially mediated by job satisfaction (JBS). Interestingly, the TAD process does not have a statistically significant positive relationship with organizational performance when JBS is present in the model. In fact, JBS fully mediates the relationship between TAD and organizational performance.

The study is limited to microfinance in tiers two and three in Greater Accra city of Ghana and did not include the entire country. Although the city of Accra provides a generalized representation of the research, which can be replicated, some variables and results may be impacted if other tiers of microfinance organizations are incorporated.

TAD, as well as PFA, enhance the performance of microfinance and can be utilized as tools for competitive advantage in small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (e.g. microfinance institutions). The study accentuates the value of TAD, PFA and JBS in microfinance in a developing country like Ghana.

This is an original study investigating the effect of TAD and PFA practices on the performance of SMEs in a developing country like Ghana. Also, the study analyses JBS as a mediation variable to performance using SEM, which advances the research methodology in this research field.

The hybrid nanofluid flow due to a rotating disk has numerous applications, including centrifugal pumps, paper production, polymers dying, air filtration systems, automobile cooling and solar collectors. This study aims to investigate the convective heat transport and magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) hybrid nanofluid flow past a stretchable rotating surface using the Yamada-Ota and Xue models with the impacts of heat generation and thermal radiation.

The carbon nanotubes such as single-wall carbon nanotubes and multi-wall carbon nanotubes are suspended in a base fluid like water to make the hybrid nanofluid. The problem’s governing partial differential equations are transformed into a system of ordinary differential equations using similarity transformations. Then, the numerical solutions are found with a bvp4c function in MATLAB software. The impacts of pertinent parameters on the flow and temperature fields are depicted in tables and graphs.

Two solution branches are discovered in a certain range of unsteadiness parameters. The fluid temperature and the rate of heat transport are enhanced when the thermal radiation and heat generation effects are increased. The Yamada-Ota model has a higher temperature than the Xue model. Furthermore, it is observed that only the first solution remains stable when the stability analysis is implemented.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, the results stated are original and new with the investigation of MHD hybrid nanofluid flow with convective heat transfer using the extended version of Yamada-Ota and Xue models. Moreover, the novelty of the present study is improved by taking the impacts of heat generation and thermal radiation.

The study aims to investigate the impact of workplace ostracism (WO) and fear of the COVID-19 pandemic on the family life of restaurant employees. This research is based on the conservation of resources (COR) theory and work–family interface model to understand the theoretical underpinnings of mistreatment in the food sector during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study utilized a survey with a structured questionnaire to collect time-lagged data from 238 restaurant employees in the central region of Punjab province in Pakistan. The collected data were analyzed using the SPSS tool with modern-day techniques like bootstrapping, process macro and SmartPLS.

The study reveals that perceived stress levels of the employees increase due to ostracism, leading to work–family conflict. Furthermore, the study found that employees who fear COVID-19 are less stressed by ostracism.

The study's significant contribution lies in demonstrating that the impact of ostracism in the workplace is quite different from what was expected. The results have shown that ostracism can reduce the perceived stress levels of employees, leading to a decrease in work–family conflict, especially in the presence of fear of COVID-19.

The purpose of this chapter is to cover banking efficiency using the concept of the Meta frontier function and to study group and subgroup differences in the production technology. This study estimates the technical efficiency (TE) and technology gap ratios (TGRs) for banks in Islamic countries. Using the assumption of the convex hull of the Meta frontier production set using the virtual Meta frontier within the nonparametric approach as presented by Battese and Rao (2002), Battese et al. (2004), and O'Donnell et al. (2007, 2008) and after relaxing this assumption, the study investigates if there is a significant difference between these two methods. To overcome the deterministic criterion addressed to nonparametric approach, the bootstrapping technique has been applied. The first part of this chapter covers the analytical framework necessary for the definition of a Meta frontier function and its estimation using nonparametric data envelopment analysis (DEA) in the case where we impose the assumption of the convex production set and follows in the case of relaxation of this assumption. Then we estimated the TE and the TGR in concave and nonconcave Meta frontier cases by applying the Bootstrap-DEA approach. The empirical part will be reserved for highlighting these methods on data bank to study the technical and technological performance level and prove if there is a difference between the two methods. Three groups of banks namely commercial, investment, and Islamic banks in 17 Islamic countries over a period of 16 years between 1996 and 2011 are used.

This study aims to investigate the different attributes of electronic commerce (e-commerce) that determine perceived value and electronic loyalty (e-loyalty) among consumers of online food delivery applications (OFDAs). In this globalized world and competitive environment, e-commerce demands have increased and organizations are giving special attention to web development, website design and functions to hold the current consumers with sustainable performance in the globalized and competitive environment. Almost every industry has been affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and changed the way of operational work in many industries. Similarly, the food industry is facing serious challenges and now restaurants started heavily depending on OFDAs.

The study was quantitative and data were collected from 509 consumers of the district of Rawalpindi, Punjab Pakistan by using a convenience sampling technique who was the users of OFDAs to evaluate the proposed research model. Confirmatory factor analysis was applied to evaluate the validity of the constructs, and structural equation modeling was employed to test the model through Smart-PLS.

Our findings revealed that perceived value has a substantial positive impact on electronic loyalty (e-loyalty). Moreover, results confirmed that perceived value mediates the relationship of electronic privacy (e-privacy), electronic security (e-security), electronic payment (e-payment), usability and electronic innovativeness (e-innovativeness) with e-loyalty.

This study added to the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and technology acceptance model (TAM) by exploring consumers’ intentions for using OFDAs in the framework of e-commerce attributes, perceived value and e-loyalty. Similarly, the study enabled the author to learn more about how people would use the information system after successfully applying the UTAUT.

This study has significant implications for web developers, application designers, food delivery companies, restaurants and other businesses. Subsequently, it indicates the importance of the incredible attractiveness of OFDAs in boosting users’ intentions to keep using the application.

This research contributes substantially to OFDAs efforts to continuously increase its meal service platform and improve client satisfaction which resulted in repurchase intent. In addition, the research facilitates OFDA firms to enhance the features of their applications according to clients.

This study aims to explore the key factors that hinder technopreneur’s success.

The finalization of the most appropriate method to conduct any study is based on the nature of the research questions (Shaw, 1999; Morse and Richards, 2002). As this study is exploratory, a qualitative approach was used to collect the data. Morse and Richards (2002) have emphasized that the qualitative technique to collect is useful for in-depth assessment of the participant’s experiences, their understanding regarding the matter and their interpretation of their experiences.

Technopreneurs face four significant problems that have an impact on their business agility and competitiveness. These four factors are as follows: the entrepreneur’s skills and preparedness; their organization’s insufficient capabilities and talent to deal with the challenges; a lack of support mechanisms from relevant institutions; and, finally, the rapidly changing business environment in terms of technology and competition.

This study explores the hindrance factors through qualitative techniques faced by young technopreneurs in the context of Malaysia. This study will provide deep insight regarding the key issues facing new startups and will be helpful for policymakers.