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This study clarifies the history and significance of cryptocurrencies. It explores the underlying decentralisation and trustlessness concepts that set these digital assets apart from conventional fiat currencies. It clarifies how blockchain technology functions as the core component of decentralised money. The mechanics of mining, its function in creating and validating Bitcoin transactions, and the emergence of substitute consensus mechanisms to solve environmental issues are all covered in this study. An in-depth analysis of blockchain technology covers its advantages, such as immutability and transparency, as well as its architecture and consensus processes. This study continues with a focus on the future by examining the development of decentralised finance (DeFi) and showcasing numerous DeFi applications, including yield farming, lending protocols, and decentralised exchanges (DEXs). As a result of the development of cryptocurrencies and blockchain technology, DeFi has become possible, ushering in a new era of financial independence and inclusivity. This study emphasises the significance of striking a balance between innovation and suitable regulatory measures as the globe embraces this revolution in order to enable the proper integration of DeFi into the global financial environment. The revolutionary potential of DeFi, particularly in increasing financial inclusion and empowerment for marginalised groups globally, is one of the major themes discussed. To negotiate legal frameworks while maintaining DeFi's decentralised nature, this study looks at the regulatory problems that come with this potential.

The purpose of this study is to measure the current levels of awareness of communication skills among academic librarians in degree-awarding institutions of Pakistan and to identify barriers that libraries, with the support of organizational stakeholders, could target to enhance adoption and / or improvement of these skills.

Quantitative research design, based on a Web-based survey method, used a questionnaire as the data collection tool for librarians used in degree-awarding institutions in Pakistan. After incorporating feedback from experts in the field, the questionnaire link was shared with a sample population of n = 400 academic librarians in Pakistan, using simple random sampling. The data was coded in Microsoft Excel and exported to SPSS v 26 for analysis.

Overall, the findings underscore a consistent and moderate to high level of awareness by this cohort of basic library communication skills and their associated benefits. The level of agreement as to the principal barriers to these skills aligns with previous research results over the past decade and therefore underlines the need to prioritize the development of appropriate solutions.

Further research is indicated to investigate the major factors contributing to the principal barriers identified in the current study.

The study recommends that librarians work with relevant stakeholders to identify strategies to enhance their personal and interpersonal communication skills and to address current barriers to upskilling.

The study could serve as a foundation for any future research and policy frameworks to enhance employability and communication skills among librarians in Pakistan.

The main issue is whether customers prefer convenience over Shariah compliance or the opposite when they decide their Islamic banking needs. The purpose of this paper is to explore why customers adopt Islamic banking products and services: Shariah compliance or convenience?

Using convenience sampling, 310 respondents’ data were collected through online survey. For testing the fit and hypotheses of the proposed model, AMOS 25 software and Smart-PLS 4.0 software have been used.

Attitude, Islamic value and convenience have significant determinants of Islamic banking products and services. Shariah compliance has no direct or indirect influence on neither intention nor actual behaviour to adopt Islamic banking services. Furthermore, gender has no such differential effect on the adoption.

Managers and marketers of Islamic banks may benefit from the findings of this study, which demonstrate fresh insights regarding the factors which help in strategy formulations to promote Islamic banking services.

The growth of Islamic banks, branches and windows is remarkable in both Muslim-majority and Muslim-minority countries in the world. This paper postulates the behavioural finance studies in Islamic banking and finance research stream by extending the theory of planned behaviour of Ajzen (1985) as all the three new constructs (Islamic value, convenienc and Shariah compliance) are statistically fit for further studies. However, only Islamic value and convenience are the two significant factors which drive customers to take decision in the proposed model. This study gives insights to the bankers and authority about the consumer behaviour.

The main objective of this study is to investigate the factors that influence the adoption intention of cloud computing services among individual users using the extended theory of planned behavior.

A purposive sampling technique was used to collect a total of 339 data points, which were analyzed using SmartPLS to derive variance-based structural equation modeling and fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

The results obtained from PLS-SEM indicate that attitude towards cloud computing, subjective norms, perceived behavioral control, perceived security, cost-effectiveness, and performance expectancy all have a positive and significant impact on the adoption intention of cloud computing services among individual users. On the other hand, the findings from fsQCA provide a clear interpretation and deeper insights into the adoption intention of individual users of cloud computing services by revealing the complex relationships between multiple combinations of antecedents. This helps to understand the reasons for individual users' adoption intention in emerging countries.

This study offers valuable insights to cloud service providers and cyber entrepreneurs on how to promote cloud computing services to individual users in developing countries. It helps these organizations understand their priorities for encouraging cloud computing adoption among individual users from emerging countries. Additionally, policymakers can also understand their role in creating a comfortable and flexible cloud computing access environment for individual users.

This study has contributed to the increasingly growing empirical literature on cloud computing adoption and demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed theoretical framework in identifying the potential reasons for the slow growth of cloud computing services adoption in the developing world.

The staggering demand for construction projects to meet a spectrum of public needs is projected to outstrip the industry’s supply capability. The modern methods of construction (MMC) offers wider control due to shifting key construction processes offsite. Public clients play a significant role due to their purchasing power; however, their uptake of MMC is low, despite the benefits. The purpose of this study is to reveal the reasoning behind such low adoption. The research gap, herewith, is our lack of understanding of the influence of public clients perceptions on their adoption’s indecision.

This study used a qualitative approach to investigate the motives behind the public sector’s low MMC adoption. Semi-structured interviews with 14 of the United Kingdom’s public sector decision-makers, industry leaders and experts have been conducted. Perspectives were argued against the diffusion of innovation (DOI) theory.

Overall, the innovation’s attributes informed the authors of the positive perceptions from the public sector, demonstrating that the low adoption of MMC is not linked to any embedded issues with the innovation itself rather being predominantly related to the dynamics between supply and demand. The former (supply), reflected a failure in communicating confidence, and the latter (demand), attained characteristics that are limiting wider uptake.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to apply the DOI theory to reveal the relationship between UK public clients’ perceptions and their decision-making. Moreover, this paper addresses the scant attention to the use of theories to explain the flow of innovations in the construction context.

Globally, postnatal women endure a prominent issue caused by midline separation of abdominal recti muscles, characterized by a sagging and pouch-like appearance of the belly termed as Diastasis Recti Abdominis (DRA). The necessity of ensuring the efficacy of rehabilitative workouts for individuals with DRA cannot be overstated, as inaccurate exercises can exacerbate the condition and deteriorate the health of affected women. The purpose of these exercises is to specifically focus on the rectus abdominis muscles to facilitate the reapproximation of the linea alba. The primary aim of this research work is to assess the effectiveness of rehabilitation exercises for DRA women obtained from Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) and Electromyography (EMG) sensors.

Convolutional neural networks (CNN) employs convolutional activation functions and pooling layers. Recently, 1D CNNs have emerged as a promising approach used in various applications, including personalized biomedical data classification and early diagnosis, structural health monitoring and anomaly detection. Yet another significant benefit is the feasibility of a real-time and cost-effective implementation of 1D CNN. The EMG and IMU signals serve as inputs for the 1D CNN. Features are then extracted from the fully connected layer of the CNN and fed into a boosting machine learning algorithm for classification.

The findings demonstrate that a combination of sensors provides more details about the exercises, thereby contributing to the classification accuracy.

In real time, collecting data from postnatal women was incredibly challenging. The process of examining these women was time-consuming, and they were often preoccupied with their newborns, leading to a reluctance to focus on their own health. Additionally, postnatal women might not be fully aware of the implications of DRA and the importance of rehabilitation exercises. Many might not realize that neglecting DRA can lead to long-term issues such as back pain, pelvic floor dysfunction, and compromised core strength.

During our data collection camps, there were educational sessions to raise awareness about the DRA problem and the benefits of rehabilitation exercises. This dual approach helped in building trust and encouraging participation. Moreover, the use of wearable sensors in this study provided a non-invasive and convenient way for new mothers to engage in rehabilitation exercises without needing frequent visits to a clinic, which is often impractical for them.

The utilization of discriminating features retrieved from the output layer of 1D CNN is a significant contribution to this work. The responses of this study indicate that 1D convolutional neural network (1D CNN) and Boosting algorithms used in a transfer learning strategy produce successful discrimination between accurate and inaccurate performance of exercises by achieving an accuracy of 96%.

This study investigates the impact and role of digital twin technology in building automation (DTBA) from a sustainability viewpoint. It aims to enhance the understanding of how DTBA can boost efficiency, optimize quality and support sustainable practices in contemporary construction. By exploring the integration of DTBA with sustainable practices, the study seeks to demonstrate how DT can revolutionize building management and operations, leading to significant improvements in resource efficiency, environmental impact and overall operational excellence.

This research employs a bibliographic analysis and systematic review of 176 publications from the past five years (January 1, 2019 to December 31, 2023), focusing on the application and development of DTBA. The study methodically analyzes current trends, identifies research gaps and suggests future directions by synthesizing data from various studies, offering a comprehensive overview of the current state of DTBA research. The approach combines quantitative and qualitative analyses to provide robust insights into the advancements and challenges in the field.

The review identifies key development areas in DTBA, such as energy and environmental management, resource utilization within a circular economy and technology integration and interoperability. It highlights the necessity for further research to maximize DTBA’s potential in sustainable building automation. The findings suggest that while significant progress has been made, there is a critical need for innovations in data interoperability, predictive analytics and the integration of renewable energy sources to fully realize the benefits of DTBA in enhancing building sustainability.

This paper provides a thorough review of DTBA from a sustainability perspective, offering valuable insights into its current applications and future development potential. It serves as a crucial resource for researchers and practitioners looking to advance sustainable practices in the construction sector using DT technology. By bridging the gap between theoretical research and practical applications, the paper underscores the transformative potential of DTBA in driving sustainable development and provides a roadmap for future research and innovation in the field.

This research was initiated by motivation from a real business problem that delves into lean management practices in dairy farm operations. It investigates how lean management practices can be applied as an improvement strategy in the dairy business to evaluate its impact on performance, where profitability is a decisive factor.

Based on the qualitative design, a 5-phase action research methodology was used in this study, where multiple data collection sources were used, including focus group discussions, on-site observation or Gemba walks and process mapping. The impact is evaluated by comparing the key performance measures with the same period before and after research.

The research revealed that lean management practices can significantly improve dairy business performance. It explained vital aspects of lean management practices and their sequence with examples of first-hand applications. It explained, how lean management practices were applied in dairy farm operations. Furthermore, the research resulted in significant benefits, in terms of quality, cost and profitability.

This research was conducted in a real business setting in the field environment, to improve dairy business performance. It was a distinctive application of lean management practices to solve a national problem. This could be used as a road map to bring continuous improvement at the national level to improve the performance of food value chains.

This research is unique because it addresses the methodological, population and empirical gaps in dairy farm operations. It adds value to the existing knowledge base by sharing best practices, developed and implemented for the first time to the best of our knowledge, like high-level process mapping and performance measures at different levels. Furthermore, the solutions can be simulated in related farm operations to bring breakthrough improvements in dairy business performance.

“Social hesitancy” is a reluctance by people to purchase products, or engage in activities, that may benefit themselves and society. This paper aims to review and assess a visual marketing approach to this significant social marketing problem.

The authors use data visualization technology as an informational tool, visual sentiment analysis as a social text mining tool and Latent Dirichlet Allocation visual (LDAvis) modelling as a topic modelling tool to measure, assess and address social attitudes inherent in hesitancy. The paper’s hypothesis is that these technologies can help society understand the reasons for, and barriers to, hesitancy, and that visual marketing is an extremely effective approach to the hesitancy problem.

Using extensive vaccination data and results from the COVID-19 pandemic, the authors found that the visual marketing technologies were successful informational and motivational tools for social hesitancy.

Hesitancy is a social marketing concern that can have an impact on product or service promotional and motivational campaigns during a crisis. The LDA visual model, for example, can quantitatively extract and measure the social attitudes of people and identify and segment these people based on their feelings. These tools can be valuable to social marketers by helping to establish strategies for any product or service exhibiting hesitant consumer behaviour.

Using advanced visual technology, the paper contributes to social hesitancy by addressing the following question: does a visual marketing approach help social marketers understand the underlying reasons for, and help to mitigate, social hesitancy?

Exploring the current phenomenon of the cash waqf-linked sukuk (CWLS) program issuance that involves Islamic banks in Indonesia, this paper aims to investigate the key barriers and intentional behaviors in realizing wealthy Muslims’ contribution to the program using the intermediary function of Islamic banks. Moreover, this study provides a conceptual framework to set effective marketing strategies to encourage wealthy Muslims to become cash waqf founders and sustain their contribution.

This qualitative study used a literature review and in-depth interviews to generate insights for developing a model of wealthy Muslims’ behavior toward cash waqf programs held by Islamic banks.

The study identified low trust, literacy and transparency as the biggest barriers to cash waqf contributions, but suggests that a greater role for Islamic banks, personal engagement and innovative product offerings can help to overcome these barriers. The study also identified three new behavioral dimensions that are important for understanding wealthy Muslims’ contributions to cash waqf: personal financial planning, accountability and political issues. Based on these findings, the study proposes 10 strategies for all stakeholders to pursue in the short and medium term to promote cash waqf contributions from wealthy Muslims.

This study only involved respondents from three major cities in Indonesia: Jakarta, Bandung and Surabaya because these cities have a large number of wealthy Muslims. Future research can collect more samples from all major cities in Indonesia or other Muslim majority countries, and use other qualitative methodology such as phenomenological, ethnographic, grounded theory, case study or action research. The findings of this study can be the starting point for further research and the proposed conceptual framework requires empirical testing in the future.

The findings of this study can be a basis for policymakers and the Islamic financial industry in formulating marketing, education and socialization strategies for innovative cash waqf programs.

The findings of this study will support the acceleration of cash waqf collection for cash waqf initiatives through Islamic banks. Moreover, with a better understanding of the factors impeding and motivating the most potential Muslim groups to contribute to the innovative cash waqf program, the ultimate goal of higher national socio-economic development becomes more attainable.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to investigate wealthy Muslims’ behavioral factors for contributing to innovative cash waqf held by Islamic banks, from various stakeholder perspectives. It fills a research gap in the literature on innovative cash waqf and behavior.