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1 – 10 of 165Mehran Hazer Sahlabadi, Abdolali Abdipour and Abbas Mohammadi
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of diode power detector modelling on six-port communication receiver performance.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to study the effect of diode power detector modelling on six-port communication receiver performance.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on proposed and conventional squared diode model, six-port receiver’s demodulation and its error vector magnitude (EVM) performance due to hardware impairments are studied. Through considering both the models, the accuracy of proposed power detector model is compared to the squared model, and then both results are validated with envelope simulation (ENV) in advanced design system (ADS).
Findings
Comparing the numerical results with envelope simulation results proved that the proposed model is much more accurate than the conventional squared model for a wide range of input power levels.
Originality/value
Studying the receiver’s performance numerically, by considering the new proposed analytical approach for diode power detectors which is more accurate than the conventional squared model.
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Manal Etemadi, Kioomars Ashtarian, Nader Ganji, Hannaneh Mohammadi Kangarani and Hasan Abolghasem Gorji
Reducing health inequalities between the poor and the rich is one of the challenges that the Iranian healthcare sector is facing. One of the goals of the Iranian Government in the…
Abstract
Purpose
Reducing health inequalities between the poor and the rich is one of the challenges that the Iranian healthcare sector is facing. One of the goals of the Iranian Government in the Healthcare Sector Evolution Plan (HSEP) is claimed to be creating an opportunity for the poor to use inexpensive services. The purpose of this paper is to provide an analysis of the status of the poor in the HSEP. Based on this evaluation, the authors will provide policy recommendations to improve the benefits of the HSEP for the poor people.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper is based on a qualitative study conducted in 2017. The research sample includes policymakers, experts and scholars at the macro-level of the Iranian healthcare system who were well-aware of the financial support for the poor. Overall, 35 semi-structured interviews were carried out. Data were analyzed based on the thematic analysis method.
Findings
The effects of the HSEP on the poor were studied in terms of their positive outcomes and challenges. Despite the achievements of the HSEP for all people, the most important challenge was the lack of targeted state subsidies for the poor. These subsidies should have included free insurance coverage, reducing inpatient payment and allocation of a separate budget for the poor.
Originality/value
Adopting some policies to target public health subsidies toward the poor such as free insurance specific for the poor (based on means testing), as well as user fee exemption and waivers could improve access to health services for them in Iran. In addition, separate funding for such policies, strengthening health prevention and health care services for marginalized populations, and improving their health literacy could help ensure the poor’s benefiting more from the health care services.
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Children have the ability to contribute to sustainable tourism research. A great deal of research on nature holiday has been conducted. However, it is unclear how this travel…
Abstract
Children have the ability to contribute to sustainable tourism research. A great deal of research on nature holiday has been conducted. However, it is unclear how this travel might serve as a good motivator for children to engage in environmentally responsible behaviour. To address this research gap, 72 drawings of children aged nine to 12 from Tehran, Iran, accompanied with the stories of their holiday were collected. Thematic analysis was done to assess their experience in nature and their cognitive state of environmental responsible behaviour. According to the finding, children are significantly concerned about nature, and they mostly perceived their best holidays in the natural environment. Children displayed a profound awareness of environmental responsible behaviour themes through their encounters with nature. Their experiences are classified into five levels: sensory, emotive, cognitive, behavioural and relationship. Each of these stages of experience may be used as a guideline for encouraging and training youngsters to be responsible.
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Ahsan Ali, Abdul Hameed, Muhammad Farrukh Moin and Naseer Abbas Khan
The study has two aims: first, it aimed to investigate the impact of contextual factors (such as information quality, service quality, system quality, trust in applications (app…
Abstract
Purpose
The study has two aims: first, it aimed to investigate the impact of contextual factors (such as information quality, service quality, system quality, trust in applications (app) and COVID-19 health anxiety) on the intention to use the Mobile Payment (MP) app, and subsequently, the actual use of the app. Second, the aim of this study is whether the COVID-19 threat has a moderating influence on the relationship between customers' intent to use MP app and the actual use of MP app.
Design/methodology/approach
The data are collected through an online survey from 341 Mobile Banking (MB) app users from Pakistan to empirically analyze the relationship between service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app, COVID-19 health anxiety and COVID-19 threat, intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app.
Findings
The empirical analysis of the data collected from MB-app users from Pakistan shows that service quality, system quality, information quality, trust in the app and COVID-19 health anxiety positively related to intentions to use MB-app, consequently affect the actual use of MB-app. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that the COVID-19 threat positively moderates the relationship between intentions to use MB-app and actual use of MB-app.
Originality/value
Although, prior research established a positive impact of mobile apps on customer service and consumer satisfaction. Yet, it is not clear which factors influence customers to adopt MB-app. This study contributes to the research on MB-apps based on adaptive structuration theory and examines the technological factors and contextual factors that collectively explain when and how individuals decide to adopt MB-app.
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Vahid Mohamad Taghvaee, Abbas Assari Arani, Mehrab Nodehi, Jalil Khodaparast Shirazi, Lotfali Agheli, Haji Mohammad Neshat Ghojogh, Nafiseh Salehnia, Amir Mirzaee, Saeed Taheri, Raziyeh Mohammadi Saber, Hady Faramarzi, Reza Alvandi and Hosein Ahmadi Rahbarian
This study aims to assess and decompose the sustainable development using the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Iran in 2018, for proposing agenda-setting of public…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to assess and decompose the sustainable development using the 17 sustainable development goals (SDGs) in Iran in 2018, for proposing agenda-setting of public policy.
Design/methodology/approach
It ranks the SDGs not only in Iran but also in the region and the world to reveal the synergetic effects.
Findings
Based on the results, subaltern-populace generally suffers from the hegemonic domination of ruling elite-bourgeois, lack of strong institutions, heterogeneous policy networks and lack of advocacy role of non-governmental organizations, due to no transparency, issues in law or no rule of law, no stringent regulation, rent, suppression and Mafia, all leading to corruption and injustice.
Practical implications
To stop the loop of corruption-injustice, Iran should homogenize the structure of the policy network. Furthermore, the failed SDGs of the three-geographic analysis are the same in a character; all of them propose SDG 3, good health and well-being as a serious failed goal.
Social implications
In this regard, strong evidence is the pandemic Coronavirus, COVID 19 since 2019, due to its highly-disastrous consequences in early 2020 where the public policymakers could not adopt policies promptly in the glob, particularly in Iran.
Originality/value
In Iran, in addition to this, the malfunction of health is rooted in “subjective well-being” and “traffic deaths,” respectively. Concerning the transportations system in Iran, it is underscored that it is damaging the sustainable development from all the three pillars of sustainable development including, economic, social and environmental.
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Dariush Boostani, Naima Mohammadi and Fattah Hatami Maskouni
This study uses a phenomenology method to investigate the experiences of married Muslim women while having romantic conversations via online dating sites during the COVID-19…
Abstract
This study uses a phenomenology method to investigate the experiences of married Muslim women while having romantic conversations via online dating sites during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixteen participants were selected via purposive sampling, and the data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. The results confirm that resistance to Islamic marriage limitations is the underlying reason accounting for Muslim women's romantic chat. However, “premarital experiences in virtual space” and “chat as a remedy for loneliness” create the causal conditions of romantic chat, and “experience of family restrictions” and a “sense of freedom” provides the foundation for an online romantic chat. It is worth noting that those who voice a sense of “unhappy marriage” and “husband's sexual coldness” are more likely to turn to sex chat during the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences of digital romantic conversations for married Muslim women are “chat addiction” and “feeling a sense of betrayal.”
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Sevenpri Candra and Florensia Sarlin Jeselin
The e-learning-based approach is critical in keeping the wheels of education turning in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic. In this scenario, analyzing the implementation of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The e-learning-based approach is critical in keeping the wheels of education turning in the face of the COVID-19 epidemic. In this scenario, analyzing the implementation of the e-learning system is required to properly grasp the needs. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the relationship between technical system quality, information quality, service quality, educational system quality, support system quality, learner quality, instructor quality, perceived satisfaction, perceived usefulness, e-learning system use and benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
This study was carried out by giving online questionnaires to students attending private institutions in Indonesia. A total of 593 students participated in the study and provided responses. The structural equation model, which is supported by the program WarpPLS7.0, is used to analyze the data.
Findings
Maintaining the quality of the technological system, the information system, the learners and the educational system can help achieve the goal of increasing perceived utility. In the meanwhile, factors such as inadequate service quality, educational system quality, support system quality and teacher quality can all pose challenges to perceived levels of satisfaction. To get the most out of e-learning apps, users' expectations about how fun, useful and easy to use they are need to be met.
Research limitations/implications
This study was carried out in the midst of the COVID-19 epidemic with a restricted number of participants from Indonesian institutions of higher education. This research has the potential to be expanded into a variety of different types of higher education in the future.
Practical implications
The main thing that will determine whether an e-learning system model works is the quality of the learners.
Originality/value
The institution should think about changing the material offered in the e-learning system to make it easier for students to grasp by describing the current material and providing digital handouts of lecturers' explanations. This study expanded the e-learning system success model and applied it to the evaluation of e-learning deployment in Indonesian higher education. This study will improve student comprehension of the e-learning model and contribute to the body of knowledge about e-learning applications and technology.
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Abbas Naeimi, Mohammad Hossein Ahmadi, Milad Sadeghzadeh and Alibakhsh Kasaeian
This paper aims to determine the optimum arrangement of a reverse osmosis system in two methods of plug and concentrate recycling.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to determine the optimum arrangement of a reverse osmosis system in two methods of plug and concentrate recycling.
Design/methodology/approach
To compare the optimum conditions of these two methods, a seawater reverse osmosis system was considered to produce fresh water at a rate of 4,000 m3/d for Mahyarkala city, located in north of Iran, for a period of 20 years. Using genetic algorithms and two-objective optimization method, the reverse osmosis system was designed.
Findings
The results showed that exergy efficiency in optimum condition for concentrate recycling and plug methods was 82.6 and 92.4 per cent, respectively. The optimizations results showed that concentrate recycling method, despite a 36 per cent reduction in the initial cost and a 2 per cent increase in maintenance expenses, provides 6 per cent higher recovery and 19.7 per cent less permeate concentration than two-stage plug method.
Originality/value
Optimization parameters include feed water pressure, the rate of water return from the brine for concentrate recycling system, type of SW membrane, feedwater flow rate and numbers of elements in each pressure vessel (PV). These parameters were also compared to each other in terms of recovery (R) and freshwater unit production cost. In addition, the exergy of all elements was analyzed by selecting the optimal mode of each system.
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Lindsey M. Harper, Elizabeth D. James, Soohyung Joo and Youngseek Kim
Today’s undergraduate students have spent a significant portion of their lives using YouTube for various reasons, whether for entertainment, personal development or academic…
Abstract
Purpose
Today’s undergraduate students have spent a significant portion of their lives using YouTube for various reasons, whether for entertainment, personal development or academic learning purposes. This study aims to investigate how system factors (i.e. reliability, usability and searchability), interaction factors (i.e. provider and user interactions) and content factors (i.e. format, relevance and coverage) affect undergraduate students’ satisfaction with YouTube and their intentions to adopt YouTube for learning purposes.
Design/methodology/approach
This research uses the information systems success model as its theoretical framework to explore the system, interaction and content factors associated with undergraduate students’ satisfaction with YouTube and their intentions to use YouTube for learning. The proposed hypotheses were examined by the structural equation modelling technique based on a survey with 345 undergraduate students at a Southeastern institution in the USA.
Findings
The results indicate that both system factors (including reliability, usability and searchability) and content factors (including format, relevance and coverage) have a statistically significant effect on students’ satisfaction with YouTube. This study also demonstrates that students’ satisfaction with YouTube significantly influences their intentions to use the platform for learning purposes.
Research limitations/implications
The proposed research model provides a novel perspective in understanding the complex nature of students’ adoption of YouTube for learning purposes, led by both system and content factors mediated by satisfaction with YouTube.
Practical implications
This study suggests that when YouTube is intuitive to use and relevant content is added to the platform regularly, students are more likely to adopt this platform for learning purposes. As a result, it is critical that librarians remain aware of information-seeking practices and platforms used by students to tailor approaches to teaching information literacy to help students understand how to use the platform effectively.
Originality/value
Using the information systems success model, this research sheds light on the roles of system and content factors in undergraduate students’ satisfaction with YouTube and their intentions to use it for learning.
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Yasmeen Abu Sumaqa, Sajeda Alhamory, Manar Abu-Abbas, Ahmad Rayan, Mutaz Foad Alradaydeh, Nour Alrida, Omymah Zain Alddin Al-Rajabi, Mohammad Y. Alzaatreh, Anas H. Khalifeh, Saleh Al Omar and Manal Mohamed Abd EINaeem
The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived level of Jordanian nurses’ competencies in offering care to the community during a disaster.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to assess the perceived level of Jordanian nurses’ competencies in offering care to the community during a disaster.
Design/methodology/approach
A correlational descriptive design was used to assess nurses’ competencies in offering care for the community during a disaster.
Findings
A total of 370 nurses (55 % males) aged 25−55 agreed to participate. The mean score of competencies of nurses who offer care to the community during the disaster was 2.11 (SD = 0.59) points. The results of correlation coefficient tests revealed a significant positive correlation between stated competencies level and nurses’ sex, receiving disaster education and training with rpb (371) = 0.13, p < 0.01; rpb (598) = 0.15, p = 0.004; rpb (598) = 0.21, p < 0.001, respectively. Furthermore, the “care of communities” subscale had a weak positive correlation with the.
Originality/value
Nurses play a critical role in disaster response. However, there was a gap in nurses’ competencies for disaster, which shows there is a crucial need to include disaster management courses in the nursing curriculum and update disaster management courses in hospitals based on nurses’ needs to improve their competencies during disasters.
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