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The study aims to investigate the barriers in implementing social distancing at the workplace as an aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic period.

Study design consists of a review of literature, data collection and analysis. It encompasses identification, verification and analysis of the relationships among the barriers. Data have been collected from a panel of experts on matrix-type questionnaires from workplaces. Interpretive structural modeling (ISM) augmented with “Matrice d' Impacts Croise's Multiplication Appliquée a UN Classement (Cross Impact Matrix Multiplication Applied to Classification)” (MICMAC) for structural analysis.

The literature has identified twenty major barriers to implementing social distancing at the workplace. The research findings reveal/show that the barrier “matter of disrespect” occupies the bottom level in the ISM model. Therefore, it is the most critical barrier; whereas, employees with disabilities and “herding culture” are crucial as they occupy the next lowest level, therefore, are crucial. Moreover, there are ten barriers positioned in the middle of the model having moderate-severe effects, and seven falls on the top level of the model having relatively less severe effects. Results of MICMAC affirm and avow the results of ISM.

The study will have profound theoretical and practical implications for stakeholders since it provides lot of new useful and valuable information, gives relational insights and determines priorities subject to usual limitations of survey research.

It is an original attempt to make some sense of practicability of social distancing for stakeholders including policymakers, frontline health workers and public at large.

The purpose of this paper is to study the 100 percent pure cotton and 50:50 cotton and regenerated fibers (tencel, modal, bamboo, viscose) blends. The blends of regenerated fibers with cotton are studied so as to replace 100 percent cotton fabrics with the cotton blends as cotton cannot fulfill the demand of clothing due to the increasing population.

In order to conduct this study, cotton, as natural cellulose fiber, was used. Regenerated fibers include viscose, tencel, modal and bamboo. Five yarn samples of Ne 30/1 of 100 percent cotton and blends (50:50) of cotton with tencel, modal, bamboo and viscose fibers were produced. The blending was done in the Blow-room, and yarn samples were produced by employing the ring spinning technique. Plain woven fabrics samples with Ends (76) and Picks (68) per inch of 120 gsm were prepared. The fabric samples were tested for mechanical (warp and weft tensile and tear strengths) and comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance).

Cotton:tencel fabric has the excellent mechanical (tensile and tear strength) as well as comfort properties (air permeability, moisture management and thermal resistance). It means that the most suitable blend that cotton can make with the regenerated fibers is the tencel. Therefore, to have more comfortable fabrics, the fabrics which are being made by 100 percent cotton can be replaced with the cotton:tencel.

To the authors’ information, no study has been reported in which all the regenerated fibers blended with cotton were studied. Hence, the aim of this work is to study the mechanical and comfort properties of the regenerated fibers (modal, tencel, viscose and bamboo) blended with cotton. The blends of cotton with regenerated fibers might replace 100 percent cotton in clothing applications as cotton cannot fulfill the increasing demanding of clothing.

This review deals with the pros and cons of ultraviolet (UV) radiation on human beings and the role of textile clothing and the chemicals used for textiles to protect from their harmful effects.

UV radiation (UVR) which has further divided into UVA, UVB, and UVC. Almost 100% of UVC and major portion of UVB are bounced back to stratosphere by ozone layer while UVA enters the earth atmosphere. Excessive exposure of solar or artificial UVR exhibit potential risks to human health. UVR is a major carcinogen and excessive exposure of solar radiation in sunlight can cause cancer in the lip, skin squamous cell, basal cell and cutaneous melanoma, particularly in people with the fair skin.

This article aims to provide a comprehensive overview of the harmful effects of UVR on human skin, factors affecting UV irradiance and factors affecting UV protection offered by textile clothing.

Effect of fiber properties, yarn properties, fabric construction, fabric treatments and laundering has been reviewed along with the identification of gaps in the reported research. A comparison of inorganic and organic UV absorbers has also been given along with different testing and evaluation methods for UV protective clothing.

The paper empirically investigates how family firms appropriate acquired resources to become more innovative in the context of merger waves. It draws on resource-based view and the theory of first mover (dis)advantages to examine the implications of the timing of acquisitions on innovation in family firms.

The paper uses a panel data set of Standard & Poor's (S&P) 500 manufacturing firms followed over a period of 31 years.

The study finds empirical support for the predictions that family firms are more able to utilize acquired resources better than nonfamily firms. Furthermore, targets acquired during the upswing of a merger wave are more valuable to family firms and associated with more innovation than for nonfamily firms.

The paper establishes that resources acquired during the upswing of a merger wave are more valuable, provide better resource synergies and impact innovation positively in family firms than nonfamily firms. Second, the paper makes an empirical contribution that family firms absorb external resources markedly differently and more efficiently than nonfamily firms. Third, the paper enhances a better understanding of the influence of family ownership on the relationship between acquisitions and innovation outputs.

The emergence of the COVID-19 epidemic has considerably increased the intricacy of information, exacerbating the difficulties firms encounter in efficiently processing and understanding accurate data and knowledge. Consequently, the COVID-19 epidemic has profoundly exacerbated production ambiguity for firms, thereby disrupting their regular business operations and supply chain activities. Digital technologies (DTs) are essential tools for firms to process and interpret information and knowledge, thereby improving their resilience against supply chain interruptions.

This research investigates the effect of digital technologies on firm resilience throughout COVID-19, utilizing PLS-SEM and artificial neural networks (ANN) derived from a comprehensive survey of Pakistani manufacturing firms.

Our research assesses the mediating role of supply chain integration, memory, and absorptive capacity, as well as the moderating influence of information complexity. The outcomes demonstrate that supply chain integration (SCI), memory (SCM), and absorptive capacity (SCAC) mediate digital technologies’ influence on firm resilience. Moreover, in situations where information is highly complex, DTs have a greater effect on a firm’s resilience.

The results enhance our comprehension and awareness of the resilience-related effects of DTs and offer significant management insights for strengthening firm resilience in the setting of the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the context of the environmental degradation challenge in manufacturing firms, greening the supply chain (SC) is the most widely endorsed method to mitigate the adverse repercussions of climate change. Based on organizational learning and resource dependence theories, the aim of this research is to know how green supply chain external integration (GSCEI) and green supply chain internal integration (GSCII) influence ambidextrous green innovation (AGI). It also examines the mediating roles of green absorptive capacity (GAC) and green knowledge integration capability (GKIC), as well as the moderating role of green technology dynamism (GTD).

To assess the hypothesized model, data were obtained with 386 questionnaires from managers employed in manufacturing firms in Pakistan applying a cross-sectional approach. A partial least square structural equation modeling technique was implemented to evaluate the data.

The results revealed that GSCEI and GSCII substantially impact AGI. Moreover, GAC and GKIC serve as mediators between GSCEI and AGI. GAC and GKIC also intervene in the relationship between GSCII and AGI. GTD was significant as a moderator for the correlation between GSCEI and AGI. However, it does not moderate the relationship between GSCII and AGI.

This research offers significant comprehension and an innovative approach for manufacturing organizations to curb environmental corrosion by stimulating AGI through green SC integration. It suggests to practitioners that integrating internal knowledge with external partners expands communication and collaboration to ensure that resources connected with environmental preservation flow smoothly.

This research is a valuable addition to the field, as it explores for the first time the missing link among the studied constructs. It opened the black box of how knowledge-related capabilities facilitate knowledge resources to elicit AGI, an area that has not yet been explored.

Inspired by the neoclassical economic theory and endogenous growth theories, where former studies suggest that the economic growth of a country can be observed through the combination of three factors. Those three factors include capital, the number of labour forces (human capital) and technology. This research was initiated to study the impact of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) sector on the socioeconomic and employment growth of TVET trainers in Pakistan, which is also supporting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In this study, quantitative research methods and survey research design have been used. Data were collected using an adapted survey questionnaire from 520 participants. The participants of this study were TVET trainers from different skill-based organizations. Whereas, the collected data was analysed using SPSS 27.0, and the Spearman correlation was used to analyse the relationship and strength of association between the constructs.

Findings of this study indicate that the skill-based education through the TVET sector has a highly positive impact on TVET trainers’ employment, socioeconomic growth of vocational trainers and quality standards of living of the TVET trainers. Whereas, the findings also revealed that this skill-based education has a relatively weak relationship with the traditional content-based education as compared to other targeted variables in the skill development sector which influence the socioeconomic growth of the TVET trainers in Pakistan and similar contexts.

This study highlights that the TVET has a significant impact on the socioeconomic growth and development of TVET trainers in the context of Pakistan. From the results, international agencies, economists, politicians and policymakers in Pakistan will get some valuable insights to develop policies accordingly which will promote TVET in the country and make a significant contribution to the socioeconomic growth of TVET trainers in particular and the country in general.

This study also promotes the economical sustainability and value creation among vocational education trainers in TVET and skill-based organizations to further strengthen their professional development and growth in Pakistan.

This is one of the few studies which specifies the impact of the skilled-based education and training sector on the socioeconomic growth and development of TVET trainers in Pakistan, particularly in rural contexts or less privileged areas.

Due to extensive industrial activities, the manufacturing sector is deteriorating the environment through resource depletion and rising pollution levels which led to a significant transition toward green supply chain practices (GSCP). Therefore, internal and external GSCP and green training (GT) gaining momentous attention. This study aims to explore the interconnections among the internal and external GSCP, GT, green innovation (GI), pro-environmental behavior (PEB), competitive advantage (CA), green knowledge sharing (GKS), green self-efficacy (GSE), environmental and financial performance (EP) and (FP).

To check the hypothesized model, researchers used cross-sectional data based on survey questionnaires which were gathered from Pakistani manufacturing firms. The theoretical framework was validated through the utilization of partial least square structural equation modeling.

The findings suggest that internal and external GSCP and GT are correlated with GI, PEB, CA, EP and FP. Additionally, this study discovers that PEB and GI act as intermediaries among internal and external GSCP, GT and CA. GKS positively moderates the connection among internal and external GSCP, and GT, GI, and PEB. Similarly, GSE also serves as a moderator among between PEB and GI.

This study is a significant contribution to the literature by studying potential mediators and moderators that improve the association among outlined constructs. Moreover, findings suggest that firms should adopt an integrated and holistic green approach to combat environmental deterioration, maintain environmental integrity and attain sustainable development.

There is a scarcity of studies concerning the holistic framework of interrelated constructs studied in this research and it is the pioneer research to offer insights with an innovative model and empirical evidence.

Property management companies in residential properties are increasingly using ICT and specific property management software applications to conduct daily property management tasks. However, the benefits of using specific software applications and how it can add value to property management companies are largely unexplored. The present study examines the impact of property management mobile applications usage features on strata property residents' satisfaction in Kuala Lumpur.

A total of 205 residents from 3 strata residential buildings in Kuala Lumpur using property management applications were surveyed. The study employed structural equation modelling using SPSS Amos software.

The findings suggest that visitor management and security management via software applications positively influence the residents' satisfaction. However, facility management via software application was found to be negatively affecting residents' satisfaction.

The study highlighted the benefit of property managers adopting property management software to achieve increased residents' satisfaction in strata residential properties.

The purpose of this paper is to present the results of experimental testing of steel rebars at elevated temperatures. Three types of bars available in the local market in Pakistan were used. These data are not available in Pakistan.

Three types of bars were used, which included cold-twisted ribbed (CTR), hot-rolled deformed (HRD) and thermo-mechanically treated (TMT) bars. The diameter of the bar of each type was 16 mm. The bars were heated in an electrical furnace at temperatures which were varied from 100°C to 900°C in increment of 100°C. Bars of each type were also tested at ambient temperature as control specimens. The change of strength, strain and modulus of elasticity of the bars at high temperatures were determined.

The mechanical properties of the bars were nearly unaffected by the temperatures up to 200°C. CTR bars did not show yield plateau and strain hardening both at ambient and high temperatures. The high temperature yield strength and elastic modulus for all the three types of bars were similar at all temperatures. The yield plateau of both the HRD and TMT bars disappeared at temperatures greater than 300°C. The ultimate strength at high temperature of the HRD and TMT bars was also similar. The behaviours of the HRD and TMT bars changed to brittle beyond 400°C as compared to their behaviours at ambient temperature. The CTR bars exhibited ductile characteristics at failure at all the exposure temperatures relative to their behaviour at ambient temperature.

The parameters of the paper included the rebar type and heating temperature and the effects of temperature on strength and stiffness properties of the steel bars.

Building fire incidents have increased in Pakistan. As reinforced concrete (RC) buildings exist in the country in significant numbers, the data related to elevated temperature properties of steel is required. These data are not available in Pakistan presently. The presented paper aims at providing this information for the design engineers to enable them to assess and increase fire resistance of RC structural members.

The presented paper is unique in its nature in that there is no published contribution to date, to the best of authors’ knowledge, which has been carried out to assess the temperature-dependent mechanical properties of steel reinforcing bars available in Pakistan.