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The purpose of this paper was to investigate the effects of hydrochloric acid (HCl), hydrazine, methyl methacrylate, styrene and hexamethyldisiloxane by radio-frequency (rf) plasma graftings on surface properties of wool and denim fabrics.

During plasma treatments, processing time was varied under optimized plasma conditions (50 W, rf: 13.56 MHz). All fabrics were comprehensively investigated by means of scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and contact angle measurements.

The experimental data shows that the rf-plasma processing has important effect on the wettability properties of wool and denim fabrics. The results indicated that HCl plasma treatment significantly improves the hydrophilicity of wool and denim fabrics.

The research on wool and denim fabric treatment by plasma is original.

Nano-Clay (NC) is reported as a candidate partial replacement for cement, due to its abundance and relatively low cost - beside reported promotion of different concrete properties. On the other hand, Steel Fibres (SF) has proven to have a positive effect on post fire exposure residual strength of concrete. This paper aims to present the outcomes of a comprehensive research program assessing a hybrid mix between NC and SF in concrete mixtures (NCSF-CRETE).

Physical chemical and physical characterization of NC is performed using different tools as XRF spectrometer, and TEM micrograph. Fresh concrete properties of NSCF-CRETE as slump and air content are investigated. Enhancement in permeability using NSCF is verified by comparing its resistance to the penetration of chlorides resistance with regular concrete mix. Besides, the proposed NCSF-CRETE compressive strength is evaluated compared to mixes with NC and SF each used separately at different curing ages. Besides, NSCF and compared mixes are exposed to an indirect fire testing program – two hours exposure – for: 300, 450 and 600°C. Degradation in compressive strength was investigated after exposure to different temperatures and percentage of residual strength is reported.

Results indicated an improved performance of NCSF -CRETE of about 40% compared to regular concrete in compressive strength at normal conditions. This improvement extended to its behavior when subjected to indirect fire exposure NSCF also maintained 40% more strength than the residual in regular concrete mix – which suffered severe damage – after 2 h exposure to 600°C.

Using NCSF-Crete allows retrofitting the structure after exposure to such drastic conditions.

This paper presents the second part of the investigation on resistance to elevated temperatures of a proposed hybrid composite concrete (NCSF-Crete) mix. The composite including nano metakaolin (NC) and steel fibers (SF) in addition to regular concrete components has proven -in the first published part-earlier promoted fresh concrete behavior, and to have reduced loss in compressive strength after exposure to a wide range of elevated temperatures. This presented work evaluates another two critical mechanical characteristics for the proposed composite -namely- splitting and bond strengths.

A modified formula correlating splitting and compressive strength (28 days) based on experiments results for NCSF is proposed and compared to formulas derived for regular concrete in different design codes. Finally, both spitting and bond strengths are evaluated pre- and post-exposure to elevated temperatures reaching 600 °C for two hours.

The proposed NCSF-Crete shows remarkable fire endurance, especially in promoting bond strength as after 600 °C heat exposure tests, it maintained strength equivalent to 70% of a regular concrete control mix at room temperature. Improving residual splitting strength was very significant up to 450 °C exposure.

Obvious deterioration is monitored in splitting resistance for all concretes at 600 °C.

This proposed composite improved elevated heats resistance of the most significant concrete mechanical properties.

Using a more green and sustainable constituents in the composite.

The proposed composite gathers the merits of using NC and SF, each has been investigated separately as an addition to concrete mixes.

Conventional insurance creates a gap in the financial system across the world that manifests from the global financial and economic crisis. There is an increasing demand for insurance schemes that will bridge the gap of financial and economic crisis globally. More recently, there is an advocacy in Saudi Arabia for achieving Vision 2030 by various facets of human endeavours such as strengthening financial markets and boasting economic development. The purpose of this paper is to deeply explore policy and reinforcement of the legal framework of Islamic insurance as essential bedrocks in Islamic finance that are Shari’ah compliant to achieve Saudi Vision 2030 for overall sustainability of all spheres of human endeavours in the country.

Content analysis and systematic literature review are used as methodological approaches in this paper. There are various sources of accessing secondary data used in this study such as online peer review, journals and library-based sources. Through the exploration of various secondary data, five major themes were identified in this study, namely, policy, legal framework, Islamic insurance, Islamic finance and Saudi Vision 2030. Analysis of various themes were done systematically in this paper. The methodology provides theoretical and practical foundations for reinforcing policy and legal framework for Islamic insurance, specifically in Islamic finance to achieve Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia. It is the policy and legal framework that can provide necessary dynamics for strengthening Islamic insurance in particular and Islamic finance in general towards attaining sustainable Vision 2030 in the country.

The paper demonstrated that policy period is explicitly associated with Islamic insurance, whereby Takaful insurance is regarded as policyholder rather than shareholder-oriented. Similarly, it is established that there is need to specifically mention the policy period and the nature of contract in Islamic insurance should not be limited to only mutual cooperation among the participants in connection with the losses but it should capture element of sharing income generated from investment between insurer and policyholders using predetermined ratio for such as provided with theoretical legal framework (Shari’ah) in connection with Islamic insurance model as an integral part of Islamic finance.

It will depart completely from conventional insurance where borrowing of funds and investment are put at fixed interest (Riba), uncertainty (Gharar) and speculative ideas (Maisir). Avoidance of different elements ascribed with conventional insurance would enable Saudi Arabia to strengthen financial system and boast economic development with an emphasis on an effective policy and efficient legal framework towards attaining Vision 2030 in the country.

The methodology provides theoretical and practical foundations for reinforcing policy and legal framework for Islamic insurance, specifically in Islamic finance to achieve Vision 2030 in Saudi Arabia.

Conventional insurance creates a gap in financial system across the world that manifests from the global financial and economic crisis. There is an increasing demand for insurance scheme that will bridge the gap of financial and economic crisis globally. More recently, there is an advocacy in Saudi Arabia for achieving Vision 2030 by various facets of human endeavours such as strengthening financial market and boasting economic development.

With this emphasis, it will depart completely from conventional insurance where borrowing of funds and investment are put at fixed interest (Riba), uncertainty (Gharar) and speculative ideas (Maisir). Avoidance of different elements ascribed with conventional insurance would enable Saudi Arabia to strengthen financial system and boast economic development with an emphasis on an effective policy and efficient legal framework towards attaining Vision 2030 in the country.

This paper aims to inspect the effect of indirect elevated temperature on the mechanical performance of nano silica concrete (NSC). The effect on both compressive and bond strengths is studied. Pre- and post-exposure to elevated temperature ranges of 200 to 600°C is examined. A range covered by three percentages of 1.5, 3 and 4.5 per cent nano silica (NS) in concrete mixes is tested.

Pre-exposure mechanical tests (normal conditions – room temperature), using 3 per cent NS in the concrete mix, led to the highest increase in both compressive and bond strengths (43 per cent and 38.5 per cent, respectively), compared to the control mix without NS (based on 28-day results). It is worth noticing that adding NS to the concrete mixes does not have a significant effect on improving early-age strength. Besides, permeability tests are performed on NSC with different NS ratios. NS improved the concrete permeability for all tested percentages of NS. The maximum reduction is accompanied by the maximum percentage used (4.5 per cent NS in the NSC mix), reducing permeability to half the value of the concrete mix without NS. As for post-exposure to elevated-temperature mechanical tests, NSC with 1.5 per cent NS exhibited the lowest loss in strength owing to indirect heat exposure of 600°C; the residual compressive and bond strengths are 73 per cent and 35 per cent, respectively.

The dispersion technique of NS has a key role in NSC-distinguished mechanical performance with NSC having lower NS percentages. NS significantly improved bond strength. NS has a remarkable effect on elevated temperature endurance. The bond strength of NSC exposed to elevated temperatures suffered faster deterioration than compressive strength of the exposed NSC.

A special scale factor needs to be investigated for the NSC.

Although a lot of effort is placed in evaluating the benefits of using nano materials in structural concrete, this paper presents one of the first outcomes of the thermal effects on concrete mixes with NS as a partial cement replacement.

The purpose of this study is to undertake a systematic literature review (SLR) on intellectual capital disclosure (ICD), focusing on its role in fostering competitive advantage.

Following the SLR process, the study identified 84 papers published in high-ranking journals over a 19-year span, providing insights into descriptive outcomes, research limitations and future research directions.

The results show that ICD research peaked in 2022, with the Journal of Intellectual Capital leading with the highest number of ICD publications. Resource-based theory was found to be the most applied theoretical framework, with developed country-specific research receiving the most attention. The use of small sample size, a lack of longitudinal studies, reliance on a single source of data, unsuitability of control variables and a lack of comparative studies with firms operating in developing countries are the main limitations that have been noted.

This study faces constraints, primarily stemming from the selective keyword utilization and exclusive Scopus database reliance. It omits non-English papers, conference proceedings and books, potentially overlooking relevant insights.

The findings offer valuable insight for researchers, emphasizing the need for research on intellectual capital (IC) across diverse industries. Furthermore, our findings urge regulators to mandate global IC reporting to mitigate information asymmetry, while also prompting managers to enhance IC-related practices and reporting for more stakeholders’ trust.

This study provides a comprehensive overview of over two decades of ICD literature, synthesizing previous studies, identifying gaps and outlining potential directions for scholars and industry professionals in the context of competitiveness.

This study aims to empirically investigate the role of accounting information quality (AIQ) as a mediating factor in the relationship between knowledge management (KM) processes and business performance (BP) of the financial institutions (FI) operating in Jordan.

Based on a literature review and knowledge-based theory, an integrated conceptual framework has been developed to guide the study. The study’s conceptual framework is constituted of three primary constructs, namely, KM processes (acquisition, integration and utilization), BP (financial indicators and non-financial indicators) and AIQ conceptualized using the International Accounting Standard Board’s (2010) framework fundamental qualitative characteristics (relevance, understandability, faith representation and comparability). Data has been collected through a self-administered questionnaire applied to 247 respondents. The targeted respondents have been FIs (commercial banks and insurance companies) in Jordan.

The main findings supported accounting information as a mediator factor in enhancing the relationship between the FIs’ KM process and BP (FI) operating in Jordan.

This study contributed to theory by filling a gap in the literature regarding the role AIQ as a mediator factor between the KM process and BP of the FI operating in Jordan as a developing country.

The purpose of this paper was to study the genetic variability, heritability, heat tolerance indices and phenotypic and genotypic correlation studies for traits of 250 elite International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) bread wheat genotypes under high temperature in Wad Medani, Center in Sudan.

Bread wheat is an important food on a global level and is used in the form of different products. High temperature associated with climate change is considered to be a detrimental stress in the future on world wheat production. A total of 10,250 bread wheat genotypes selected from different advanced yield trials introduction from ICARDA and three checks including were grown in two sowing dates (SODs) (1st and 2nd) 1st SOD heat stress and 2nd SOD non-stress at the Gezira Research Farm, of the Agricultural Research Corporation, Wad Medani, Sudan.

An alpha lattice design with two replications was used to assess the presence of phenotypic and genotypic variations of different traits, indices for heat stress and heat tolerance for 20 top genotypes and phenotypic and genotypic correlations. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences among genotypes for all the characters. A wide range, 944-4,016 kg/ha in the first SOD and 1,192-5,120 kg/ha in the second SOD, was found in grain yield. The average yield on the first SOD is less than that of the secondnd SOD by 717.7 kg/ha, as the maximum and minimum temperatures were reduced by 3ºC each in the second SOD when compared to the first SOD of the critical stage of crop growth shown.

Similar wide ranges were found in all morpho-physiological traits studied. High heritability in a broad sense was estimated for days to heading and maturity. Moderate heritability estimates found for grain yield ranged from 44 to 63.6 per cent, biomass ranged from 37.8 to 49.1 per cent and canopy temperature (CT) after heading ranged from 44.2 to 48 per cent for the first and secondnd SODs. The top 20 genotypes are better than the better check in the two sowing dates and seven genotypes (248, 139, 143, 27, 67, 192 and 152) were produced high grain yield under both 1st SOD and 2nd SOD.

The same genotypes in addition to Imam (check) showed smaller tolerance (TOL) values, indicating that these genotypes had a smaller yield reduction under heat-stressed conditions and that they showed a higher heat stress susceptibility index (SSI). A smaller TOL and a higher SSI are favored. Both phenotypic and genotypic correlations of grain yield were positively and significantly correlated with biomass, harvest index, number of spikes/m², number of seeds/spike and days to heading and maturity in both SODs and negatively and significantly correlated with canopy temperature before and after heading in both SODs.

Genetic variations, heritability, heat tolerance indices and correlation studies for traits of bread wheat genotypes under high temperature

This study aims to examine the role of the board of directors in affecting earnings management practices across small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) life cycle.

Data is collected from 280 SMEs listed on the London Stock Exchange during the period of 2009–2016. Fixed effects regression analysis is used to test the hypotheses.

This study shows that the impact of the board of directors' roles on earnings management practices varies depending on the SMEs life cycle stage. In the introduction, growth and decline stages of SMEs, the wealth creation role of the board is negatively significant with earnings management, while the wealth protection role of the board is positively significant in the growth and maturity phases. Results suggest that the board's responsibility to create wealth deters early-stage earnings management strategies, while protecting shareholder interests, in latter stages, leads to a decrease in earnings management.

The findings suggest that corporate governance should be customized to the specific stage of the SMEs life cycle. Additionally, different life cycle stages may impose different requirements on corporate boards to shape the effectiveness of these mechanisms and constrain earnings management practices.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study offers one of the first insights on the UK SMEs to understand how board functions and earnings management practices vary over SMEs life cycles. It will offer important information on the effect of board features on earnings management in SMEs in the UK and is anticipated to be of importance to policymakers, regulators, investors and practitioners.

This study examines how far female tour guides in Egypt experience sexual harassment and how they cope with it.

A qualitative research method is employed, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 full-time female tour guides working for several travel agencies in Egypt. Thematic analysis was used to extract the main ideas from the transcripts.

The findings show that female tour guides in Egypt would encounter annoying gender harassment mostly from tourists they serve, and they might suffer from irresponsible behavior – gender harassment, unwanted sexual harassment, and sexual coercion – from their local managers. When facing sexual harassment, female tour guides usually tend to adopt one of the following three coping strategies: (a) indifference to sexual harassment they encounter, (b) heroism by taking legal action when exposed to sexual harassment or (c) fatalism by taking inconsequential action such as complaining the harasser to his direct manager or filling in an official complaint inside their workplace. The selection of the coping strategy is usually based on the female victim's personality and the organizational and social context she adapts to.

This paper contributes by filling a gap in tourism, human resources management and gender studies in which empirical studies on the sexual harassment that female tour guides encounter, particularly in non-Western contexts, have been limited so far.