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To treat water pollution, especially the contamination resulted from organic dyes has aroused significant attention around the world, this study aims to prepare the metal organic framework (MOF) materials hybridizing with poly(p-phenylene terephthalamide) (PPTA) by means of a facile refluxing method and to systematically investigate adsorption performance for anionic dye Congo red as target molecule from aqueous solution.

The MOF materials hybridized by PPTA were fabricated by virtue of a facile refluxing method, characterized by thermogravimetric analysis, X-ray powder diffraction, Fourier transform infrared and pore structure.

The results showed that pseudo-second-order kinetic model could better describe the adsorption process for all the four materials, whereas Elovich model also fitted the process for the hybrid materials with PPTA. Adsorption isotherm analyses indicated that Langmuir isotherm could be used to describe the adsorption process. Introduction of appropriate amount of PPTA could enhance the adsorption affinity of the MOF materials for Congo red, and the maximum adsorption capacity could reach as high as 1,053.41 mg/g while that of the MOF material without PPTA was 666.67 mg/g, indicating introduction of PPTA could change the microenvironment of the MOF materials and increase the adsorption sites, leading to high adsorption efficiency.

The microstructure of MOF hybridized materials in detail is the further and future investigation.

This study will provide a method to prepare MOF materials with high efficiency to treat anionic dyes like Congo red from aqueous solution.

Owing to the special characteristics of PPTA and similar to carbon tube, PPTA was introduced into MOF material to increased corresponding water stability. Because of aromatic ring and amide group on the surface of PPTA, the adsorption efficiency of the hybridized MOF material with appropriate amount of PPTA was greatly enhanced.

We aim to provide a systematic literature review of the determinants and consequences of labor investment efficiency in an international context. First, we offer a theoretical discussion of labor investment efficiency, followed by an examination of its measurement. Next, we review the determinants of labor investment efficiency, categorizing them into firm fundamentals including financial reporting quality, governance and controls, corporate social responsibility/environmental regulation and macroeconomic determinants. Finally, we review the limited empirical literature on the consequences of labor investment efficiency. We also provide some suggestions for future research.

We perform a systematic literature review using the Preferred Reporting Items for a Systematic Review of Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines to examine archival studies investigating the determinants and consequences of labor investment efficiency. Using a Boolean search strategy on the Scopus and PRISMA selection criteria, we review 86 published archival research articles from 2014 to the end of August 2024.

Our review highlights that firm-level fundamental factors including financial reporting quality have profound implications for labor investment efficiency. Effective governance mechanisms also help mitigate agency conflicts and information asymmetries and alleviate labor investment inefficiencies. Furthermore, the influence of regulations including ESG-related regulations and macroeconomic factors play a crucial role in shaping labor investment decisions. We find very little research on the consequence of labor investment efficiency.

Our review has highlighted that well-functioning corporate governance tools are effective in mitigating inefficient labor investments. Stakeholders, therefore, should ensure that firms have effective internal governance mechanisms in place and that external governance regulations complement and where necessary act as substitutes for internal governance mechanisms to optimize labor investments.

To the best of our knowledge, this study represents the first systematic review of extant research on labor investment efficiency. Our review highlights some research gaps, particularly about the consequences of labor investment efficiency and offers some suggestions for future research.

On the verge of what has been hailed as the next technological revolution, the purpose of this paper is to examine scientific and popular definitions of the social robot, reflecting on how expert and lay spheres of knowledge interact. Drawing on social representations theory, this paper aims to elucidate how social robots are named and classified, and to examine the dynamics contributing to their definition.

Scientific and popular definitions of the social robot were investigated by conducting: a systematic review of relevant articles published from 2009 to 2015 in the International Journal of Social Robotics; an analysis of the definitions retrievable from the scientific literature using Google Scholar; and an assessment of the interest in the public sphere, and of the popular definitions retrievable online (by inputting “social robot” in Google Trends, and in Google).

Scientific definitions of the social robot adopt two strategies, one drawing on and merging previous definitions, the other proposing new, visionary, forward-looking definitions. Popular online definitions of social robots attribute new emotional, linguistic and social capabilities to their physical body.

The findings need to be confirmed by further research, given the limited size of the data sets considered, and the distortions in the data due to filters and the opacity of the online tools employed.

Both scientific and non-scientific definitions see social robots as being capable of interacting with and working for humans, but attribute them a different degree of (functional or full) autonomy. In future, any controversy over the connotation of social robots is likely to concern their sociality and autonomy rather than their functionality.

This study explores how customers' individual characteristics and perceptions affect acceptance of service robots as a hotel workforce. The Interactive Technology Acceptance Model (iTAM) has inspired us to investigate effects of customers' technological self-efficacy, perceived interactivity, sense of utility, and enjoyment-level of acceptance related to hotel-service robots as staff.

Data were collected from 224 customers via an online questionnaire conducted in the period April–June 2022 by convenience sampling, and then analyzed by using partial least squares – structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM).

The findings show that customers' technological self-efficacy and perceived interactivity with service robots enhances perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment, serving as functional and emotional value components of service robots. They also demonstrate that robot's interactivity outweighs other robot's value components, such as perceived usefulness and perceived enjoyment for acceptance of service robots as employees in hotels.

While empirically validating the iTAM, this study emphasizes service robot interactivity as the most important aspect for customers' acceptance, and it adds a new perspective regarding the underexplored role of the customer-robot interface. Combining specific dimensions from different technology acceptance models (functional/socio-emotional/relational; utilitarian/hedonic) the study contributes to the service robot literature currently missing a more holistic understanding of consumers' experience and adoption drivers, and it provides managerial guidance on how to successfully implement service robots in hotel environments.

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the impact of delivering healthy eating messages through an interactive health corner (HC) on improving healthy dietary habits in participants.

Self-administered questionnaires were administered to participants after the education session. In total, 5,292 valid questionnaires were obtained, yielding a response rate of 93.3 per cent. In the last three months of the pilot study, a random sample of 305 from 1,493 participants was chosen and followed up six months later. Bivariate analysis was used to study the association of knowledge gained and attitude. Behavioural change was measured in terms of whether participants had reported an increase in their consumption of healthier food.

Majority (>98 per cent) of participants reported that the HC corner was useful, and had helped increase their awareness and knowledge of creating healthier meals and making healthier food choices. 95.7 per cent were willing to make changes after visiting the HC. At six months follow-up, 84 per cent of the participants reported positive changes in their dietary habits. Those who made positive changes were younger (mean age: 58.0 years) compared with those who did not (mean age 61.0 years, p=0.035).

Incorporating cooking demonstrations as part of nutrition education is effective in inculcating healthy eating practices and changing self-reported eating habits in the short term. Further research is needed to verify actual change in eating habits and to determine if this change is sustainable in the long run.

Currently, no similar initiative has been implemented and studied to evaluate the effectiveness of this mode of health promotion in a primary care setting. This study will help the authors to evaluate if the intervention was effective in changing attitudes and behaviours after an education session at the HC.

The purpose of this paper is to review empirical research on the determinants of leasing.

The paper reviews previous literature that has focused on studying the determinants of leasing decisions. It also discusses the determinants of the lease‐buy decision and the determinants of the choice between finance leases and operating leases.

Previous empirical studies show that there is no consensus as to whether debt and leases are complements or substitutes. However, there are some factors that affect the choice between leases and debt, such as size, taxes, nature of assets, financial constraints and management compensation. Leases tend to be more prevalent in some industries (such as air transport, retailing and services and utilities) than in others, and companies tend to lease assets that are less specific, of general usage and more liquid. Previous studies also show that higher leverage companies tend to use leases rather than other forms of financing.

The paper only addresses the determinants of leasing. Previous studies about leases address other areas such as the lease accounting standards and the economic consequences and valuation of leases, which are not discussed in this paper.

The paper presents an exhaustive review of previous literature on the determinants of leasing. Evidence from research on this topic is likely to be helpful in capital market investment decisions, accounting standard setting and decisions on corporate financial disclosure.

Today, about 30 per cent of European existing buildings can be entitled as “historical buildings”. Nowadays, their energy retrofit is important to reach the ambitious European CO₂ emissions’ reduction objectives. The purpose of this paper is to outline a methodology to investigate the potential energy savings and the enhancement of historical buildings’ liveability by acting only on their operation, so that the building fabric could be maintained as much as possible as the original evidence.

The paper describes the framework’s theoretical phases and their application in two real case studies. The methodology was conceived with a pre-test and post-test design approach.

The research demonstrated that the elaborated methodology is flexible and allows the adoption of different energy retrofit strategies for the different cases.

Limitations arise out of the circumstance that the methodology is based on occupants and technicians willingness to engage in the strategies, so it is not possible to quantify its efficacy ex ante.

Practical implications can be found in the way of addressing energy retrofit strategies through a user-centric approach with minimum impact on the building itself.

At the same time, the methodology has a strong social aspect with its potential to change people’s attitudes towards energy usage and behaviour.

This study not only represents the first attempt of applying a systematic energy retrofit strategy based on occupants and technicians behavioural change in historic buildings, but also is one of the first studies dedicated to occupants’ comfort and behaviour assessment in this context.