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Many a times, the information about the boundary heat flux is obtained only through inverse approach by locating the thermocouple or temperature sensor in accessible boundary. Most of the work reported in literature for the estimation of unknown parameters is based on heat conduction model. Inverse approach using conjugate heat transfer is found inadequate in literature. Therefore, the purpose of the paper is to develop a 3D conjugate heat transfer model without model reduction for the estimation of heat flux and heat transfer coefficient from the measured temperatures.

A 3 D conjugate fin heat transfer model is solved using commercial software for the known boundary conditions. Navier–Stokes equation is solved to obtain the necessary temperature distribution of the fin. Later, the complete model is replaced with neural network to expedite the computations of the forward problem. For the inverse approach, genetic algorithm (GA) and particle swarm optimization (PSO) are applied to estimate the unknown parameters. Eventually, a hybrid algorithm is proposed by combining PSO with Broyden–Fletcher–Goldfarb–Shanno (BFGS) method that outperforms GA and PSO.

The authors demonstrate that the evolutionary algorithms can be used to obtain accurate results from simulated measurements. Efficacy of the hybrid algorithm is established using real time measurements. The hybrid algorithm (PSO-BFGS) is more efficient in the estimation of unknown parameters for experimentally measured temperature data compared to GA and PSO algorithms.

Surrogate model using ANN based on computational fluid dynamics simulations and in-house steady state fin experiments to estimate the heat flux and heat transfer coefficient separately using GA, PSO and PSO-BFGS.

Dissimilar materials found applications in the structural fields to withstand the different types of loads and provide multi-facet properties to the final structure. Aluminum alloy materials are mostly used in aerospace and marine industries to provide better strength and safeguard the material from severe environmental conditions. The purpose of this study is to develop new material with superior strength to challenge the severe environmental conditions.

In the present investigation, friction stir welding (FSW) dissimilar joints were prepared from AA6061 and AA5083 aluminum alloys, and the weld nugget (WN) was reinforced with hard reinforcement particles such as La₂O₃ and CeO₂. The tribological and mechanical properties of the prepared materials were tested to analyze the suitability of material in the aerospace and marine environmental conditions.

The results showed that the AA6061–AA5083/La₂O₃ material exhibited better mechanical and tribological characteristics. The FSW dissimilar AA6061–AA5083/La₂O₃ material exhibited lower wear rate of 7.37 × 10⁻³ mm3/m and minimum friction coefficient of 0.31 compared to all other materials owing to the reinforcing effect of La₂O₃ particles and the fine grains formed by FSW process at WN region. Further, FSW dissimilar AA6061–AA5083/La₂O₃ material displayed a maximum tensile strength and hardness of 378 MPa and 118 HV, respectively, among all the other materials tested.

This work is original and novel in the field of materials science engineering focusing on tribological characteristics of friction stir welded dissimilar aluminum alloys by the reinforcing effect of hard particles such as La₂O₃ and CeO₂.

Many investigations are going on in monitoring, contact tracing, predicting and diagnosing the COVID-19 disease and many virologists are urgently seeking to create a vaccine as early as possible. Even though there is no specific treatment for the pandemic disease, the world is now struggling to control the spread by implementing the lockdown worldwide and giving awareness to the people to wear masks and use sanitizers. The new technologies, including the Internet of things (IoT), are gaining global attention towards the increasing technical support in health-care systems, particularly in predicting, detecting, preventing and monitoring of most of the infectious diseases. Similarly, it also helps in fighting against COVID-19 by monitoring, contract tracing and detecting the COVID-19 pandemic by connection with the IoT-based smart solutions. IoT is the interconnected Web of smart devices, sensors, actuators and data, which are collected in the raw form and transmitted through the internet. The purpose of this paper is to propose the concept to detect and monitor the asymptotic patients using IoT-based sensors.

In recent days, the surge of the COVID-19 contagion has infected all over the world and it has ruined our day-to-day life. The extraordinary eruption of this pandemic virus placed the World Health Organization (WHO) in a hazardous position. The impact of this contagious virus and scarcity among the people has forced the world to get into complete lockdown, as the number of laboratory-confirmed cases is increasing in millions all over the world as per the records of the government.

COVID-19 patients are either symptomatic or asymptotic. Symptomatic patients have symptoms such as fever, cough and difficulty in breathing. But patients are also asymptotic, which is very difficult to detect and monitor by isolating them.

Asymptotic patients are very hazardous because without knowing that they are infected, they might spread the infection to others, also asymptotic patients might be having very serious lung damage. So, earlier prediction and monitoring of asymptotic patients are mandatory to save their life and prevent them from spreading.

The attention of scholars and policy makers towards the topic of innovation has consistently increased, especially in recent years. This is justified by the fact that innovation undoubtedly plays, today, a crucial role in driving a country’s economic growth, improving productivity and, more generally, enhancing overall societal well-being.

When the discourse around innovation focuses on its economic dimension, the strong intertwinement with entrepreneurship emerges. In line with this, focusing on research on innovation in organisations and, especially, innovation in relation to the figure of the entrepreneur is considered, plenty of studies have been carried on, over time, in many disciplines, analysing the role of the entrepreneur in relation to innovation from various different angles. However, especially when management studies are considered, we can notice a poor consideration of the role played by the gender of the entrepreneur. In line with this consideration, by means of a systematic literature review, this chapter aims to fill this literature gap focusing on the intertwinement that can be envisaged, in management studies, among the issues of entrepreneurship and innovation in the case of women-owned firms.

Life insurance remains an essential part of financial and social security. The insurance penetration rate is high in the developed countries but very low in developing countries such as Malaysia, with only 4.8% penetration and extremely low underwritings. Therefore, this study aims to scrutinize the underlying determinants of a household purchase behaviour of life insurance.

The data generated from the administration of survey questionnaires to 325 households were analysed, using structural equation modelling to obtain the research purposes.

The analysis reveals that the knowledge of life insurance, attitudes towards life insurance, subjective norms (SN), trust and risk perception, affect the tendency of a household to purchase life insurance. The results of this study also highlight that households’ purchase-propensity influences the purchase behaviour of life insurance. Concurrently, the intention to purchase has mediating effects on explanatory variables and purchase behaviour.

This paper established awareness, SN, perceived behavioural control, trust and risk perception as the key determinants promoting positive attitudes towards purchasing life insurance. The findings of this study can be successfully applied to different stakeholders in a similar context. This study suggests that the managers of life insurance companies should adjust their policy guidelines in accordance with the positive relationship between the constructs and consumers’ intention to purchase life insurance.

Participation in micro-family takāful plans amongst low-income earners remains low despite the various initiatives promoted by the Malaysian Government. Therefore, this study aims to conduct an in-depth examination on the indicators of having micro-takaful tafakul in Malaysia.

Questionnaires were distributed to respondents residing in Selangor, the state with the highest recorded percentage of low-income earners in Malaysia. Regression analysis was conducted in this study. Demographic characteristics and knowledge were treated as the independent variables, whereas the tendency of having a micro-family takāful plan was considered the dependent variable.

Gender and knowledge on the benefits of micro-family takāful plans have significant and positive effects on the tendency of having a micro-family takāful plan. Married and employed women are more likely to own a micro-family takāful plan compared with their male counterparts.

This study contributes to the growing literature on the research of micro-takāful determinants in Malaysia.

Industry players and regulators need to tailor the operating and marketing strategies of micro-family takāful plans based on the gender and knowledge of potential participants. The industry may also improve the features of takāful plans to ensure that they are even more attractive and comprehensive.

This study offers a much deeper analysis compared with past research owing to the identified dimensions of a demographic factor that can influence the tendency of having micro-family takāful plans. Besides, this study offers a comprehensive measurement of the knowledge on micro-family takāful plans by considering all aspects (i.e. concept, importance and benefit) of these plans. Moreover, this study examines the influence of each element of knowledge on the tendency of having a micro-family takāful plans, a topic that was rarely studied in the past.

This chapter examines corporate social responsibility (CSR) practices by Islamic banks (IBs) in Bangladesh and to identify how these initiatives impact on citizens in a positive and a productive manner without compromising the ethics and values. CSR data and the information of seven IBs in Bangladesh were considered to analyse sector-wise CSR expenditures, as well as in the specialised areas focussing on religious values, from 2007–2010. Results indicate that most of the IBs are committed to CSR practice. This may motivate conventional banks to spend more on CSR to compete with their counterparts. Consequently, the total inflow of resources from the banks towards social wellbeing may also increase. The study finds that IBs share some common areas in conducting CSR activities similar to their conventional counterparts. IBs are also engaged in some additional areas due to their mandatory compliance with the shari’ah. The study finds a significantly increasing trend of CSR expenditures and engagements by IBs.

This study aims to offer a literature review on microinsurance, focusing on its financial performance and social impact. The aim is to review current research in microinsurance performance. Over the past decade, microinsurance has aroused the interest of the scientific community. Scholars have monitored its development and have examined its impact on the poor’s ability of breaking out of the poverty trap.

A systematic-narrative method was used to review the relevant literature. In total, 64 relevant articles on investigating the financial performance and the effects of microinsurance programs on the poor’s well-being were reviewed, coded and followed by a narrative synthesis.

This review synthesizes current published data on microinsurance to provide practitioners and researchers with a better understanding of this important area. Microinsurance benefits the poor, as it reduces their vulnerability to poverty. Microinsurance has a twofold impact on an individual’s ability to overcome poverty. First, it has a direct impact on access to healthcare services and, second, it has an indirect effect on an individual’s economic status, by moderating risk vulnerability and improving income stability. Further research is necessary to reach concrete conclusions about the financial performance of microinsurance programs. Finally, the analysis of the literature revealed an absence of research regarding the impact of microinsurance on society and sustainable development.

An understanding of the performance of microinsurance services is important. Therefore, the findings can be used by microinsurance practitioners to assess and improve their performance. Further, policy implications such as improvement of financial knowledge and social marketing via education polices to increase microinsurance awareness of its benefits are recommended.

This review provides a synthesis of the literature in microinsurance concerning its financial and social performance, and raises suggestions for future research.

The purpose of this study is to explore the interplay among self-organization, networks and sustainable innovations within microfinance institutions (MFIs) and to examine the extent to which organizational resilience plays a significant role in shaping these dynamics as a mediator.

This paper adopted a cross-sectional research design combined with analytical and descriptive approach to collect the data. Smart partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was used to construct the measurement model and structural equation model to test the mediating effect under this study.

The results revealed that organizational resilience is a significant mediator in the relationship between self-organization, networks and sustainable innovations among microfinance institutions in Uganda.

The data for this study were collected only from microfinance institutions in Uganda. Future studies may collect data from other formal financial institutions like commercial banks and credit institutions to test the mediating effect of organizational resilience. More still, the study adopted only a single approach of using a questionnaire. However, future research through interviews may be desirable. Likewise this study was cross-sectional in nature. Therefore, a longitudinal study may be useful in future while investigating the mediating role of organizational resilience traversing over a long time frame.

A possible implication is that microfinance institutions which desire to have sustainable innovative solutions for their business operations in disruptive circumstances may need to scrutinize their capacity to be resilient and self-organize.

Microfinance institutions play a great role to the underserved clients. Thus, for each to re-organize to be able to provide services that meet users’ needs, without physical products so as to ensure long-term financial and social welfare combined with the ability to bounce back and adapt in times of economic downturn to avoid mission adrift.

While most studies have been carried out on organizational resilience, this paper takes center stage and is the first to test the mediating role of organizational resilience in the relationship between self-organization, networks and sustainable innovations, especially in microfinance institutions in Uganda. This paper generates strong evidence and contributes to the powerful influence of organizational resilience in enhancing the level of sustainable innovations based on self-organization and networks.

This article has been withdrawn as it was published elsewhere and accidentally duplicated. The original article can be seen here: 10.1108/EUM0000000000369. When citing the article, please cite: Arun Sharma, Douglas M. Lambert, (1990), “Segmentation of Markets Based on Customer Service”, International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management, Vol. 20 Iss: 7, pp. 19 - 27.