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The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate a proficiency for accomplishing optimal CFO and keep down the error among the received and transmitted signal. Orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) is considered as an attractive modulation scheme that could be adopted in wireless communication systems owing to its reliability in opposition to multipath interruptions under different subchannels. Carrier frequency offset (CFO) establishes inter-carrier interference that devastates the orthogonality between the subcarriers and fluctuates the preferred signal and minimizes the effectual signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). This results in corrupted system performance. For sustaining the subcarriers’ orthogonality, timing errors and CFOs have to be approximated and sufficiently compensated for. Single carrier modulation (SCM) is a major feature for efficient OFDM system.

This paper introduces a novel superposition coded modulation-orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (SCM-OFDM) system with optimal CFO estimation using advanced optimization algorithm. The effectiveness of SCM-OFDM is validated by correlating the transmitted and received signal. Hence, the primary objective of the current research work is to reduce the error among the transmitted and received signal. The received signal involves CFO, which has to be tuned properly to get the signal as closest as possible with transmitted signal. The optimization or tuning of CFO is done by improved grey wolf optimization (GWO) called GWO with self-adaptiveness (GWO-SA). Further, it carries the performance comparison of proposed model with state-of-the-art models with the analysis on bit error rate (BER) and mean square error (MSE), thus validating the system’s performance.

From the analysis, BER of the proposed and conventional schemes for CFO at 0.25 was determined, where the adopted scheme at 10th SNR was 99.6 per cent better than maximum likelihood, 99.6 per cent better than least mean square (LMS), 99.3 per cent better than particle swarm optimization (PSO), 75 per cent better than genetic algorithm (GA) and 25 per cent better than GWO algorithms. Moreover, MSE at 1st SNR, the proposed GWO-SA scheme, is 4.62 per cent better than LMS, 60.1 per cent better than PSO, 37.82 better than GA and 67.85 per cent better than GWO algorithms. Hence, it is confirmed that the performance of SCM-OFDM system with GWO-SA-based CFO estimation outperformed the state-of-the-art techniques.

This paper presents a technique for attaining optimal CFO and to minimize the error among the received and transmitted signal. This is the first work that uses GWO-SA for attaining optimal CFO.

The purpose of this paper is to detail various aspects of laminates and their current developments in order to enable the selection and development of appropriate laminate systems for use in high performance avionics interconnection applications.

Electronic packaging must provide circuit support, heat dissipation, signal distribution, manufacturability, serviceability, power distribution and data for performance simulation over the required frequency range in avionics applications. Innovations in packaging technology have made a big impact on the types of laminates that can be used in printed circuit boards destined for these applications. The “environments” in which aircraft are required to operate have changed due to global security threats and the laminates traditionally used are not designed for this role. Aircraft systems are expected to withstand disturbances due to unexpected threats. Various factors which determine the performance of laminates are evaluated.

The safety of aircraft is critically dependent on the interconnection technology in which laminates have a major role. Under global security threats, passenger safety, emergency landing and timely information to the pilot is of paramount importance. Hence, research programs need to be initiated to develop new innovative laminate systems, since traditional laminates have limitations in these applications.

The availability of data on the performance of laminates used in interconnection technology under various security threats is limited.

The paper describes how new laminates for high performance interconnection technology in avionics applications can be developed.

This paper aims to report the effect of titanium oxide (TiO₂) particles on the specific wear rate (SWR) of alkaline treated bamboo and flax fiber-reinforced composites (FRCs) under dry sliding condition by using a robust statistical method.

In this research, the epoxy/bamboo and epoxy/flax composites filled with 0–8 Wt.% TiO₂ particles have been fabricated using simple hand layup techniques, and wear testing of the composite was done in accordance with the ASTM G99-05 standard. The Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) was used to conduct a statistical analysis of experimental wear results. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was conducted to identify significant control factors affecting SWR under dry sliding conditions. Taguchi prediction model is also developed to verify the correlation between the test parameters and performance output.

The research study reveals that TiO₂ filler particles in the epoxy/bamboo and epoxy/flax composite will improve the tribological properties of the developed composites. Statistical analysis of SWR concludes that normal load is the most influencing factor, followed by sliding distance, Wt.% TiO2 filler and sliding velocity. ANOVA concludes that normal load has the maximum effect of 31.92% and 35.77% and Wt.% of TiO2 filler has the effect of 17.33% and 16.98%, respectively, on the SWR of bamboo and flax FRCs. A fairly good agreement between the Taguchi predictive model and experimental results is obtained.

This research paper attempts to include both TiO₂ filler and bamboo/flax fibers to develop a novel hybrid composite material. TiO₂ micro and nanoparticles are promising filler materials, it helps to enhance the mechanical and tribological properties of the epoxy composites. Taguchi DOE and ANOVA used for statistical analysis serve as guidelines for academicians and practitioners on how to best optimize the control variable with particular reference to natural FRCs.

This study aims to investigate the impact of titanium oxide (TiO₂) filler on the coefficient of friction (COF) and specific wear rate (SWR) in flax fiber reinforced epoxy composites (FFRCs) under abrasive wear conditions utilizing the Taguchi approach. The primary objective is to enhance wear resistance and promote the development of sustainable materials for various applications.

Epoxy/flax composites with varying TiO₂ filler content (0–8 wt%) are fabricated through the hand layup method. Subsequently, wear testing is conducted following ASTM G99-05 standards. The Taguchi design of experiments (DOE) and analysis of variance (ANOVA) are utilized for statistical analysis.

Results indicate a significant improvement in abrasive wear properties with the incorporation of TiO₂ filler. The COF is found to be most influenced by the normal load (55.19%), followed by grit size, wt% TiO₂ filler and sliding distance. SWR is found to be most influenced by the grit size (42.92%), followed by wt% TiO₂, normal load and sliding distance. Notably, the Taguchi model aligns well with experimental results, demonstrating its efficacy in predicting the abrasive wear behavior of FFRCs.

This research introduces a novel hybrid composite that combines TiO₂ filler and flax fibers, showcasing their potential to enhance the tribological properties of epoxy composites. The study offers valuable insights into optimizing abrasive wear test variables in natural fiber-reinforced composites using Taguchi DOE and ANOVA, crucial for improving the performance of sustainable materials in engineering applications.

The apex planning body of India, NITI Aayog launched an Aspirational District Programme (ADP) in January 2018. The programme aimed to the quick and effective transformation of 112 (14%) districts of the country. This programme is considered as world's biggest result-based governance initiative having reached up to 250 million people. It is based on a ranking that is done on monthly basis. This ranking is based on 49 KPIs across six broad socio-economic themes.

The study attempts to inquire and assess the progress made by 112 Aspirational Districts under Financial Inclusion, Skill Development and Basic Infrastructure theme from the inception of the programme to June 2022 (i.e. 54 months). Instead of ranking districts with delta rank or composite scores, the study divorce from NITI Aayog's methodology of monthly delta ranking. The study explores 8 indicators under the basic infrastructure theme and 16 indicators under the financial inclusion and skill development themes. For this purpose, the study explores the availability of individual household latrines, drinking water, electricity and road connectivity. Districts are also tracked for the number of Internet-connected Gram Panchayats, and panchayats with Common Services. Every district is provided with the target as per national development priority, the study makes an effort to grasp the distance of each district from the national target. This allows researchers to develop a scale Very Far, Far, Near, Very Near, Achieved with descriptive statistics techniques. Juxtaposing the scale with timelines results in a pattern of progress made by these 112 districts.

The purpose of this paper is to provide insights into the under‐researched area of social responsibility of small scale individual entrepreneurs (SIEs) and how that impacts on customer loyalty at the bottom of the pyramid (BoP) in the context of South Asia.

Drawing from the literature, the paper expands and builds on the previous work of Azmat and Samaratunge on SIEs and develops a set of propositions that provide insights into the probable link between customer awareness, responsible business practices of SIEs and customer loyalty at the BoP level.

Findings highlight the uniqueness of SIEs, BoP customers and the contextual variables in developing countries. The authors further contribute to knowledge by developing the concept of blind customer loyalty, where SIEs are likely to experience customer loyalty regardless of being socially responsible.

Given the limited literature on the social responsibility practices of SIEs, this paper makes a significant contribution to two different but important inter‐related discourses on SIEs and their adoption of socially responsible practices, as well as to the BoP literature.

The paper concludes by outlining the implications for SIEs, policy‐makers, and practitioners, advancing the agenda of social responsibility for future research in the fields of both the BoP and SIEs.

Given their unique characteristics and realities, SIEs in developing countries are involved with customers at the BoP on a day‐to‐day basis. However, there is a significant knowledge gap in the literature on their social responsibility and customer loyalty. This paper is the first of this kind to address and link this critical issue.

Frequent fire incidences in various hospitals across the globe with devastating effects on humans and other resources have multiplied. Stakeholders in the health-care sector are worried because of the yearly fire outbreak increase. However, fire safety management has been proved as a successful platform to mitigate fire in health-care facilities. How far regarding public health-care facilities is yet to receive in-depth studies in Malaysia. This paper aims to investigate the issues associated with fire safety management and proffers possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception.

The objectives were achieved through a combination of case studies of five selected Malaysia’s public hospitals and a qualitative approach. Thematic analysis with the assistance of MAXQDA (software program designed for computer-assisted qualitative and mixed methods data) 2018, a type of qualitative data analysis software was used to analyse the collated data which emerged from the knowledgeable participants.

Lax implementation of safety policy, inadequate water pressure, poor maintenance, inadequate communication system, amongst others, emerged as the issues. Findings proffer five main measures to possibly improve fire safety management in public health-care buildings. This includes a feasible institutional framework, improve the emergency response team, improve the occupational health and safety system and others.

This paper is limited to exploring the issues associated with fire safety management and proffer possible solutions to improve safety in public health-care facilities from the operators’ perception. Future research is needed to engage useful information in advancing fire safety management in public hospital buildings and possibly developing a qualitative model using a generic fire response model. Also, to investigate the level of compliance with the requirements of a fire safety management plan and possibly develop a well-detailed fire safety plan in Malaysia’s public health-care buildings.

As part of the paper implications, the paper concludes that improved fire protection systems via modern technologies and training of key staff members in accident response and recovery during fire emergencies should be encouraged. This can be achieved through the enforcement and implementation of a fire safety management plan. Thus, this study is encouraging the implementation and sustainability of a fire safety management plan for health-care buildings across Malaysia.

To the best of this paper’s knowledge, this is possibly the first comprehensive paper on fire safety management in public health-care facilities that engaged operators in Malaysia. Moreover, this paper proffers feasible policy solutions to improve the fire safety management plan in public health-care buildings.

In the context of conflicting results in the existing literature on the effectiveness of entrepreneurial education and training, this study aims to examine the effect of entrepreneurial training on perceived human capital and entrepreneurial intention of students. A deeper understanding of the effectiveness of entrepreneurship programs assumes significance, given the substantial policy support and budgetary spending on entrepreneurship education across the world, especially in emerging economies like India. Furthermore, the authors seek to examine if human capital mediates the relationship between entrepreneurial training and entrepreneurial intention.

In total, 330 final-year students who had undergone a mandatory course on “entrepreneurship and new venture planning” in various disciplines in science, technology and management were randomly selected as sample respondents. A self-administered and structured questionnaire that measured the attitude toward perceived effectiveness of entrepreneurial education and training, perceived human capital and the entrepreneurial intention was used to elicit responses.

Results revealed that entrepreneurial training and education are effective in eliciting an important student-level outcome of entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, the study found that human capital significantly mediates the aforementioned relationship. Based on these findings, it is suggested to further the focus of entrepreneurial training programs conducted in universities and thus foster entrepreneurial outcomes among students.

This study adds to the body of knowledge, by examining if entrepreneurial education and training provided by universities indeed yield positive results in terms of higher intentions to engage in entrepreneurial activities, with emphasis on a large developing economy like India. Entrepreneurship development is widely recognized as an effective tool for the socio-economic development of societies in developing countries. This study, by establishing the efficacy of entrepreneurship education in creating entrepreneurial intention among young students, endorses the policy focus and resource spending on entrepreneurship training and education. Also, this study is pioneering in examining the mediating role of human capital in the aforementioned relationship.

Any business that opts to adopt a recommender engine (RE) for various potential benefits must choose from the candidate solutions, by matching to the task of interest and domain. The purpose of this paper is to choose RE that fits best from a set of candidate solutions using rule-based automated machine learning (ML) approach. The objective is to draw trustworthy conclusion, which results in brand building, and establishing a reliable relation with customers and undeniably to grow the business.

An experimental quantitative research method was conducted in which the ML model was evaluated with diversified performance metrics and five RE algorithms by combining offline evaluation on historical and simulated movie data set, and the online evaluation on business-alike near-real-time data set to uncover the best-fitting RE.

The rule-based automated evaluation of RE has changed the testing landscape, with the removal of longer duration of manual testing and not being comprehensive. It leads to minimal manual effort with high-quality results and can possibly bring a new revolution in the testing practice to start a service line “Machine Learning Testing as a service” (MLTaaS) and the possibility of integrating with DevOps that can specifically help agile team to ship a fail-safe RE evaluation product targeting SaaS (software as a service) or cloud deployment.

A small data set was considered for A/B phase study and was captured for ten movies from three theaters operating in a single location in India, and simulation phase study was captured for two movies from three theaters operating from the same location in India. The research was limited to Bollywood and Ollywood movies for A/B phase, and Ollywood movies for simulation phase.

The best-fitting RE facilitates the business to make personalized recommendations, long-term customer loyalty forecasting, predicting the company's future performance, introducing customers to new products/services and shaping customer's future preferences and behaviors.

The proposed rule-based ML approach named “2-stage locking evaluation” is self-learned, automated by design and largely produces time-bound conclusive result and improved decision-making process. It is the first of a kind to examine the business domain and task of interest. In each stage of the evaluation, low-performer REs are excluded which leads to time-optimized and cost-optimized solution. Additionally, the combination of offline and online evaluation methods offer benefits, such as improved quality with self-learning algorithm, faster time to decision-making by significantly reducing manual efforts with end-to-end test coverage, cognitive aiding for early feedback and unattended evaluation and traceability by identifying the missing test metrics coverage.

This study explores the ethical and organizational challenges associated with non-standard work arrangements in public administration (PA), focusing on the implications of digital transformation and its alignment with public sector values.

A qualitative methodology with a deductive approach was employed, grounded in deontological ethics, utilitarian ethics and psychological contract theory. Data collection included 39 semi-structured interviews with public managers in the Italian PA, supplemented by focus groups and secondary data analysis.

The study identifies critical challenges in managing atypical workers, such as job insecurity, wage disparities, privacy concerns and unequal treatment. These challenges are exacerbated by the use of digital platforms, which intensify power imbalances, raise ethical concerns and undermine trust in public institutions.

The research offers actionable strategies, including enhancing job security through clear contract mechanisms, addressing wage disparities with equitable compensation structures, strengthening privacy protections and fostering inclusivity by integrating non-standard workers into organizational processes. Balancing operational efficiency with ethical responsibilities is essential to preserving public trust and institutional legitimacy.

This study contributes to the literature by addressing underexplored ethical challenges of non-standard work in PA, extending established ethical frameworks to a public sector context. It highlights the role of digital platforms in reshaping work arrangements and provides a comprehensive framework for ethical workforce management practices.