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Self-localization of an underwater robot using global positioning sensor and other radio positioning systems is not possible, as an alternative onboard sensor-based self-location estimation provides another possible solution. However, the dynamic and unstructured nature of the sea environment and highly noise effected sensory information makes the underwater robot self-localization a challenging research topic. The state-of-art multi-sensor fusion algorithms are deficient in dealing of multi-sensor data, e.g. Kalman filter cannot deal with non-Gaussian noise, while parametric filter such as Monte Carlo localization has high computational cost. An optimal fusion policy with low computational cost is an important research question for underwater robot localization.

In this paper, the authors proposed a novel predictive coding-biased competition/divisive input modulation (PC/BC-DIM) neural network-based multi-sensor fusion approach, which has the capability to fuse and approximate noisy sensory information in an optimal way.

Results of low mean localization error (i.e. 1.2704 m) and computation cost (i.e. 2.2 ms) show that the proposed method performs better than existing previous techniques in such dynamic and unstructured environments.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this work provides a novel multisensory fusion approach to overcome the existing problems of non-Gaussian noise removal, higher self-localization estimation accuracy and reduced computational cost.

This research aims to extend the research on humorous leadership and the hospitality industry by using the theoretical framework of affective events theory (AET). This research aims to close this gap by recognizing that leaders' humor may inspire pro-social motivation in tourism workers and can harness the ability of employees to offer innovative ideas. The effect of leaders' humor on employees’ pro-social motivation is moderated by the personal need for structure (PNS).

A multi-source time-lagged design was employed in this research. The researchers used survey instruments to collect data from frontline employees and their immediate supervisors working in Pakistan’s two- to five-star hotels. The current study considers 279 useable responses and tested them through Hayes process macros.

Results show that humorous leadership has a significant direct impact on the innovative work behavior (IWB) of hotel employees. Pro-social motivation significantly mediates the relationship between humorous leadership and IWB. Further, the PNS significantly buffers the relationship between humorous leadership and pro-social motivation.

Findings are vital for hotel managers to adopt a more flexible leadership style to promote the pro-social motivation and IWBs of hotel employees.

This is one of the first studies to use pro-social motivation to explain the relationship between humorous leadership and creative work behaviors. Employees' individual needs for structure have also been utilized as a novel boundary condition. The results are essential for hotel managers to adopt a more adaptable leadership style to encourage the staff’s pro-social motivation and creative work behaviors.

Promotive and prohibitive voice behavior is essential for effective team performance and organizational sustainability. However, the existing literature is limited on the role of team voice in predicting employee voice behavior. The authors proposed that team members' voices serve as a cue for engagement in felt obligation for constructive change, which sets the path for employees' engagement in promotive and prohibitive voice behavior. This study further proposed that supervisor expectation for voice may alter the relationship between team voice and felt obligation for constructive change of employees. The authors' proposed model is based on social information processing theory.

The data were collected from 313 telecommunication sector employees and the companies supervisors through a multi-source time-lagged design. Linear regression analysis and the Preacher and Hayes Process for mediation and moderation were used to test the proposed hypothesis.

The results support the direct effect of team voice on promotive and prohibitive voice behavior, and the indirect effect of team voice on promotive voice behavior through the mediation of felt obligation for constructive change was also supported. However, mediation of felt obligation for constructive change between team voice and prohibitive voice behavior was not supported. The results also support the moderation of supervisor expectation for voice between team voice and felt obligation for constructive change.

Findings of the study may help organizational practitioners and managers about the value of promotive and prohibitive voice behavior for better team functioning through team voice. The study also highlights the importance of supervisor expectations for voice to strengthen the association between team voice and felt obligation for constructive change among employees. Both dimensions of voice behavior, i.e. promotive and prohibitive voice, are crucial for improved organizational functioning and preventing the organization from harm and loss. Organizations should create environments high on voice behavior to remain competitive and meet the challenges of dynamic business environments.

This study aims to find out the role of green curriculum (GC) in making a green generation (GG) and ensuring sustainability. The study considers the green curriculum a key factor for understanding environmental values orientation (EVO) and adopting pro-environmental behaviors (Pr-EnB) for social, economic, human and environmental sustainability.

The study is quantitative and cross-sectional. Partial least square-structural equation modeling was used to test the research model and data which was collected through a questionnaire survey from university faculty and students in Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and China.

The findings show that the GC has significant positive effects on EVO and pro-environmental behavior. However, it has no significant effect on social sustainability. There is a positive significant effect of pro-environmental behavior on economic, environmental, human and social sustainability. Whereas, environmental orientation has no significant effect on economic sustainability but significantly influences environmental, human and social sustainability. GC has no significant effect on economic, environmental and human sustainability. However, when considering the combined effects of GC and environmental values orientation or pro-environmental behavior, significant positive effects were found on economic, environmental, human and social sustainability.

The result suggests that implementing a GC positively influences environmental orientation, pro-environmental behavior and various dimensions of sustainability.

These results have implications for educational institutions and policymakers aiming to promote sustainability through green curriculum and help in the attainment of sustainable development goals.

The study fulfills an essential need to obtain sustainability and sustainable development goals through education.

The research linking organizational change-oriented activities with employee voice behavior is still in its initial stages. This study aims to contribute to this line of research by proposing felt obligation for constructive change, an underlying mechanism through which supervisory delegation enhances teachers’ voice behavior.

This study tested the interactive effect of felt obligation for constructive change and voice climate on teachers’ voice behavior. The proposed model is supported by proactive motivation theory which states that environmental factors lead to motivational states which further result in employee proactive behaviors. In this study, 415 teachers with their 74 supervisors (head of departments) from educational institutes completed the surveys. Structural equation modeling was used to find the results.

The results supported the mediation and moderation hypotheses, which proved that felt obligation for constructive change mediates the relationship between supervisory delegation and teachers’ voice behavior, and voice climate moderates the relationship between felt obligation for constructive change and teacher voice behavior.

This paper will provide an insight to the practitioners about the role of supervisory delegation for engagement in employee voice. This paper will also help managers understand that the workplace effectiveness can be enhanced by creating opportunities for employees to voice their concern.

This study recommends that head of departments at the workplace should cultivate an environment that is conducive for their faculty for engaging in voice behavior for improved functioning of educational institutes. Findings provide an insightful approach on organizational strategies in the form of supervisory delegation to trigger voice behavior among employees to meet the uncertainty of the ever-changing business environment.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the Shariah view on the legitimacy of requiring the entrepreneur to prove that he/she has complied with all business requirements in case the actual profit was below the expected profit in trust-based contracts such as mudarabah and musharakah.

This paper is part of the research which applies qualitative research approaches, including among others, content analysis, interviews, observations and descriptive analysis using fiqh muqaran (comparative analysis of jurists’ arguments) in few phases.

The study found that shifting the burden of proof to the fiduciary is the weightier view and necessary to ensure that both sides are protected. The considerations of protecting people’s wealth (ḥifẓ amwāl al-nās) and mitigating widespread greed (ṭamaʿ) are among the reasons for allowing elements such as ʿurf, tuhmah and dalālat al-ḥāl to be treated as bayyinah in trust-based contracts when the fiduciary is obliged to defend himself from litigation.

The study is meant to strengthen the practices of Islamic banks world wide.

Few protections can be applied for capital provider.

This study is meant to give solution in dealing with moral hazard of both parties, and to provide solution to the regulator for policy drafting and to increase confidence to the industry.

The finding is important in assisting the regulators in drafting the policy to protect both parties without neglecting the essence of trust-based contracts.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impacts of consumers’ motivations (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on online purchase intentions mediated through trust towards retailers present on social media.

Data were collected from consumers residing in the three metropolitan cities of Pakistan, and the research model was tested using the covariance-based structural equation modelling in Amos.

The results showed that remuneration and social motivations positively influenced consumers’ online purchase intentions directly, as well as indirectly mediated through trust. However, trust fully mediated the relationship between empowerment motivation and consumers’ online purchase intentions.

The existing literature reveals that only a handful of studies have endeavoured to understand consumers’ trust in the context of social media marketing, and the literature in this field is not matured yet. The novelty of this research lies in its contribution to understanding the impacts of consumers’ motives (i.e. remuneration, social, and empowerment) on trust towards retailers present on social media, which have not been explored before. In addition, it examines trust towards retailers present on social media as an underlying mechanism that affects the relationships between consumers’ motives and online purchase intentions.

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has had profound economic effects, putting women entrepreneurs at considerable risk of losing income and sales growth as a result. This study aims to examine whether the COVID-19 pandemic is a blessing or a curse for women entrepreneurs in Pakistan’s informal sector. The influence of business type, family support and other socio-economic factors on the sales volume of women’s businesses is examined.

Data were collected from 400 women entrepreneurs using a survey questionnaire. Logistic regression was used to investigate the relationships between perceived sales volume and socio-economic as well as demographic factors of women entrepreneurs.

Findings for RQ1 revealed that the pandemic was a blessing for cloth and cosmetic entrepreneurs, but a curse for those women selling dairy products. Results for RQ2 showed that age, homeownership, household size, family support and type of business were significant predictors of sales. Furthermore, women entrepreneurs were greatly influenced by their family’s desires and decisions, such that women entrepreneurs who received support from families and relatives reported higher sales than those who did not receive such support.

The results may assist policymakers in designing supportive programs to encourage women’s informal entrepreneurial activities. Creating entrepreneurial ecosystems may provide support for women entrepreneurs beyond family support. The findings provide a better understanding of women’s business effectiveness during COVID-19 pandemic. It reveals the resilience of women entrepreneurs in the face of cultural, economic and institutional constraints encountered during the pandemic.

This study is unique because it focuses on the impact of the pandemic at the household level rather than examining broad macroeconomic scenarios. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first attempt to explore the informal, home-based business sector of women entrepreneurs in Pakistan during the pandemic.

This study aims to investigate how gamification, namely, WeChat’s cultural gifting function, improves emotional involvement among three generations (Y, X and silver) in mobile payments. It draws attention to the beneficial effects of cultural components and digital intimacy on gamified mobile payment systems.

The data were collected from Y, X and silver generation in Dalian, China. The users were well equipped with the WeChat pay features and had experience. The PLS-SEM software was used to assess the data.

The findings show that consumer word of mouth and loyalty are positively impacted by perceived utility, fun, and enjoyment. Besides, gamification components like fun and playfulness have a favourable effect on how useful mobile payments are judged to be. It demonstrates how delighted and ecstatic users are with WeChat Hongbao. In addition, the positive moderation effect of intimacy on the hypothesised connections shows that all three generations are likely to accept gamified money features. These results provide a substantial contribution to our comprehension of gamification in the context of mobile payment services for all three generations.

The study is distinctive because it focuses on how China’s three generations use WeChat Pay for routine transactions. The framework confirms that the gamification elements improve user performance and encourage continued usage of mobile payment systems.

Este estudio investiga cómo la gamificación, específicamente la función de regalos culturales de WeChat, mejora la participación emocional entre tres generaciones (Y, X y plata) en los pagos móviles. Se presta atención a los efectos beneficiosos de los componentes culturales y la intimidad digital en los sistemas de pago móvil gamificados.

Los datos fueron recopilados de las generaciones Y, X y plata en Dalian, China. Los usuarios estaban familiarizados con las características de pago de WeChat y tenían experiencia. Se utilizó el software PLS-SEM para evaluar los datos.

Los resultados muestran que la reputación y la lealtad del consumidor son positivamente influenciadas por la utilidad percibida, la diversión y el disfrute. Los componentes de gamificación, como la diversión y la jugabilidad, tienen un efecto favorable en cómo se juzga la utilidad de los pagos móviles. Se demuestra cuán encantados están los usuarios con WeChat Hongbao. Además, la moderación positiva de la intimidad en las relaciones supuestas muestra que las tres generaciones tienen probabilidades de aceptar las características de dinero gamificado. Estos resultados contribuyen sustancialmente a nuestra comprensión de la gamificación en el contexto de los servicios de pago móvil para las tres generaciones.

El estudio es novedoso ya que se centra en cómo las tres generaciones de China utilizan WeChat Pay para transacciones rutinarias. El marco confirma que los elementos de gamificación mejoran el rendimiento del usuario y fomentan el uso continuado de los sistemas de pago móvil.

本研究探讨了游戏化, 即微信的文化赠送功能, 如何提高三代人（Y、X和银发族）在移动支付中的情感投入。它引起了人们对文化成分和数字亲密关系对游戏化移动支付系统的有益影响的注意。

数据来自中国大连市的Y、X和银发族用户。用户对微信支付功能非常熟悉, 并具有使用经验。采用PLS-SEM软件对数据进行评估。

结果表明, 消费者的口碑和忠诚度受到了感知效用、乐趣和享受的积极影响。乐趣和趣味等游戏化组件对移动支付的有用性评估产生了积极影响, 展示了用户对微信红包的喜悦和兴奋程度。此外, 亲密关系对假设连接的正向调节效应表明, 三代人都可能接受游戏化货币功能。这些结果为我们理解移动支付服务背景下游戏化对三代人的贡献提供了实质性的帮助。

该研究独特之处在于它着眼于中国三代人如何将微信支付用于日常交易。该框架证实了游戏化元素如何提高用户绩效并鼓励继续使用移动支付系统。

This study aims to investigate the relationship between workplace spirituality (WPS) and faculty critical thinking (CT) and the mediating effect of knowledge management (KM) among faculty at public universities.

The study employed a quantitative, cross-sectional research design to attain the objective. Using simple random sampling, the data were collected from 295 faculty members working in public universities in Sindh, Pakistan. The hypothesized relationships were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) based on covariance and mediation analysis was conducted using Preacher and Haye’s (2008) approach.

Findings revealed a significant positive association between WPS, KM and faculty CT. In addition, the results indicated that KM played a partial mediating role in the relationship between WPS and CT.

Encouraging WPS can cultivate an environment of transparency, teamwork and knowledge exchange, promoting and enhancing faculty CT abilities.

Rare research exists regarding the connections between WPS, KM and CT in the Pakistani higher education system.