The economy of Pakistan has faced many challenges due to COVID-19, leading to numerous systemic failures and leaving it struggling to recover. This research aims to shed light on the specific challenges faced by Pakistani textile companies during the pandemic. Comprehensive data was collected from one hundred fifty-three textile managers in Pakistan. Upon examining the impact of COVID-19 on businesses, it has been found that the most pressing issues revolved around working capital and strategies for generating new sales. Interestingly, many of these businesses were well-prepared in the digital realm, readily embracing digital knowledge and seizing opportunities by pivoting to the production of personal protective equipment (PPE) and N95 masks. This study aims to evaluate the early consequences of COVID-19 on Pakistan’s textile industry. Considering the scarcity of research on these challenges and opportunities, our work contributes to a better understanding of the hurdles the textile sector faces. Furthermore, it sets the groundwork for future research in this domain. It provides valuable insights for textile businesses, enabling them to align their strategies with the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape.
Relying on the D-Vine copula model, this paper delves into the hedging capabilities of Brent crude oil against the exchange rate of oil-exporting and oil-importing nations. The results affirm Brent crude oil’s role as a safeguard and a refuge against the fluctuations of major currencies. Furthermore, we reaffirm that oil retains its robust hedging and safe-haven attributes during times of crisis, with currency co-movements across all countries exhibiting greater correlation than during the entire dataset. Additionally, our empirical findings highlight an unusually positive correlation between Brent crude oil and the Russian exchange rate during the Russia-Ukraine conflict, demonstrating that oil functions as a less effective hedge and a less dependable refuge for the Russian exchange rate in such geopolitical turbulence.
The construction industry is responsible for over 40% of global energy consumption and one-third of global greenhouse gas emissions. Generally, 10%–20% of energy is consumed in the manufacturing and transportation stages of materials, construction, maintenance, and demolition. The way the construction industry to deal with these impacts is to intensify sustainable development through green building. The author uses the latest Green Building Certification Standard in Indonesia as the Green Building Guidelines under the Ministry of Public Works and People’s Housing (PUPR) Regulation No. 01/SE/M/2022, as a basis for evaluating existing office buildings or what is often referred to as green retrofit. Structural Equation Modeling-Partial Least Squares (SEM-PLS) is used by the authors to detail the factors influencing the application of green building by analyzing several variables related to the problem studied, which are used to build and test statistical models of causal models. From this study, it is concluded that the most influential factors in the implementation of green retrofitting on office buildings are energy savings, water efficiency, renewable energy use, the presence of green building socialization programs, cost planning, design planning, project feasibility studies, material cost, use of the latest technology applications, and price fluctuations. With the results of this research, there is expected to be shared awareness and concern about implementing green buildings and green offices as an initiative to present a more energy-efficient office environment, save operating costs, and provide comfort to customers.
Mobile banking has become very important in today’s life as technological advancements have led bank clients to use banking services. Clients’ attitudes toward mobile banking services are based on their expectations is the background of this research. So, the main objective is to observe the purposeful conduct in mind of clients to adopt mobile banking services. This study also examines the influence of six variables on financial services clients’ desire to utilize mobile banking services, including perceived benefits, perceived ease of use, trust, security, perceived privacy, and technology expertise. Consequently, the goal of this study is to find out the crucial and deciding factors that may influence clients’ willingness to use mobile banking features in Bangladesh as a developing country. The sample shaped for this research is 310 respondents from Bangladesh a developing country. For analytical purposes, SEM has been used to test hypotheses. The results show that in Bangladesh, factors like perceived value, security, and technological aptitude greatly determine whether a customer will utilize mobile banking. Financial institutions have proven to be successful in serving clients through mobile phones. Clients have made good use of mobile banking only to save money, cost, and labor. The research suggests that mobile banking operations must be timely and accurate, the transaction process must be short, interactivity, convenience of usage, and so on. The findings have important implications for bank regulatory authority, management, bankers, and executives who wish to increase mobile banking usage to secure their long-term profitability.
The current paper aims at spatial presentation in Cinque Terre. The purpose is to reconstruct digital products (maps, statistics, diagrams, and 3D models) and the spatial analysis of the five villages. The goals are the presentation of the geomorphology, geography, population, density, and area. Also, the Strength-Weakness-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) analysis creates the disadvantages and advantages of the five villages in the region. The methodology is based on the software (G.I.S. Pro, QGIS, Zephyr 3D, Microsoft Excel, Generic Mapping Tool) and the bibliography study. For instance, the construction 3D terrain model shows the buildings, roads, green areas, and land cover of the five villages. The digital products help better “read” the region and emphasize the measurements and location of the region’s elements. The final results contain a message about new technologies and spatial planning. The new technologies have given spatial solutions in the last few years. The innovative, understanding, and attractive cartographical digital products present the geomorphology of the traditional villages in Cinque Terre.
The number of accidents at level railway crossings, especially crossings without gate barriers/attendants, is still very high due to technical problems, driving culture, and human error. The aim of this research is to provide road maps application based on ergonomic visual displays design that can increase awareness level for drivers before crossing railway crossings. The double awareness driving (DAD) map information system was built based on the waterfall method, which has 4 steps: defining requirements, system and software design, unit testing, and implementation. User needs to include origin-destination location, geolocation, distance & travel time, directions, crossing information, and crossing notifications. The DAD map application was tested using a usability test to determine the ease of using the application used the System Usability Scale (SUS) questionnaire and an Electroencephalogram (EEG) test to determine the increase in concentration in drivers before and immediately crossing a railway crossing. Periodically, the application provides information on the driving zone being passed; green zone for driving distances > 500 m to the crossing, the yellow zone for distances 500m to 100m, and the red zone for distances < 100 m. The DAD map also provides information on the position and speed of the nearest train that will cross the railway crossing. The usability test for 10 respondents giving SUS score = 97.5 (satisfaction category) with a time-based efficiency value = 0.29 goals/s, error rate = 0%, and a success rate of 93.33%. The cognitive ergonomic testing via Electroencephalogram (EEG) produced a focus level of 21.66%. Based on the results of DAD map testing can be implemented to improve the safety of level railroad crossings in an effort to reduce the number of driving accidents.
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