Entrepreneurship in higher education: The key role of self-efficacy-A cross sectional study

Entrepreneurship is the engine of a nation's economic, cultural, and social development. Since Higher Education Institutions play a crucial role, it is important to analyze the academy's entrepreneurial education effectiveness in promoting entrepreneurial intention amongst students. This study aims to analyze the effect of the education agenda of a Higher Education Institution on the students’ entrepreneurial intention, exploring the effect of self-efficacy as a mediator. A quantitative, cross-sectional, and non-experimental study was performed. A sample of 176 Portuguese higher education students fulfilled the “Entrepreneurial Motivations Survey,” which includes the HEInnovate Self-Assessment Scale, the Self-Efficacy Scale, and the Entrepreneurial Intention Scale. Data analysis was performed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), AMOS, and PROCESS software. Through structural equation models, it was created a mediation model to assess the impact of the University education agenda on the entrepreneurial intention of the students. All scales showed adequate validity and reliability. The Faculty was not perceived as an entrepreneurial academy by the students. The results did not show a direct effect of the entrepreneurial education agenda on the students’ entrepreneurial intention. The effects emerged through self-efficacy, which plays a mediating effect between entrepreneurial education agenda on the students’ entrepreneurial intention. The entrepreneurship agenda didn’t directly influence the entrepreneurial intention. It is mandatory to offer a rich agenda in order to improve the students’ entrepreneurial competencies, preparing them to strive in the competitive market, in which self-efficacy plays an important role.

Systematic illiquidity, characteristic illiquidity, and stock returns: Timeseries analysis

The objective of this research is to investigate the relationship between illiquidity and stock prices on the Tunisian stock exchange. While previous researches tended to focus on one form of illiquidity to examine this relationship, our study unifies three forms of illiquidity at the same time. Indeed, we simultaneously consider illiquidity as systematic risk, as a characteristic of the market, and as a characteristic of the stock. The aggregate illiquidity of the market is the average of individual stock illiquidity. The illiquidity risk is the sensitivity of the stock price to illiquidity shocks. Shocks of market illiquidity are estimated by the innovations in the expected market illiquidity. Results show that investors on the Tunisian stock exchange do not require higher returns when they expect a rise of market illiquidity, whereas investors on U.S markets are compensated for higher expected market illiquidity. In addition, shocks of market illiquidity provoke a fall in stock prices of small caps, while large caps are not sensitive to market illiquidity shocks. This differs slightly from results based on U.S. data where illiquidity shocks reduce all stock prices but most notably those of small caps. Robustness tests validate our findings. Our results are consistent with previous studies which reported that the “zero-return” ratio predicts significantly the return-illiquidity relationship on emerging markets.

Fractional formulation of Podolsky Lagrangian density

Lagrangians which depend on higher-order derivatives appear frequently in many areas of physics. In this paper, we reformulate Podolsky's Lagrangian in fractional form using left-right Riemann-Liouville fractional derivatives. The equations of motion are obtained using the fractional Euler Lagrange equation. In addition, the energy stress tensor and the Hamiltonian are obtained in fractional form from the Lagrangian density. The resulting equations are very similar to those found in classical field theory.

A system dynamics approach to food security: The case of Turkey

Predicting a sustainable food safety policy for the near future is among Turkey's priority problems. In this context, this study aims to predict Turkey's sustainable food safety policies. For this reason, the system dynamics model, which is a dynamic cycle-based method with stock and flow diagrams, is used in this paper. This study supposed the six different scenarios for 2020 and 2050. Data were selected as population, productivity rate, arable land fertility rate, and annual food consumption (per capita). The purpose of creating these scenarios; To determine the most appropriate policy to ensure food safety in Turkey. In the first scenario, we assumed that the current situation continues. In the second scenario, the average productivity rate was increased by 1.5%. The third scenario assumes that annual per capita food consumption rises to 1.2 tonnes per year. In the fourth scenario, the total fertility rate is accelerated by 2%. In the fifth scenario, we assumed that the arable land loss rate decreased by 1/3. Finally, we assumed that the sixth scenario covers all the second, third, fourth, and fifth scenarios and that 2 points reduce food losses. In conclusion, the findings show that food security responds positively in scenarios 2 and 6. However, in other scenarios, food security is negatively affected. The findings show that the sixth scenario is the best-case scenario. To ensure food security, it is necessary to reduce arable land losses and food waste. Training farmers and control of the food supply chain will be beneficial for sustainable food security in Turkey. We recommend that policymakers consider these recommendations.

Breaking through the glass ceiling: The three-dimensional model (Macro, Meso and Micro) towards promoting women participation in an academic context: Insights from a mixed-methods approach

This study aimed at bridging this gap and proposed a Three-Dimensional Model (Macro, Meso, and Micro). It also attempted to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of the glass ceiling, which limits women's participation in higher decision-making positions and determined how to overcome these barriers. The study adopted a mixed-methods approach. Three exploratory workshops involving 65 academic women leaders were conducted at three Saudi universities. This was followed by a field survey of the overall population involving 213 female leaders. Then six interviews of 35 female leaders were conducted. The results of the field survey illustrated the barriers preventing women from career development. According to the participants, the most challenging barriers at the institutional level were related to administrative and organizational aspects. They were followed by the barriers related to institutional culture. The social and personal barriers were ranked the last. The results of the interviews also revealed a set of ideas, which proposed methods to support women's progress to senior positions. They included political authority, policy development, open-door policy, adherence to the standards for selecting leaders based on competence, continuous evaluation, and professional development. The important role of the academic woman leader in the development of her career requires her to take responsibility for her professional growth and meet the requirements of the leadership role. The study recommends a comprehensive and profound treatment of the glass ceiling phenomenon. The study recommends a comprehensive training plan to support the skills, experiences, and capabilities of qualified women to occupy academic leadership. Benefiting from international expertise regarding this issue is highly recommended. There must be continuous monitoring and analysis of some quantitative and qualitative indicators based on an accurate database related to the academic empowerment of Saudi women.

European green deal: Experience of food safety for Ukraine

The systematization of European experience in the formation of food safety through research and analysis of European regulations and strategies. The key principles of the European Green Deal on food safety were analyzed, namely the implementation of the principle of sustainability of food systems and policies for adaptation to climate change. The levels of food safety of Ukraine and Poland were compared according to the main components: food availability, access to food, food safety conditions. According to the results of a sociological study, the level of food safety of Ukraine in terms of the introduction of the land market was assessed. A portrait of a landowner was formed, and the presence of a land plot affects the state of food supply. Based on the analysis of the main provisions of the European Green Deal and food safety policy (on the example of Poland), the areas of increasing the level of food safety in Ukraine were identified: completion of land reform and lifting the moratorium on the sale of agricultural land; ensuring the production of value-added products; adaptation to climate change, development, and implementation of a national program for rural development.

To explore the pharmacological mechanism of action using digital twin

With the advent of medical technology and science, the number of animals used in research has increased. For decades, the use of animals in research and product testing has been a point of conflict. Experts and pharmaceutical manufacturers are harming animals worldwide during laboratory research. Animals have also played a significant role in the advancement of science; animal testing has enabled the discovery of various novel drugs. The misery, suffering, and deaths of animals are not worth the potential human benefits. As a result, animals must not be exploited in research to assess the drug mechanism of action (MOA). Apart from the ethical concern, animal testing has a few more downsides, including the requirement for skilled labor, lengthy processes, and cost. Because it is critical to investigate adverse effects and toxicities in the development of potentially viable drugs. Assessment of each target will consume the range of resources as well as disturb living nature. As the digital twin works in an autonomous virtual world without influencing the physical structure and biological system. Our proposed framework suggests that the digital twin is a great reliable model of the physical system that will be beneficial in assessing the possible MOA prior to time without harming animals. The study describes the creation of a digital twin to combine the information and knowledge obtained by studying the different drug targets and diseases. Mechanism of Action using Digital twin (MOA-DT) will enable the experts to use an innovative approach without physical testing to save animals, time, and resources. DT reflects and simulates the actual drug and its relationships with its target, however presenting a more accurate depiction of the drug, which leads to maximize efficacy and decrease the toxicity of a drug. In conclusion, it has been shown that drug discovery and development can be safe, effective, and economical in no time through the combination of the digital and physical models of a pharmaceutical as compared to experimental animals.

Turbine recommender: The selection of wind turbine type using one of a machine learning technique

This study aims to utilize the machine learning technique to build a model to recommend the suitable wind turbine type based on some variables, such as air speed and air density, as well as visualize the location of the recommended wind turbine selection on a 3D map. Particularly, we applied the K-nearest neighbor model (KNN) to determine the amount of energy produced by a single wind turbine. We applied it on 10 separate wind farms in Saudi Arabia. The results indicate that the model performs very well in predicting the best wind turbine type with the mean accuracy of 88%, where ten wind stations resulted from the optimized model with the suggested turbine type in each station. Adding more wind attributes and other factors may assist in increasing the model mean accuracy. The project’s findings will assist decision-makers in Saudi Arabia to make informed decisions as to what kind of wind turbine is suitable for a specific location. In the long run, this will help to make wind energy-a sustainable source of energy-one of the main goals of the 2030 vision, specifically under National Industrial Development and Logistics Program.

Analyzing publication trend on microcredit research using bibliometrics approach

This paper aims to apply the bibliometrics method to investigate the research trends in the study of microcredit, specifically analyzing the quality of the research productions by the citation status and the mutual influence of these publications. This study has used the bibliometric method for an overview analysis of all 382 publications on the topic of microcredit indexed in the Scopus database for the period of 1994 to 2021. The results of the study provide an overview of the publication trend on the microcredit topic, such as (i) the most influential publications; (ii) the most cited authors; (iii) the most cited journals by publications on the microcredit topic; (iv) the main research keywords that network linked among publications on the microcredit topic; (v) the most productive institutions; (vi) the trend of research collaboration among countries in publications on the microcredit topic. The article provides an objective overview of the microcredit topic development and is a valuable reference for scholars studying finance, economics, and business management.

Improving the quality of strategic decision-making process in universities through employing expert systems: A case study from a developing country

Strategic decisions represent the fundamental core of the strategic planning process and strategic management in universities and they are essential in shaping the universities' policies and achieving their strategic goals. Without those strategic decisions, the universities stand unable to achieve their strategic goals and mission; therefore, specialists realized the critical importance of improving the quality of strategic decision-making in the current complex fast-changing environment that its dynamism continuously increases and which is based on the use of cutting-edge information and communications technology (ICT). Undoubtedly strategic decision-making process requires processing a huge amount of information with different robust smart methods and the extensive use of experts knowledge. There are many discussions about the uses and applications of expert systems (ESs), which are evolving rapidly in solving real problems in many fields that require experienced experts with deep sound experiences, and despite these many applications in many different fields and domains. Literature reveals that there is a scarcity of scientific research on how to employ expert systems to raise the quality of strategic decision-making processes in universities. Thus the purpose of the research is to fill this research gap by investigating how expert systems will enhance the quality of the strategic decision-making process in universities. The research design is a case study applied in Ain Shams University as a model of public universities in a developing country. This research makes a new research contribution by suggesting a futuristic proposal for improving the quality of the strategic decision-making process in universities through employing expert systems that are based on the theoretical framework of the research and the results of the field study.