Eastern Mediterranean University

Climate change mitigation has become the central theme for many policy initiatives, as such, the European Union (EU) member countries are working assiduously to achieve the emission targets. To provide policy direction in achieving the emission targets, this study investigated the drivers essential to attaining the Sustainable Development Goals in regards to reducing environmental pollution in EU member countries. A balanced panel of 16-EU countries from 1997 to 2014 was estimated with Panel Pool Mean Group Autoregressive distributive lag (PMG-ARDL) model. The study traced the equilibrium relationship between ecological footprint, real gross domestic product, trade openness, fertility rate, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption - suggested by both Kao and Pedroni cointegration tests. The PMG-ARDL analysis confirmed the role of non-renewable energy consumption in depleting environmental quality while renewable energy consumption was found to improve environmental sustainability. Interestingly, the unexpected long-run fertility-ecological footprint nexus was connected with the divergent fertility rate information of the EU member countries. Although, country-specific policy approach is essential, however, such a framework should be compatible with the region's overall Sustainable Development Goals. The call for diversification of existing energy portfolios by either incorporating or enhancing renewable energy technologies is essential to sustain the current success strides of most member states. Thus, the EU needs to strengthen its commitments to achieving the emission targets by decarbonizing and sustaining its economic growth trajectory.

Recently, with the emergence of Industry 4.0 (I4.0), smart systems, machine learning (ML) within artificial intelligence (AI), predictive maintenance (PdM) approaches have been extensively applied in industries for handling the health status of industrial equipment. Due to digital transformation towards I4.0, information techniques, computerized control, and communication networks, it is possible to collect massive amounts of operational and processes conditions data generated form several pieces of equipment and harvest data for making an automated fault detection and diagnosis with the aim to minimize downtime and increase utilization rate of the components and increase their remaining useful lives. PdM is inevitable for sustainable smart manufacturing in I4.0. Machine learning (ML) techniques have emerged as a promising tool in PdM applications for smart manufacturing in I4.0, thus it has increased attraction of authors during recent years. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive review of the recent advancements of ML techniques widely applied to PdM for smart manufacturing in I4.0 by classifying the research according to the ML algorithms, ML category, machinery, and equipment used, device used in data acquisition, classification of data, size and type, and highlight the key contributions of the researchers, and thus offers guidelines and foundation for further research.

Abstract Horizon-scale images of black holes (BHs) and their shadows have opened an unprecedented window onto tests of gravity and fundamental physics in the strong-field regime. We consider a wide range of well-motivated deviations from classical general relativity (GR) BH solutions, and constrain them using the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) observations of Sagittarius A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi/> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> (Sgr A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi> </mml:mi> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> ), connecting the size of the bright ring of emission to that of the underlying BH shadow and exploiting high-precision measurements of Sgr A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi> </mml:mi> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> ’s mass-to-distance ratio. The scenarios we consider, and whose fundamental parameters we constrain, include various regular BHs, string-inspired space-times, violations of the no-hair theorem driven by additional fields, alternative theories of gravity, novel fundamental physics frameworks, and BH mimickers including well-motivated wormhole and naked singularity space-times. We demonstrate that the EHT image of Sgr A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi/> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> places particularly stringent constraints on models predicting a shadow size larger than that of a Schwarzschild BH of a given mass, with the resulting limits in some cases surpassing cosmological ones. Our results are among the first tests of fundamental physics from the shadow of Sgr A <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:msup> <mml:mi/> <mml:mo>∗</mml:mo> </mml:msup> </mml:math> and, while the latter appears to be in excellent agreement with the predictions of GR, we have shown that a number of well-motivated alternative scenarios, including BH mimickers, are far from being ruled out at present.

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is a disorder characterized by hyperandrogenism, ovulatory dysfunction and polycystic ovarian morphology. Affected women frequently have metabolic disturbances including insulin resistance and dysregulation of glucose homeostasis. PCOS is diagnosed with two different sets of diagnostic criteria, resulting in a phenotypic spectrum of PCOS cases. The genetic similarities between cases diagnosed based on the two criteria have been largely unknown. Previous studies in Chinese and European subjects have identified 16 loci associated with risk of PCOS. We report a fixed-effect, inverse-weighted-variance meta-analysis from 10,074 PCOS cases and 103,164 controls of European ancestry and characterisation of PCOS related traits. We identified 3 novel loci (near PLGRKT, ZBTB16 and MAPRE1), and provide replication of 11 previously reported loci. Only one locus differed significantly in its association by diagnostic criteria; otherwise the genetic architecture was similar between PCOS diagnosed by self-report and PCOS diagnosed by NIH or non-NIH Rotterdam criteria across common variants at 13 loci. Identified variants were associated with hyperandrogenism, gonadotropin regulation and testosterone levels in affected women. Linkage disequilibrium score regression analysis revealed genetic correlations with obesity, fasting insulin, type 2 diabetes, lipid levels and coronary artery disease, indicating shared genetic architecture between metabolic traits and PCOS. Mendelian randomization analyses suggested variants associated with body mass index, fasting insulin, menopause timing, depression and male-pattern balding play a causal role in PCOS. The data thus demonstrate 3 novel loci associated with PCOS and similar genetic architecture for all diagnostic criteria. The data also provide the first genetic evidence for a male phenotype for PCOS and a causal link to depression, a previously hypothesized comorbid disease. Thus, the genetics provide a comprehensive view of PCOS that encompasses multiple diagnostic criteria, gender, reproductive potential and mental health.

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are conservation tools intended to protect biodiversity, promote healthy and resilient marine ecosystems, and provide societal benefits. Despite codification of MPAs in international agreements, MPA effectiveness is currently undermined by confusion about the many MPA types and consequent wildly differing outcomes. We present a clarifying science-driven framework—The MPA Guide—to aid design and evaluation. The guide categorizes MPAs by stage of establishment and level of protection, specifies the resulting direct and indirect outcomes for biodiversity and human well-being, and describes the key conditions necessary for positive outcomes. Use of this MPA Guide by scientists, managers, policy-makers, and communities can improve effective design, implementation, assessment, and tracking of existing and future MPAs to achieve conservation goals by using scientifically grounded practices.

Climate change is causing an increase in the frequency and intensity of marine heatwaves (MHWs) and mass mortality events (MMEs) of marine organisms are one of their main ecological impacts. Here, we show that during the 2015-2019 period, the Mediterranean Sea has experienced exceptional thermal conditions resulting in the onset of five consecutive years of widespread MMEs across the basin. These MMEs affected thousands of kilometers of coastline from the surface to 45 m, across a range of marine habitats and taxa (50 taxa across 8 phyla). Significant relationships were found between the incidence of MMEs and the heat exposure associated with MHWs observed both at the surface and across depths. Our findings reveal that the Mediterranean Sea is experiencing an acceleration of the ecological impacts of MHWs which poses an unprecedented threat to its ecosystems' health and functioning. Overall, we show that increasing the resolution of empirical observation is critical to enhancing our ability to more effectively understand and manage the consequences of climate change.

Purpose The paper aims to explore interrelations of the four brand equity components; brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand image in hotel industry and improve the conceptualization of customer‐based hotel brand equity. Design/methodology/approach The paper is based on the recommendations of previous studies, the scale constructed to measure consumer‐based brand equity included brand awareness, brand loyalty, perceived quality and brand image. The present study used a sample of 345 actual customers from 11 different countries whose accommodation in North Cyprus hotels was used to test the relations of the proposed model Path analysis. Findings The findings in this paper support the three‐dimensional model of customer‐based brand equity in hotel industry. Brand awareness dimension was not found significant in the tested model for hotels. The present study contributes to the understanding of customer‐based brand equity measurement by examining the dimensionality of this construct. Research limitations/implications Further research in this paper should attempt to examine brand equity across many different hotel categories. This will give the opportunity to make comparisons between different hotels' products and this concept. Furthermore, intra relationship of customer based‐brand equity components on the hotel performance needs to be investigated. Practical implications The paper shows that hotel managers and executives should try to influence; perceived quality, brand loyalty, brand image and brand awareness in their organizations and design their service delivery process by considering relations between customer based brand equity components. Originality/value The principal contribution of the paper is that it provides important insights into the development and measurement of customer based hotel brand equity scale and limited hotel brand equity literature.

In this correspondence, the authors propose an image resolution enhancement technique based on interpolation of the high frequency subband images obtained by discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and the input image. The edges are enhanced by introducing an intermediate stage by using stationary wavelet transform (SWT). DWT is applied in order to decompose an input image into different subbands. Then the high frequency subbands as well as the input image are interpolated. The estimated high frequency subbands are being modified by using high frequency subband obtained through SWT. Then all these subbands are combined to generate a new high resolution image by using inverse DWT (IDWT). The quantitative and visual results are showing the superiority of the proposed technique over the conventional and state-of-art image resolution enhancement techniques.

Purpose This study aims to examine the current network of inter‐relationships of stakeholders representing government, the community and the tourism and hospitality industry, and their perceptions of critical stakeholders in destination development. Design/methodology/approach While the network analysis enabled examination of the interconnectedness of stakeholders, the stakeholder approach identified the critical stakeholders in destination development. These two approaches helped determine how the existing relationship structures of destination stakeholders might influence sustainable destination development. Findings The destination marketing/management organizations (DMOs) and stakeholders with access to or possession of critical resources have the highest centrality in urban destinations. In all three clusters, local government and DMOs are perceived to hold the greatest legitimacy and power over others in destination development. It is also found that there is a lack of “bridges” between the three clusters of industry, government and the community. Research limitations/implications The study demonstrates the use of a network analysis methodology as a potential tool for researchers and managers in examining destination stakeholder relationships. Practical implications DMOs, hotels and attractions stakeholders have the most crucial roles in achieving inter‐stakeholder collaboration for sustainable destination development, particularly because the many and diverse industry actors trust or depend on them. Originality/value There are very few studies that have applied both network and stakeholder perspectives to destinations to examine the structure of inter‐stakeholder relationships and the potential influence of this relational structure on sustainable destination development.

Abstract This paper aims to investigate the effect of financial development and renewable energy consumption on consumption‐based CO 2 emissions in Chile while controlling for economic growth and electricity consumption. Based on the aim of the paper, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds with Kripfganz and Schneider's (2018) approximations, fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and gradual shift causality tests are applied in this study. The outcomes clearly reveal that while financial development and renewable energy consumption reduce the consumption‐based CO 2 emissions in Chile, economic growth and electricity consumption increase consumption‐based carbon emissions. The gradual shift causality test provides consistent results with ARDL, FMOLS, and DOLS estimators. Therefore, policymakers in Chile should dynamically encourage the research and development of low‐carbon technologies and renewable energy investments while imported nonrenewable energy sources level should be targeted, and especially those sectors which are more energy‐intensive and causing to increase in consumption‐based CO 2 emissions.

In this letter, a new satellite image contrast enhancement technique based on the discrete wavelet transform (DWT) and singular value decomposition has been proposed. The technique decomposes the input image into the four frequency subbands by using DWT and estimates the singular value matrix of the low-low subband image, and, then, it reconstructs the enhanced image by applying inverse DWT. The technique is compared with conventional image equalization techniques such as standard general histogram equalization and local histogram equalization, as well as state-of-the-art techniques such as brightness preserving dynamic histogram equalization and singular value equalization. The experimental results show the superiority of the proposed method over conventional and state-of-the-art techniques.

Angiogenesis is a double-edged sword; it is a mechanism that defines the boundary between health and disease. In spite of its central role in physiological homeostasis, it provides the oxygen and nutrition needed by tumor cells to proceed from dormancy if pro-angiogenic factors tip the balance in favor of tumor angiogenesis. Among pro-angiogenic factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a prominent target in therapeutic methods due to its strategic involvement in the formation of anomalous tumor vasculature. In addition, VEGF exhibits immune-regulatory properties which suppress immune cell antitumor activity. VEGF signaling through its receptors is an integral part of tumoral angiogenic approaches. A wide variety of medicines have been designed to target the ligands and receptors of this pro-angiogenic superfamily. Herein, we summarize the direct and indirect molecular mechanisms of VEGF to demonstrate its versatile role in the context of cancer angiogenesis and current transformative VEGF-targeted strategies interfering with tumor growth.

Various sufficient conditions for approximate controllability of linear evolution systems in abstract spaces have been obtained, but approximate controllability of semilinear control systems usually requires some complicated and limited assumptions. In this paper, we show the approximate controllability of the abstract semilinear deterministic and stochastic control systems under the natural assumption that the associated linear control system is approximately controllable. The results are obtained using new properties of symmetric operators (which are proved in this paper), compact semigroups, the Schauder fixed point theorem, and/or the contraction mapping principle.

Blended learning emerged as one of the most popular pedagogical concepts at the beginning of f2000. With an increasing tendency, many researches have reported on blended learning since it flourished. The lack of technological availability prevented blending of traditional face-to-face learning with distributed learning environments. However, within the recent 10 years the introduction of the new technological innovations filled the gap between traditional face-to-face learning and distributed learning environments. The main purpose of this study is to review and analyze the studies carried out on blended learning through reflecting on the past, the present and the future. Graham (2006) stated that blended learning would have a great role in the future and it would be dominated by the distributed learning environments. To sum up, recent developments in technology encourage teacher educators to apply blended learning in their classrooms but how it should be implemented will be one of the key questions to be discussed in this research.

Purpose To measure the service quality perceptions of Greek Cypriot bank customers and to examine the relationship between service quality, customer satisfaction and positive word of mouth, in the light of changing bank market dynamics due to EU accession. Design/methodology/approach A total of 260 retail bank customers responded to a Greek translated version of SERVQUAL. After descriptive and factor analysis, multivariate regression analysis was used to estimate the impact of service quality dimensions on overall customer satisfaction and the impact of satisfaction on positive word of mouth. Findings The SERVQUAL scale proved to be of a three‐dimensional structure in this study. Results revealed that the expectations of bank customers were not met where the largest gap was obtained in the responsiveness‐empathy dimension. Reliability items had the highest effect on customer satisfaction, which in turn had a statistically significant impact on the positive word of mouth. Research limitations/implications There were some difficulties in conducting interviews, which may have restricted the potential sample size. Future research could be directed at how the service is delivered by front‐line employees. Practical implications Findings of this study will help Greek Cypriot banks to redefine their corporate image to one that is customer‐focused and emphasizes service quality. The findings will also be important for other countries that need to restructure their banking system as a prerequisite to EU membership. Originality/value This study assesses the five‐factor fit of the much debated SERVQUAL instrument to a new country setting, that of Cyprus, whose already developed banking system has undergone significant restructuring prior to EU accession.

This study investigates the relevance of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in Turkey for the period 1974–2010 using carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, and foreign direct investment (FDI) variables. The long-run equilibrium relationship among CO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, and FDI is revealed using the bounds test. The error correction model under autoregressive-distributed lag mechanism suggests that CO2 emissions converge to their long-run equilibrium level by a 49.2% speed of adjustment every year by the contribution of energy consumption, economic growth, and FDI. The Toda–Yamamoto (1995 Toda, H.Y., and T. Yamamoto. 1995. “Statistical Inference in Vector Autoregressions with Possibly Integrated Processes.” Journal of Econometrics 66 (1): 225–250.[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]) causality test results imply that carbon emissions and FDI, energy consumption, and CO2 emissions have bidirectional causal relationships. On the other hand, there are unidirectional causal relationships running from economic growth and energy consumption to FDI and from economic growth to energy consumption. Our findings provide evidence of the validity of the pollution haven hypothesis, in addition to the scale effect, and the EKC in the case of Turkey.

The Caputo fractional derivative has been one of the most useful operators for modelling non-local behaviours by fractional differential equations. It is defined, for a differentiable function f ( t ) , by a fractional integral operator applied to the derivative f ′ ( t ) . We define a new fractional operator by substituting for this f ′ ( t ) a more general proportional derivative. This new operator can also be written as a Riemann–Liouville integral of a proportional derivative, or in some important special cases as a linear combination of a Riemann–Liouville integral and a Caputo derivative. We then conduct some analysis of the new definition: constructing its inverse operator and Laplace transform, solving some fractional differential equations using it, and linking it with a recently described bivariate Mittag-Leffler function.

Purpose This paper aims to propose a research model that explores perceived green organizational support (OS) as a mediator of the effect of green human resource management (GHRM) on job performance (JP) and organizational citizenship behavior toward the organization (OCB-O). Design/methodology/approach This paper used data obtained from small- and medium-sized hotels in Palestine. The associations given above were tested using structural equation modeling. Findings The findings reveal that GHRM boosts hotel employees’ perceptions of green OS. That is, the effective implementation of GHRM is a sign of perceived green OS. Congruent with the study predictions, employees’ perceptions of green OS activate their JP and OCB-O. Finally, perceived green OS mediates the impact of GHRM on JP and OCB-O. Practical implications Management should take advantage of green human resource practices to acquire and retain talented employees whose environmental goals and values fit those of the company. Employees should be involved in problem-solving on environmental sustainability and green management. They should also participate in continuous training programs and enhance their awareness of environmental sustainability and green management. Originality/value There is a lack of evidence appertaining to the effects of GHRM and perceived green OS on non-green positive workplace performance outcomes. More importantly, there is a scarcity of evidence about the mechanism linking GHRM to these performance outcomes.

Abstract The race to gain competitive advantage through the formulation of a sustainable business strategy is key for the survival in the global business sphere. Even more importantly is the quest to deploy an effective green strategy to combat the numerous negative impact industrialization has on the environment. Researches pointed out the role of leaders and stakeholder's engagement in bringing about reform. This research focuses on how to build a robust psychological capital within an organization through the leader's transformative ability in combating environmental issues. This is necessary because research related to green transformational leadership and the effect on green team resilience has not been considered in literature. Drawing from the combination of three theories; broaden‐and‐build theory, job demand–resource theory, and conservation of resource theory, this study contributes to the extant literature by testing the effect of green transformational leadership via the mediating role of green work engagement to green team resilience. Using Amos 20 version to analyze 351 questionnaires that were collected from employees in four and five star hotels in Turkey, the result reviews that green transformational leadership has a positive effect on green work engagement and green team resilience, and green work engagement fully mediates the relationship between the variables. The theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Purpose – This paper aims to develop and test a conceptual model that investigates the effect of psychological capital on job, career and life satisfaction, mediated by work engagement, drawing from the conservation of resources theory and the motivational process of the job demands-resources model. Design/methodology/approach – Based on data gathered from frontline employees in the international five- and four-star chain hotels with a time lag of two weeks in three waves in Romania, the relationships in the conceptual model were gauged through structural equation modeling. Self-efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience were treated as the indicators of psychological capital. Findings – The results suggest that optimism appears to be the best indicator of psychological capital, followed by resilience, self-efficacy and hope. Employees with high psychological capital are engaged in their work at elevated levels. Employees high in psychological capital are more satisfied with their job, career and life. The results reported in this study further suggest that psychological capital boosts work engagement that in turn leads to job, career and life satisfaction. Practical implications – The presence of rigorous selective staffing enables management to select a pool of employees high in psychological capital and work engagement. Inviting applicants to fill out an online questionnaire to identify their knowledge and skills and then using specific experiential exercises or short case studies to understand their tactics for handling service encounters can serve this purpose. Management can utilize the psychological capital questionnaire during and after the selection process. The availability of a resourceful work environment where there are training, empowerment, rewards and career opportunities is likely to stimulate employees’ positive emotions that in turn relate to psychological capital. Originality/value – Very little is known about psychological capital in the hospitality management literature. Therefore, this paper fills in this void by linking psychological capital to employees’ job, career and life satisfaction through work engagement.