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Purpose This study aims to explore the antecedents related to luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. It obtains the connection between luxury brand attachment, luxury brand trust and luxury brand loyalty. The study also envisages how luxury brand trust plays a mediation role in strengthening the relationship between luxury brand attachment and luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. Design/methodology/approach The empirical investigation is based on the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. Data was acquired with the help of a structured questionnaire, following convenience and snowball sampling techniques. A total of 230 primary responses was used for the statistical analysis of the present research. The analysis was carried out with the help of SmartPLS software to validate a proposed model and corresponding hypotheses. Findings The research findings demonstrate that two major branding outcomes support luxury brand loyalty behavior in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment: luxury brand attachment and luxury brand trust. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) attributes and sustainability attributes, luxury product attributes, luxury brand attributes and social media attributes positively influence luxury brand attachment in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. CSR attributes and sustainability attributes have negligible contribution toward positively influencing luxury brand trust towards the same. However, when luxury brand trust is combined with luxury brand attachment, then luxury brand trust plays a significant role in enhancing luxury brand loyalty among the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. Then, luxury brand attributes, product attributes and social media attribute positively impact luxury brand trust in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. The study also identifies that luxury brand trust plays a significant mediation role in consolidating the relationship between attachment and loyalty. Originality/value The proposed model in the research is an integrated framework comprising maximum potential variables that can positively influence luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. The analysis in the research shows the mediation role of luxury brand trust between luxury brand attachment and luxury brand loyalty in the Indian Gen Z consumer segment. This study has also identified the vital role of luxury brands’ CSR attributes and sustainability attributes to support luxury brand loyalty.

Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs) are a popular assessment method because they enable automated evaluation, flexible administration and use with huge groups. Despite these benefits, the manual construction of MCQs is challenging, time-consuming and error-prone. This is because each MCQ is comprised of a question called the "stem", a correct option called the "key" along with alternative options called "distractors" whose construction demands expertise from the MCQ developers. In addition, there are different kinds of MCQs such as Wh-type, Fill-in-the-blank, Odd one out, and many more needed to assess understanding at different cognitive levels. Automatic Question Generation (AQG) for developing heterogeneous MCQ stems has generally followed two approaches: semantics-based and machine-learning-based. Questions generated via AQG techniques can be utilized only if they are grammatically correct. Semantics-based techniques have been able to generate a range of different types of grammatically correct MCQs but require the semantics to be specified. In contrast, most machine-learning approaches have been primarily able to generate only grammatically correct Fill-in-the-blank/Cloze by reusing the original text. This paper describes a technique for combining semantic-based and machine-learning-based techniques to generate grammatically correct MCQ stems of various types for a technical domain. Expert evaluation of the resultant MCQ stems demonstrated that they were promising in terms of their usefulness and grammatical correctness.

The World Health Organization has defined ‘Health’ as “a state of complete physical,mental, social and spiritual well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity”. Theconcept of mental health includes subjective well-being, perception of self-efficacy, autonomy,competence, and recognition of one's ability to realize one's intellectual and emotional potential.It is also defined as a state of well-being in which individuals realize their abilities or are able tocope with the stresses of normal life, be productive at work, and contribute effectively to theircommunities.India is home to the largest tribal populations in the world with 8.6% of the totalpopulation belonging to Scheduled Tribes forming 705 tribal groups across India, a significantsection of which are suffering from a multitude of mental health issues. This article narrates thestate of the mental health conditions pervading inside the tribal groups across India and theirability to cope with the emerging trends and issues responsible for the increase in cases of mentalhealth problems. Tribal communities are not immune from the clutches of mental illness and theunique cultures of each tribal society have shaped their own understanding of mental illness andthe strategies for its treatment/management. Further, it is observed that the decisions and choicestaken by the authorities catering to the wider arena of mental health issues, which were imposedon the tribal groups without consulting their prerogatives and social proclivities, have led to astate of social-emotional distress and lethargy in terms of the treatment seeking behaviour.

Bangladesh shares 2,217 kilometers of its borders with the state of West Bengal, India with close to common historical and cultural linkages, trade and commerce, economic interdependence and geo-strategic interests, shared water resources, and transport connectivity of all forms. There also exist various concentrated marginalized groups (such as refugees) and minorities, cross-border bilateral or multilateral state relations and interactions, and mixed and blurred identities spreading across the borderlands. Yet the shared borders and cultural-linguistic overlaps have not been proven compelling enough for the establishments from both sides to form an undisruptive and cohesive socio-political and economic linkages despite of the existence of alternative voices and views regarding state relations, history, culture, and identity that deviate from what has been defined by the state.This following article focuses on the Indo-Bangladesh borderlands of West Bengal to explore emerging possibilities in bilateral ties and argues that through the application of ‘Spatial Dimension of Social Relation’ approach, the aspect of cross-border human interactions and cultural-linguistic overlaps could be ascertained which will bolster enhanced cross-border mobility and exchanges which would be beneficial for both sides. This article also intertwines the anthropology of borderlands with the political concepts of governance and development. There is a need to focus on the variety of different political economic contexts for development and observe how people on the subject of development – are responding, reacting, circumventing, and resisting such a structural factor as the borderland that has acted on them.

Caste in India has played a detrimental role in deciding the fate of the political and social life of numerous individuals across the spectrum. After independence a new socio-political horizon based on complex social relations emerged, replacing the older notion of rigid stratification through overlapping potentialities and horizontal mobility among the lower stratum of social stratification. This translated into the formation of certain cohesive caste associations who ushered themselves into wider political representation and projected their identities while truncating the notion of purity and pollution. Politicians, in order to attract these associations towards themselves and gain their allegiances, used coercion to consolidate their position inside the electoral picture. Seizing this opportunity, those associations negotiated certain demands of their own with those in the political helm in return for a successful political mobilization. This article intends to understand the backgrounds and factors involved in the origin and formation of such associations who modulates the overall ideologies of the member groups, while cementing the path for a wider scale of identity politics.

In this article, the energy parcels concept is used to reveal radiation physics and coupling in the entire structure of flyover quad form-factor pluggable (QSFP) interconnection. Flyover QSFP has better signal integrity than legacy surface mounted printed circuit board QSFP technology. To understand electromagnetic interference aspects, a simulation model was built and correlated to measured total radiated power (TRP) for common mode and differential mode excitations for a frequency range of 1–40 GHz. Further, the energy parcels and their trajectories concept were applied to visualize the coupling path by tracking back the energy parcels from outside of the chassis (quiet side) toward a host board inside the chassis (noisy side). Then, high-density regions of energy parcel trajectories guide where to place the absorbing material efficiently and appropriately. Two locations were examined by filling them with electromagnetic lossy material and improvement was validated by TRP simulation and measurement.

Determining the components or coupling paths responsible for soft failures during transient testing is challenging because the components are hidden within the product and because measuring internal voltages or currents during a transient test may not be practical. Adding cables to make voltage or current measurements may be difficult and may alter the test results. To overcome this problem, in this article, two compact sensors are designed to measure the peak over or undervoltage on a trace or pin during a transient electromagnetic event. One sensor uses an analog-to-digital converter to store the peak voltage digitally and the other sensor uses an external capacitor to store an analog measure of the peak voltage for a period of time. The sensors are designed to wirelessly transmit the peak level to a remote receiver using the frequency-modulated electric and magnetic fields so that no cables or other changes to the system are needed. The proof-of-concept of the sensors was implemented in an integrated circuit using 180 nm technology. The sensor performance is characterized by direct injection and by using them to detect the peak voltage on a universal serial bus (USB) cable during a cable-guided transient event. Both sensors successfully detected and transmitted the peak level of the event.

In a multimodule system, an increase in the number of radiating optical modules will increase the electromagnetic emissions. This article investigates the scaled tendency of the emissions in a router system loaded with hundreds of optical modules. An artificial router mimicking the real system was built to investigate this tendency. A patch antenna array mimics the radiation of the optical modules. It can be excited in in-phase and random-phase configurations. The measurement data verifies the theoretical analysis and the prediction from a statistical method without performing hundreds of different experiments on a real router. Assuming that all radiators are radiating at the same frequency and have similar radiation pattern with random phases, the average of the maximal directivity of the system will saturate if the number of radiators (N) is larger than 14. Furthermore, the average of the maximal electric field radiated will increase following a 10 log10 N (dB) tendency.

Often, electromagnetic interference (EMI) scanning applications require phase and magnitude information for the creation of equivalent radiation models and far-field predictions. Magnitude information can be obtained using a spectrum analyzer (SA), which is relatively inexpensive compared to phase resolving instruments such as vector network analyzers (VNAs) and oscilloscopes at tens of GHz. This paper introduces and optimizes a cost-effective SA-based phase measurement method and compares the results to a VNA and oscilloscope-based methods for EMI signal sources. The measured-phase distribution obtained from the three different instruments is additionally compared with the simulated phase determined from full-wave simulation. The three measurement methods are compared based on the type of signal spectrum to be measured, such as single or multiple frequencies, signals requiring low-resolution bandwidth measurements, or transient signal events. The SA-based phase measurement technique is designed to operate from 5 to 12 GHz. However, the system frequency bandwidth is limited only by the frequency bandwidth of the individual RF components used in the SA measurement system.

Typical networking equipment contains tens of nearly identical line cards and hundreds of the optical modules. The more modules and line cards are added, the larger the radiation will be. This paper presents an idea and approach to estimate the emission of a fully populated system based on data that are obtained using an only partially populated system.

This article presents a method for manufacturing a frequency selective surface (FSS) using the 3D printing technology, including material characterization, design, fabrication, and evaluation. The FSS design is based on a three-layer structure. The first layer is a 3D printed lossy material, the second layer is an air gap, and the third layer is a ground plane. By changing the geometrical parameters of the 3D printed layer, it is possible to tune the frequency of the absorption band of the FSS.

Quad form-factor pluggable (QSFP) interconnections shielding cages with heatsinks are often optimized for thermal, mechanical, and volume manufacturing. In this paper, shielding effectiveness (SE) of QSFP cages, including two configurations of 1 × 1 and 1 × 6 with three cases of normal (i.e., rising) heatsink, without a heatsink, and with a modified heatsink, is measured for the frequency range of 1–40 GHz using a dual reverberation chamber. For each measurement, three different vendors of optical modules are utilized and averaged SE is achieved for each case, indicating that the rising heatsink degrades the SE around 5–10 dB compare to the no heatsink or modified heatsink. Further, energy parcels and their trajectory concept are applied to visualize the coupling paths in a rising heatsink. The rising heatsink creates a new coupling path for EM waves to leak to the cage and emit from the chassis faceplate. From the energy parcel results, an electromagnetic interference (EMI) mitigation technique is proposed for the newly created coupling path by the rising heatsink, and its performance is evaluated with SE measurements. Further, a measurement is performed with an active board using a 40-Gbps optical module with and without the EMI mitigation technique.

The core difference between the posture assumed for IEC 61000-4-2 human metal discharge and a discharge to a wearable device is the impedance between the charged body and the grounded structure discharged to. Especially for a waist-worn device, a larger portion of the body is close to the grounded structure; thus the geometry forms much lower impedance which will lead to higher currents. Despite the variability for the air discharge, in most cases, the current will be higher than 3.75 A/kV as specified for contact mode electrostatics discharge (ESD) calibration. Even for the most slowly rising discharges having a spark length equal to the value given by Paschen's law, a 10 kV ESD from the waist will surpass 37.5 A for a waist-worn metal part discharged (e.g., to a door frame). Modeling the wearable device discharge provides predictions on the current derivative and the transient field a wearable device is subjected to. Observed failure levels of a wearable electronic device and comparing discharges according to the IEC 61000-4-2 test standard against discharges from the device while wearable showed that the IEC set-up may be insufficient to ensure the robustness of the wearable devices.

Determining the components or coupling path responsible for soft failures during transient testing is challenging, in part because components are hidden deep within the product and because measuring internal voltages or currents during a transient test may not be practical. Adding cables to the system to make voltage or current measurements may be difficult and may alter the test results. To overcome this problem, a compact sensor has been designed to measure the peak over-or under-voltage on a trace or pin during a transient electromagnetic event. The sensor was designed to wirelessly transmit the peak level of the event to a receiver outside the device under test using frequency-modulated electric and magnetic fields, so that no cabling or other changes to the system are needed. A proof-of-concept of the sensor has been implemented in an integrated circuit (IC) using 180 nm technology which can measure the peak level of a negative transient event. The sensor operation was validated by direct injection to the sensor from a transmission line pulser. The sensor was also used to detect the peak voltage on a USB cable during a transient event on the cable-connected system. Tests showed that the sensor can successfully detect and transmit the peak level of the event, and that the oscillation frequency (and thus the level) could be easily detected by a near-field probe placed outside the enclosure of the device under test.

This paper describes an improved reference source for conducted emission (CE) testing. It allows for selecting different modes of noise injection. It injects an arbitrary waveform generator signal into a 3-wire power cord. Different from the previous designs, the noise can be injected in four different modes: Line against Neutral; Line against PE; Line and Neutral against PE; and Line, Neutral, and PE against Local GND (i.e., common mode). The source was designed for comparing test setups, and investigating the influencing factors such as table position or cable routing on the resonances.

A system level EMC method is proposed in this paper to predict the electromagnetic interference (EMI) from multiple radiators. The problem under test consists of a large network router with 480 optical modules radiating at 10.3 GHz. The proposed method handles the analysis of this system by using different phased array antenna topologies. Systematic conclusions are presented including the effect of same frequency vs. different frequency of radiating subsystems, the possibility of missing the maximum emission (Emax) during horizontal scan and height scan, and the effect of the radiation pattern for different radiators. The results indicate the existence of a 10 Log N (dB) tendency for the Emax parameter in the case of adding a complex electric field (voltage) and random phase distribution over the line cards. It also shows similarity to an 8 Log N (dB) tendency for adding power intensity for different line cards with slightly offset frequencies. The developed method can be extended to other frequency ranges when necessary. The proposed statistical method is useful when it is not practical to assemble a complete system consisting of several radiating subsystems with different frequencies in EMI testing.

Radio frequency immunity standards (e.g., RTCA/DO-160G, RTCA/DO-160F) require determining the differential voltage across shielded wires of cable harnesses placed over the metal plate. Due to the external radiation from the antenna, common mode currents are induced on the shields of wires. Through the shield imperfections the outer common mode is converted to the inner common mode of the harness, which in turn is converted to the differential mode. The presented work proposes the equivalent circuit model and methodology for prediction of the worst-case envelope for differential mode signals induced in cable harnesses placed over a ground plane. The induced signals are calculated using the circuit simulation avoiding the need for any 3D calculations. Experimental measurements validate the results.

Motivated by understanding the ESD-induced currents from body-worn, wire and hose connected medical equipment is exposed to, a computer simulation is presented to estimate the impedance of a human body relative to ground. This 3D model is the basis for transient field calculation. A Method of Moments (MoM) frequency domain solution is transformed into time domain via IFFT for further circuit level time domain simulations. The human body is modeled as a homogeneous dielectric with frequency-dependent complex permittivity. Dependence of the impedance on the position of discharge and posture of the human body is investigated. The simulation results are compared with measurements and demonstrate capturing of general tendencies of measured curves.

Ternary quantum logic plays a very important role for building high speed and efficient futuristic computers. It has several advantages over classical computing and binary quantum circuits. In this paper, the realization of basic ternary circuits for adder/subtractor, encoder and priority encoder are proposed and designed. These circuits are very essential for the construction of various computational units of quantum computers and other complex computational systems. Design of reversible circuits can be improved by reducing the quantum circuit cost. This paper uses some elementary components and typical ternary gates (generalized ternary gate, M-S gate etc.) to perform arithmetic addition, subtraction and encoding operations. Finally, it evaluates the optimum cost for each circuit.

Pore expansion of fluorinated surfactant templated mesoporous silica powders is demonstrated as a function of pressurized CO 2 processing conditions. Mesoporous silica powder is synthesized by sol–gel reaction induced precipitation in a base-catalyzed medium using 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluoro-octyl)-pyridinium chloride (HFOPC) as a template and, immediately after filtration, the precipitated material is processed in gaseous and supercritical CO 2 (88–344 bar, 45 °C) for 48 h. Characterization of the silica powders by XRD, TEM and N 2 adsorption reveals the formation of well-ordered materials with 2D hexagonal close-packed pore structure before and after CO 2 processing. An optimal aging time (time from addition of silica precursor to the sol until the filtration of the hydrolyzed sol) of 20 min prior to CO 2 processing is identified. Proper aging time results in silica powder with significant pore expansion at all processing pressures while retaining the long-range structure of the material. The pore diameter of the mesoporous material increases with increasing CO 2 pressure (from 2.60 nm (unprocessed) to 3.21 nm at 344 bar), but appears to level off above 100 bar. The pore expansion behavior is attributed to favorable CO 2 penetration in the ‘CO 2 -philic’ fluorinated tails of the surfactant template. The CO 2 expansion of base-catalyzed silica powders is significantly less than we previously observed for acid catalyzed, evaporation-driven thin film synthesis using fluorinated cationic surfactant templates. The effect of pH on self-assembly and increased silica condensation in basic conditions may inhibit pore expansion by CO 2 .

The tailoring of porous silica thin films synthesized using perfluoroalkylpyridinium chloride surfactants as templating agents is achieved as a function of carbon dioxide processing conditions and surfactant tail length and branching. Well-ordered films with 2D hexagonal close-packed pore structure are obtained from sol-gel synthesis using the following cationic fluorinated surfactants as templates: 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluoro-octyl)pyridinium chloride (HFOPC), 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,8,8,8-dodecafluoro-7-trifluoromethyl -octyl)pyridinium chloride (HFDoMePC), and 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,10,10-heptadecafluoro-decyl)pyridinium chloride (HFDePC). Processing the sol-gel film with CO2 (69-172 bar, 25 and 45 degrees C) immediately after coating results in significant increases in pore diameter relative to the unprocessed thin films (increasing from 20% to 80% depending on surfactant template and processing conditions). Pore expansion increases with CO2 processing pressure, surfactant tail length, and surfactant branching. The varying degree of CO2 induced expansion is attributed to the solvation of the "CO2-philic" fluorinated tail and is interpreted from interfacial behavior of HFOPC, HFDoMePC, and HFDePC at the CO2-water interface.

The effect of processing mesoporous silica thin films with supercritical CO 2 immediately after casting is investigated, with a goal of using the penetration of CO 2 molecules in the tails of fluorinated surfactant templates to tailor the final pore size. Well-ordered films with two-dimensional hexagonal close-packed pore structure are synthesized using a cationic fluorinated surfactant, 1-(3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,9,9,10,-10,10-heptadecafluorodecyl)pyridinium chloride, as a templating agent. Hexagonal mesopore structures are obtained for both unprocessed films and after processing the cast films in CO 2 at constant pressure (69-172 bar) and temperature (25-45 °C) for 72 h, followed by traditional heat treatment steps. X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy analysis reveal significant increases in pore size for all CO 2 -treated thin films (final pore diameter up to 4.22 ± 0.14 nm) relative to the unprocessed sample (final pore diameter of 2.21 ± 0.20 nm) before surfactant extraction. Similar pore sizes are obtained with liquid and supercritical fluid treatments over the range of conditions tested. These results demonstrate that combining the tunable solvent strength of compressed and supercritical CO 2 with the CO 2 -philic nature of fluorinated tails allows one to use CO 2 processing to control the pore size in ordered mesoporous silica films.

The local environment and dynamics of compressed carbon dioxide (CO(2)) penetration in surfactant templated silica film synthesis is interpreted from the in situ fluorescence emission spectra of pyrene (Py) and a modified pyrene probe. Pyrene emission in cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) and cetylpyridinium bromide (CPB) templated silica films is monitored immediately after casting and during processing with gaseous and supercritical (sc) CO(2) (17-172 bar, 45 °C). The solvatochromic emission spectra of pyrene in CTAB templated films suggest CO(2) penetration in both the micelle interface and its interior. An anchored derivative of pyrene, 1-pyrenehexadecanoic acid (C(16)-pyr), is established for probing CPB films, where the pyrene moiety is preferentially oriented toward the micelle interior, thus limiting quenching by the pyridinium headgroup of CPB. CO(2) processing of CPB templated silica films results in an increase in the time scale for probe mobility, suggesting an increased time scale of silica condensation through CO(2) processing. The mobility of C(16)-pyr increases with pressure from gaseous to sc CO(2) processing and persists for over 5 h for sc CO(2) processing at 172 bar and 45 °C compared to about 25 min for the unprocessed film. The delivery of CO(2) soluble solutes to specific regions of surfactant templated mesoporous materials is examined via the nonradiative energy transfer (NRET) between pyrene and CO(2)-solubilized naphthalene.

The penetration of compressed CO 2 in hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon regions of concentrated surfactant mesophases are interpreted from differences in the CO 2 -processed pore expansion of mesoporous silica thin films templated by three surfactants containing varying degrees of hydrocarbon and fluorocarbon functionality. Ordered silica thin films are synthesized for the first time using the 16-carbon (C 16 ) partly fluorinated surfactant, 11,11,12,12,13,13,14,14,15,15,16,16,16-tridecafluorocetyl pyridinium bromide (HFCPB), as a templating agent. Silica films templated with surfactants containing a 8-carbon (C 8 ) fluorocarbon tail (3,3,4,4,5,5,6,6,7,7,8,8,8-tridecafluorooctyl pyridinium chloride (HFOPC)) and a 16-carbon (C 16 ) hydrocarbon tail (cetyl pyridinium bromide (CPB)) and HFCPB (C 16 ) are processed in compressed CO 2 (69–172 bar, 25 °C and 45 °C) during synthesis. CO 2 processing results in significant pore expansion for films templated with both fluorinated surfactants, while pore expansion is negligible for the hydrocarbon templated material suggesting that preferential CO 2 penetration occurs in the ‘CO 2 -philic’ fluorocarbon segments of the surfactant template. The effect of substrate surface energy on the final uniformity of the dip-coated films is studied by varying the substrate from unmodified glass to a fluorocarbon-capped substrate. The ability to create dip-coated thin films on low surface energy substrates through favorable interaction of surfactant template tail with the substrate surface functional groups is demonstrated.

This work demonstrates the chiral-induced spin selectivity effect for inorganic copper oxide films and exploits it to enhance the chemical selectivity in electrocatalytic water splitting. Chiral CuO films are electrodeposited on a polycrystalline Au substrate, and their spin filtering effect on electrons is demonstrated using Mott polarimetry analysis of photoelectrons. CuO is known to act as an electrocatalyst for the oxygen evolution reaction; however, it also generates side products such as H2O2. We show that chiral CuO is selective for O2; H2O2 generation is strongly suppressed on chiral CuO but is present with achiral CuO. The selectivity is rationalized in terms of the electron spin-filtering properties of the chiral CuO and the spin constraints for the generation of triplet oxygen. These findings represent an important step toward the development of all-inorganic chiral materials for electron spin filtering and the creation of efficient, spin-selective (photo)electrocatalysts for water splitting.