National University of Sciences and Technology

This study examines the determinants of equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaign success in Malaysia through the lens of quality signaling theory and behavioral herding dynamics. Using a manually collected dataset of 335 completed campaigns launched on pitchIN, MyStartr, and AtaPlus between 2016 and 2025. The study investigates how firm-level and campaign-level signals influence fundraising outcomes in a regulated digital financing environment. Binary logistic regression is employed as the primary analytical method, with probit regression used for robustness testing. The findings show that the number of investors has a significant and positive relationship with campaign success, underscoring the importance of social proof and herding behavior in reducing information asymmetry. Valuation disclosure significantly increases the likelihood of success by enhancing transparency and investor confidence, while company age displays a negative effect, indicating investor preference for younger and growth-oriented ventures. In contrast, campaign duration and industry sector do not significant influence once credible signals are considered. The study contributes to the entrepreneurial finance literature by cooperatively modelling behavioral crowd signals and firm-level quality signals using real-market data from Malaysia, and offers practical insights for entrepreneurs, platform operators, and policymakers seeking to strengthen transparency, investor engagement, and digital financing effectiveness.

The Internet of Healthcare Things (IoHT) is an emerging technology that has attracted researchers’ interest due to its broad applicability in recent years. In IoHT platforms, sensors continually collect patient data, which most of the time contains normal readings, and send it to the cloud via intermediate devices. In an emergency, a large amount of data may rapidly fill network queues, causing congestion and data loss. It has significant consequences, particularly in time-sensitive healthcare applications. To solve this issue, the suggested approach minimizes data transfer by transmitting a Boolean value if no emergency is identified or the patient’s health parameters are normal. The aforementioned Boolean value is far less in size and takes much less time to process data, significantly decreasing the cache’s burden and freeing it up for unforeseen emergency data. This approach aims to improve the efficiency of packet data handling. This ensures that high-priority, critical data packets are processed immediately. Furthermore, after transferring 20 packets via Boolean values, the system then sends the entire data packet to keep track. This balanced strategy reduces unnecessary data traffic, alleviates network congestion, and ensures that vital information is processed on time. By reducing cache use and prioritizing emergency packets, the suggested solution improves the overall performance of the IoHT system and enhances patient safety by preventing the loss of critical data. A large number of simulations are performed on Ubuntu using NS-2.35. The results show that the proposed scheme outperforms in terms of communication cost, throughput, packet loss, and delay during an emergency.

Excavating large-scale tunnels in tectonically active regions, such as the Himalayan seismic zone, challenges the stability of underground structures due to high in-situ and induced stresses. The Diamer-Basha Dam (DBD) project involves complex tunneling through heterogeneous bands of granite and diorites, necessitating an engineered support system to mitigate progressive rock mass failure. In Pakistan, the tunnel support often relies on empirical classifications like the Rock Mass Rating (RMR) and Q-system. These systems provide a useful initial estimate; however, their direct application without site-specific calibration frequently results in conservative or over-designed support systems. This study investigates an optimized support framework by integrating empirical characterization with numerical Finite Element Method (FEM) analysis. Using geological data acquired from the site, including face maps and borehole logs, we classified rock mass and simulated its response to excavation using RS2 software. The research specifically evaluates the mechanical efficacy of Fiber Reinforced Shotcrete against optimized combinations of plain shotcrete and active rock bolts. Numerical simulations indicate that the in-situ rock mass possesses sufficient self-supporting capacity in specific zones to allow for a reduction in shotcrete thickness when supplemented with bolting. The models demonstrate that optimized designs maintain the required structural stability while reducing material consumption. These findings suggest that a hybrid empirical-numerical framework offers a cost-effective engineering solution for large excavations. By validating support performance through numerical modelling, this study provides a repeatable framework for optimizing tunnel support in complex geological environments.

The growth of population and rapid urbanization has significantly led to the development of high-rise buildings that provide more occupants over a limited plot size, which is a critical requirement today. The primary challenges faced by these structures are wind and seismic loads, which cause swaying and structural failure. This paper critically analyzes the evolution and lateral load performance of skyscraper structural systems with respect to their efficiency under various lateral loadings. Latest structural systems like outrigger and belt truss systems provide adequate lateral stiffness as well as reduce storey drift. On the other hand, tube-based systems, e.g., tube in tube or bundled tubes, resist overturning moments and lateral displacement. Diagrid Structural systems are not only efficient in resisting lateral loads but also provide opportunities for architectural treatments. Emerging structural systems lean towards Hybrid systems that mainly focus on improved lateral resistance with advanced materials such as fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP) for optimized efficiency. Vibrations are also one of the key challenges for these types of structures, for which damping systems are introduced, such as tuned mass dampers (TMD) and tuned liquid dampers (TLD) to reduce vibrations and improve occupant comfort. Recent advancements in structural systems indicate a strong shift towards performance-based structural design and analysis aimed at improving lateral resistance, material efficiency, and occupant comfort.