Using company size as a moderator, this article examines the MENA region’s gender balance on boards and how it influences capital structure. The study uses the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimate technique to analyze data from a sample of 556 non-financial organizations across 10 MENA countries from 2010 to 2023. The results show that a lower debt ratio is connected with a higher percentage of female board members. Further steps towards debt reduction include increasing the number of independent female board members and decreasing the board’s overall size. The opposite is true for larger enterprises, more profitability, more expansion opportunities, and macroeconomic variables like inflation and GDP growth, which tend to raise the debt ratio. Capital structure decisions in the MENA area are influenced by gender diversity on boards and business characteristics. Therefore, Companies in the MENA area would do well to support initiatives that increase the representation of women on corporate boards. One way to achieve this goal is to establish gender diversity targets or launch programs to increase the number of women serving on boards of directors, particularly in positions of power.

Due to the incapacity of families in Sub-Saharan African nations to satisfy basic necessities for home maintenance, this study is required to enable policy shifts in the area of consumption tax. The study looks at the impact of consumption taxes on the purchasing power of families in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on Nigeria and Kenya. The datasets used for this inquiry range from 1994 to 2022. Among the factors are purchasing power parity (PPP), value added tax (VAT), and exchange rate. We obtained the statistics from the World Bank, the Central Banks of Nigeria and Kenya, the Federal Inland Revenue Service, and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The study used the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model established by Pesaran et al. (2001). The findings reveal that the inclusion of VAT on the prices of products and services significantly harms households throughout Nigeria compared to those in Kenya. VAT has a significant negative impact on consumer purchasing power in Nigeria but has an immaterial negative impact on household spending capacity in Kenya. The influence of the currency rate is positive and beneficial in Nigeria, whereas it is negative but intangible in Kenya. Due to economic disparity, the report suggests policy reforms in favour of families. It is also suggested that the government develop additional work possibilities, diversify the economy, and give subsidies for basic housing necessities.

The trilateral defense and security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom, and the United States has strong impact to the security dynamics in the Indo-Pacific area. This agreement entails a strengthened alliance between Australia and enhanced military collaboration with the United States and the United Kingdom resulting in regional volatility. This paper aims to examine the AUKUS (Australia–United Kingdom–United States Partnership) agreement and the resulting ensuing instability in the Indo-Pacific region, specifically from Indonesia’s perspective. The focus of the research is on the interplay between Indonesia’s diplomacy capability and the military functions of the Indonesian Navy as security policy. This study employs a qualitative approach to delve into in-depth insights into the evolution of AUKUS in the Indo-Pacific region, which triggered a series of responses from many countries subsequent to the announcement of the establishment of the AUKUS Defense Pact. The AUKUS establishment simply reinforces the notion that geopolitical tensions are pulling the area apart. The influence of the AUKUS-China war can jeopardize regional stability since the US and China continuously demonstrate the supremacy of their armaments in order to dissuade one another. The AUKUS-China contest has had a highly adverse impact on Indonesia. This article argues that the Indonesian Navy’s diplomatic prowess is crucial because it has the potential to play a big influence in the Indo-Pacific region’s international political dynamics concerning the South China Sea. Furthermore, the Indonesian Navy must proactively prepare for potential armed conflicts in Indonesian territorial seas by developing a comprehensive maritime policy during times of peace, leveraging its geographical advantages.

The improvement of critical thinking ability is a process of human brain’s cognition, reasoning and judgment of objective things. This experiment starts with the learners’ discourse cognitive construction model, and attempts to study the effect of the training of discourse cognitive model based on critical thinking habits on the English writing performance of the application-oriented English majors with three different levels of language expression ability, so as to help the learners improve their English writing in the construction of conscious discourse cognition.

Amidst China’s escalating aging population challenge, the efficacy and quality of private elderly care services are garnering increasing scrutiny. This research focuses on evaluating how service quality and customer perceived value influence the loyalty of elderly clients, with customer satisfaction acting as a mediating factor. Grounded in established service quality frameworks and loyalty theories, the study utilizes a quantitative methodology, administering surveys across eight private elderly care institutions in H city, China. A total of 600 surveys were collected, providing a comprehensive data set that encompasses five dimensions of service quality—tangibility, assurance, responsiveness, reliability, and empathy—as well as customer perceived value, satisfaction, and loyalty. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed to validate the hypothesized relationships. Findings reveal that service quality significantly boosts customer perceived value and satisfaction, which in turn markedly enhance customer loyalty. Notably, customer satisfaction emerged as a crucial mediator between service quality and loyalty, as well as between perceived value and loyalty. This study not only advances theoretical understanding of service quality impacts but also offers actionable insights for enhancing service delivery and customer loyalty in the context of private elderly care.

In recent years, science and technology have continued to develop and progress, and the level of teaching digitalization has improved. Music education occupies an important position in many universities, and it is necessary and feasible to use digital technology to explore its impact in basic education. The digitalization and technology of music education in colleges and universities have had a positive impact on basic education, such as balancing educational resources, updating education models, optimizing teaching platforms, and practicing student-oriented concepts. In order to maximize the role of digital technology, it can be innovated and applied from sight-singing ear training teaching, orchestration course teaching, and polyphonic course teaching.