The scientific discourse on university towns (UT) has progressed for a long time, with a surge of interest in recent years. However, a global overview of the research conducted on this topic have yet to exist. This paper aims to re-examine the relationship between UT and urbanization in literature. Built environment and people are often the most talked aspects in UT literatures. The variety of definitions remains largely uncharted. Policies behind UT development are also rarely studied. This article used an R studio-based bibliometric literature review to synthesize findings from various scientific literature. Keywords related to university towns and urban were used in digital search engines to examine and analyse the literature. Results revealed a significant gap in scientific research on critical theoretical concepts that planners can use as a guide in creating, formulating, and evaluating UT, especially in developing countries. This study promotes simplification of existing literature by examining the impact of UT on the stakeholders involved.

This study investigated the changing land use patterns and their impacts on ecosystem in the Teesta River Basin of northwestern Bangladesh. Although anthropocentric land use patterns, including agricultural land use, settlements, built areas, and waterbody loss, have been increasing in the Nilphamari district, by negatively affecting local ecosystems, they have not been identified by prior research. Limitations of contemporary literature motivated me to work on this crucial ground in the Teesta River Basin in Northwestern Bangladesh. This study applied a mixed research approach to identify the study objectives. Firstly, the land use and land cover (LULC) changes which occurred between 2000 and 2020 were detected using satellite imagery and supervised classification method. In addition to the detection of LULC changes, the study explored the people’s perceptions and experiences about the ecosystem changes resulted from the LULC changes over the last 20 years, conducting stakeholders’ consultations and household surveys utilizing a semi-structured questionnaire. The findings indicated that waterbodies in Nilphamari district have significantly decreased from 378 km² in 2000 to 181 km² in 2020. In the same way, the vegetation coverage has reduced 187 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. On the contrary, agricultural lands (croplands) have increased from 595 km² to 905 km² and settlements have increased from 81 km² to 206 km² between the years 2000 and 2020. From the chi-square test, it was found a significant association between ecosystem change and biodiversity loss. It was further identified that waterbody decreases have significant impacts on aquatic ecosystems. The results of this study also indicated that due to the introduction of foreign tree species, local and native species have been significantly decreasing over the time. This study emphasizes the non-anthropocentric and inclusive land use policy implications for protecting life on land and preserving the aquatic ecosystem in Bangladesh.

The study examines the relationship between EPS and the gearing ratios and return on equity (ROE) ratio of 9 public listed firms on the Malaysian Stock Exchange from 2014 to 2022 financial years. The firms are selected at random. From this study it was established that there is a negative relation between EPS and gearing and a positive relation between EPS and ROE. Companies that want to attract more investors need to keep their gearing ratio low and increase the return on equity ratio high. To obtain the benefits of gearing or external funding, there need to be a balance between equity and debts. There is no one optimal balance between debt and equity. This balance is difference for each company and the sector they operate in. It is important for managers of companies to find the optimal balance between debt and equity, unique to their company.

The present research focuses on researching the impact of the diverse communication media that facilitate or develop Student Motivation and Engagement in the educational systems of the states in the Gulf, especially Oman. The main goal of this work is to determine which type of method is most effective in encouraging students in view of cultural and technological factors present in the region. Comparisons using hypothesis testing and structural models which provided higher T value for Technology-Based Communication Methods (TBCM) and Human Face-to-Face Communication Methods (HFtFCM). Next, the research hypothesis H2 that TBCM has a direct positive relationship with SMaE was supported by the following regression coefficients: β = 0.177, t = 4.493; p = 0.000. On the other hand, there was no effect of HFtFCM on SMaE as indicated by a regression coefficient of 0.056 (p < 0.124) for this hypothesis and therefore, this hypothesis was rejected. The analysis using the mediator of Student Perception of Communication Effectiveness (SPoCE) only partly mediates TBCM and SMaE (β = 0.047, t = 3.737, p = 0.000). However, SPoCE was found not to moderate the relationship between HFtFCM and SMaE (β = −0.01, t = 1.125, p = 0.005). The present study underlines the efficiency of TBCM in the area of student engagement, while face-to-face conversation does not play significant part in this process. The obtain results conclude that, the traditional and technological evolution in the Gulf region supports the adoption of TBCM in educational systems. Such approaches support with the technological learning and likings of students, offering greater flexibility and engagement. Educational systems must highlight TBCM to better meet the growing needs of their student, while identifying that face-to-face remains important, though secondary, in energetic motivation.

The prospects of digital infrastructure in promoting rural economic growth and development are by and large immense. The paper found that rural development is considerably important for economic development and for achievement of sustainable livelihoods that increases people’s ability to achieve good health and wellbeing that enable the achievement of sustainable development. The paper found that digital imbalance and digital illiteracy in the rural areas hinder implementation of digital infrastructure to lead to rural economic growth. Digital infrastructure is the source of economic opportunities that enables local people in the rural areas to be more creative in achieving development success. It enables them to have a unique sense of place and fashioning of vibrant economic and financial opportunities that ensure the achievement of sustainable rural economic development. However, the paper found that the application of digital infrastructure to South Africa’s rural areas in the bid to promote rural economic growth has been hindered by factors like the digital divide, financial constraints, digital illiteracy and the failure to own a smart phone. These factors hinder digital infrastructure from leading to sustainable rural economic development and growth. The paper used secondary data gathered from existing literature. The use of qualitative research methodology and document and content analysis techniques became vital in the process of collecting and analyzing collected data.