In the recent years, with global warming and the change in climatic characteristics, buildings and interior arrangements in dry and cold climates, that previously did not have cooling problems, now require built and pre-planned cooling systems as well as heating. On the other hand, the enormous increase in energy consumption and the rapid depletion of energy resources causes concern and anxiety for future generations. In this regard, utilizing natural resources and incorporating sustainable solutions into building design are critical. Vernacular technical systems and design ideas can still be accepted and applied to create sustainable solutions. In this context, design strategies for energy efficiency and provision of physical and spatial comforts could be considered based on traditional architecture. In this study, sustainable building design solutions that have been used in Iran’s vernacular houses, which has four distinct climate zones, aimed to create a paradigm for the general modern passive house designs in the global context. Traditional Iranian residential architecture incorporates architectural features for physical, spatial, and climatic needs, as well as aesthetic comfort for the user. In this manner, user needs and interior space organization in vernacular residential architecture can be considered as a sustainable housing model that meets today’s technology requirements in passive house design.

The promulgation of the Curriculum Standards for ordinary high School (2017 edition, 2020 revision) has effectively promoted the reform of high school mathematics classroom. In order to cope with the change of textbook content in the new curriculum reform, it has become one of the important tasks for high school mathematics teachers to implement teaching activities better and sort out and analyze the differences between the old and new textbooks. This paper analyzes the differences between old and new textbooks from the three dimensions of system structure, course content and example exercises, and gives some reasonable teaching suggestions. Among them, the new textbook uses 2019 "Ordinary High School Textbook" person-taught A version of Compulsory Mathematics 1, and the old textbook uses 2004 "Ordinary High School Mathematics Curriculum Standard Experimental Textbook" person-taught A version of compulsory Mathematics 4. In general, the adjustment of the new teaching materials is more in line with the cognitive characteristics of students, pay attention to the penetration of mathematical culture and pay attention to the development of students' mathematical core literacy.

Rural tourism plays a crucial role in rural development in Indonesia by providing employment opportunities, livelihood, infrastructure, cultural preservation, and environmental preservation. However, it is prone to external shocks such as natural disasters, public health events, and volatility in the national and global economy. This study measures the resilience of rural tourism to external shocks caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 24 rural tourism destinations in Indonesia covering four years from 2019 to 2022. A synthetic composite index of the Adjusted Mazziotta-Pareto index (AMPI) is used to measure rural tourism resilience followed by clustering analysis to determine the typology of the resilience. The AMPI measure is also compared with the conventional Mazziotta-Pareto index (MPI) method. The resilience index is composed of capacity and performance components related to resilience. The results show that in the first year of COVID-19, most tourism villages in Indonesia were severely affected by the pandemic, yet they were able to recover afterward, as indicated by positive differences in the AMPI index before and after COVID-19. Thus, rural tourism villages in Indonesia have a strong capacity and performance to recover from pandemic shock. Lessons learned from this analysis can be applied to policies related to rural tourism resilience in developing countries.

Metaverse technology has various uses in communication, education, entertainment, and other aspects of life. Consequently, it necessitates using some interactive mobile applications to enter the virtual world and gain real-time, face-to-face experiences, particularly among students. This research focused on the factors accelerating metaverse technology acceptance particularly, Metaverse Experience Browser application acceptance among the students under the factors proposed by the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model. Notably, lack of studies in metaverse browsers and their prevalence during the post pandemic era, indicates a strong literature gap. The researchers gathered data from n = 384 higher education students from the two cities in the United Arab Emirates and applied Structural Equation modelling (SEM) for data analysis. Results revealed that Performance Expectancy (p < 0.003) and Social Influence (p = 0.000) were significant factors affecting the Behavioral Intention of the students to consider Metaverse Experience Browser as an interactive mobile application. On the other hand, behavioural Intention significantly affects (p = 0.000) Effort Expectancy, which shows how fewer efforts and greater accessibility are associated with one’s behavioural Intention. Besides, the effect of Behavioral Intention (p = 0.000) on Metaverse Experience Browser acceptance also remained validated. Finally, Effort Expectancy (p = 0.000) also indicated its significant effect on the Metaverse Experience Browser. These results indicated that the factors proposed by UTAUT have greater applicability on the Metaverse Experience Browser as they showed their relevance to its acceptance. The present study concludes that the acceptance of Metaverse Experience Browser as an interactive mobile application is a level ahead in improving students’ experiences. Thus, the Metaverse Experience Browser is considered a modified way of creating, sharing, participating, and enjoying the virtual world, indicating its greater usage among students for different purposes, including education and learning.

This paper uses existing studies to explore how Artificial Intelligence (AI) advancements enhance recruitment, retention, and the effective management of a diverse workforce in South Africa. The extensive literature review revealed key themes used to contextualize the study. This study uses a meta-narrative approach to literature to review, critique and express what the literature says about the role of AI in talent recruitment, retention and diversity mapping within South Africa. An unobtrusive research technique, documentary analysis, is used to analyze literature. The findings reveal that South Africa’s Human Resource Management (HRM) landscape, marked by a combination of approaches, provides an opportunity to cultivate alternative methods attuned to contextual conditions in the global South. Consequently, adopting AI in recruiting, retaining, and managing a diverse workforce demands a critical examination of the colonial/apartheid past, integrating contemporary realities to explore the potential infusion of contextually relevant AI innovations in managing South Africa’s workforce.

Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) has become a pivotal factor influencing consumers’ decisions, particularly in the context of hotel services. With the advent of social media, it provides individuals with powerful tools to share its experiences and opinions about hotels. In this digital age, customers increasingly rely on online reviews and recommendations from their peers when selecting accommodations. eWOM on social media platforms has a substantial impact on customers’ perceptions and decision-making processes. This study aims to better understand the influence of eWOM by social media platforms on purchase intention of hotel services. To understand the influence of eWOM, this study uses the information adoption model as the model has been widely used in previous eWOM studies. The information quantity construct has been added to strengthen the model. The online questionnaire was distributed to social media users by using Google forms via social media platforms and only 210 of them were responded. The SmartPLS 4.0 software is used to analyze the data as the Partial Least Square-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) is a method to confirm the structural equation models and to test the link between inert developments. Based on results, the information quantity and information quality of hotel services on eWOM positively influences the information usefulness and the information usefulness of hotel services on eWOM positively influences the purchase intention. The results lead to increase sales of hotel services and contribute to economic growth.