As the global ecological and environmental problems become more and more serious, the concept of green finance and sustainable development has been advocated by more and more domestic and foreign experts, scholars and investors, and the Environmental Responsibility, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance (ESG) rating has gradually become a hotspot of attention. ESG is a kind of investment concept and a comprehensive assessment criterion of corporate performance for systematic evaluation of enterprises, and it has become an important indicator of the ability of measuring the sustainable development of enterprises. It has become an important indicator of corporate sustainable development capability. In this paper, we investigate the relationship between ESG ratings and cumulative abnormal returns of listed companies’ stocks under the impact of sudden risk events. The outbreak of the New Crown epidemic as an exogenous risk event provides an opportunity for this paper. This paper examines the role of firms’ ESG ratings and the three sub-dimensions of ratings on the cumulative abnormal returns of listed firms’ stocks during the New Crown Epidemic outbreak and verifies the role of ESG ratings on firms in times of crisis. The final regression results prove that under the impact of sudden exogenous risk events, listed firms’ ESG ratings have a positive effect on the cumulative abnormal stock returns during the event window. Finally, this paper provides recommendations to help firms and investors prevent and mitigate risks.

This study sought an innovative quality management framework for Chinese Prefabricated Buildings (PB) projects. The framework combines TQM, QSP, Reconstruction Engineering, Six Sigma (6Σ), Quality Cost Management, and Quality Diagnosis Theories. A quantitative assessment of a representative sample of Chinese PB projects and advanced statistical analysis using Structural Equation Modeling supported the framework, indicating an excellent model fit (CFI = 0.92, TLI = 0.90, RMSEA = 0.06). The study significantly advances quality management and industrialized building techniques, but it also emphasizes the necessity for ongoing research, innovation, and information exchange to address the changing problems and opportunities in this dynamic area. In addition, this study’s findings and recommendations can help construction stakeholders improve quality performance, reduce construction workload and cost, minimize defects, boost customer satisfaction, boost productivity and efficiency in PB projects, and boost the Chinese construction industry’s growth and competitiveness.

The potential role of self-regulated learning as mediator has been deeply investigated by researchers in recent years. There is limited systematic literature review being done to investigate the role of self-regulated learning as mediator in the students’ academic learning. Therefore, searching studies in the databases WOS (Web of Science), SCOPUS, APA (American Psychological Association) PsycInfo, and ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), the present study conducted a systematic literature review on 32 studies published between 2015 and 2024 to summarize what kind of psychological factors influence students’ academic performance through self-regulated learning and assess the potential mediating role of self-regulated learning in this process. The results show that self-efficacy, emotions and motivation are significant predictors of academic achievement and self-regulated learning act as an important mediator in this relationship. An important implication was obtained that researchers can probe into the influence of specific dimensions of self-efficacy on learning performance through self-regulated learning and the influence of positive emotions such as resilience on learning outcomes with self-regulated learning as mediator.

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.

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 proposed research work encompasses implications for infrastructure particularly the cybersecurity as an essential in soft infrastructure, and policy making particularly on secure access management of infrastructure governance. In this study, we introduce a novel parameter focusing on the timestamp duration of password entry, enhancing the algorithm titled EPSBalgorithmv01 with seven parameters. The proposed parameter incorporates an analysis of the historical time spent by users entering their passwords, employing ARIMA for processing. To assess the efficacy of the updated algorithm, we developed a simulator and employed a multi-experimental approach. The evaluation utilized a test dataset comprising 617 authentic records from 111 individuals within a selected company spanning from 2017 to 2022. Our findings reveal significant advancements in EPSBalgorithmv01 compared to its predecessor namely EPSBalgorithmv00. While EPSBalgorithmv00 struggled with a recognition rate of 28.00% and a precision of 71.171, EPSBalgorithmv01 exhibited a recognition rate of 17% with a precision of 82.882%. Despite a decrease in recognition rate, EPSBalgorithmv01 demonstrates a notable improvement of approximately 14% over EPSBalgorithmv00.

Ticket revenues are crucial for the financial success of sports teams. To maximize these revenues, teams continuously explore effective ticket promotional strategies. One such strategy includes partial season plans, which mirror bundle offers common across various industries. Another widespread promotional strategy across industries is offering discounted credit (i.e., store credit purchased at a lower price than its face value). However, its application in sports (e.g., providing a $500 credit for tickets at $450) remains limited. Therefore, this study explores critical questions such as: “How effective is offering discounted credit compared to partial season plans?” and “What factors influence ticket promotion preferences?” Consequently, the study employed a 2 × 2 × 2 experimental designs, considering three independent variables: promotion type (discounted credit vs. partial season plans), promotion flexibility (predefined vs. customizable), and the consumer’s distance to the venue (near vs. distant). Results indicated that partial season plans generated significantly higher perceived value and purchase intentions  while presenting lower perceived risks than discounted credit . Promotion flexibility did not significantly influence the three dependent variables , but the distance to the venue did . Both practical and theoretical implications of these findings are discussed.

What is “truth”? This is the main philosophical question that many of the contemporary philosophical theories (e.g., consistency theory, correspondence theory, semiotics, and pragmatism) tried to investigate over the past decades. However, these theories mostly approached “truth” from logical and epistemological perspectives. On the other hand, Santayana’s theory of truth embarks in a different direction. His perspective was laid out in his book “The Realm of Truth”, which is considered one of the parts of his seminal work “The Realms of Being”. Santayana's theory of truth founded on the “critical realism” to which he belongs, and thus his approach was “realistic” or “ontological”. The novelty of Santayana's theory of truth is that it brings the “theory of truth” out of the fields of logic, epistemology, and philosophies of language, and into the field of being, ontology, or the realm of lived experience. In this paper we introduce an analytical and critical account of Santayana's theory of truth, and its moving from logic to realism.