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While there has been a growing interest in the field of Metaverse-related research, its impact on vulnerable segments of the population, particularly those with special needs, is yet to be fully examined. This research develops the underlying scant theoretical knowledge related to the attachment of people with disabilities to the Metaverse and its effects on their need for uniqueness and acceptance of disability, and hence their sense of inclusivity and overall well-being.

The study adopted a quantitative approach using an Internet-based survey. The sample size consisted of 530 Metaverse users with a physical disability in the USA. The proposed model integrates virtual place attachment alongside disabled consumers' need for uniqueness, and acceptance of their physical disability. SPSS and LISREL were utilized for data analysis and SEM.

The study underscores the complexity of the interplay between virtual place attachment, disability acceptance and the need for uniqueness among physically disabled users in the Metaverse. It investigates how the attachment to virtual spaces by people with disability influence their psychological well-being.

This research adds to the interactive marketing and disabled consumer psychology literature exploring the theoretical and practical implications from an attachment and need for uniqueness theory perspectives.

The adverse impacts of climate change coupled with rapid informal urbanization in the Southern African region are increasing the vulnerability of already sensitive population groups. Consequently, these urban regions are highly vulnerable to urban heat island effects and heatwaves due to exogenous and endogenous factors. While the dynamic interplay between the built environment, climate and response strategies is known, this paper highlights the lived experience of informal settlement residents. It presents work from a project undertaken in Melusi, an informal settlement in Tshwane, South Africa, as a multi-disciplinary project focusing on improving the local resilience to climate change associated heat stress.

Following a mixed method approach, a semi-structured observational analysis of the spatial layout and material articulation of selected dwellings along with the continuous monitoring and recording of their indoor environments were undertaken.

The paper presents the research results in terms of the dwelling characteristics, as spatial and material-use strategies and documented heat stress exposure in these structures. The findings highlight that informal dwellings perform poorly in all cases due to endogenous factors and that inhabitants experience extreme heat stress conditions for between 6 and 10 h daily during the peak summer period.

Currently, there are little empirical data on the heat stress residents living in informal settlements in Southern Africa are experiencing. This article provides insight into the indoor environments of informal dwellings and hopes to contribute future guidelines or heat health policies.

This works provides a thorough understanding of the challenges and opportunities associated with Additive Manufacturing (AM) adoption in the medical sector. Through this analysis, we aim to better understand when to adopt AM, how to do so, and how such adoption might change in the future.

This research first conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to identify AM challenges and opportunities in the medical sector, which were then validated through a Delphi study. The 18 Delphi study participants were also asked to suggest countermeasures for the challenges and help identify future AM adoption scenarios. Finally, these findings were analyzed according to the ecosystem pie model to design an ecosystem model for AM in the medical sector.

Among the 13 challenges and 13 opportunities identified, the lack of a skilled workforce and the responsiveness achievable via AM were by far the most relevant challenge and opportunity. Moreover, the participants identified countermeasures for 10 challenges, as well as three future AM adoption scenarios. Finally, leveraging these findings, an ecosystem model was developed.

This work contributes to the limited understanding of the AM challenges and opportunities in the medical sector. It helps medical practitioners to better understand the challenges and opportunities associated with AM and AM manufacturers to better identify where to focus their R&D efforts and how this would impact future AM adoption levels. Furthermore, this work extends current theory supporting the design of an ecosystem model for AM in the medical sector following the ecosystem pie model.

The demand for halal food products is increasing globally. However, fraudulent activities in halal products and certification are also rising. One strategy to ensure halal integrity in the food supply chain is applying halal blockchain technology. However, to date, a few studies have assessed the factors and variables that facilitate or hinder the adoption of this technology. Thus, this study aims to assess the significant factors and variables affecting the adoption of halal blockchain technology.

A Delphi-based approach, using semi-structured interviews, was conducted with three food companies (chicken slaughterhouses, milk processing plants and frozen food companies). The cognitive best–worst method determines the significant factors and variables to prioritise halal blockchain adoption decisions.

The results showed that the most significant factors were coercive pressure and halal strategy. Nineteen variables were identified to establish a valid hierarchical structure for halal blockchain adoption in the Indonesian food industry. The five significant variables assessed through the best–worst method were demand, regulator, supply side, sustainability of the company’s existence and main customers.

The proposed halal blockchain decision structure can assist food companies in deciding whether to adopt the technology.

This study proposes 19 variables that establish a valid hierarchical structure of halal blockchain adoption for the Indonesian food industry.

This study aims to demonstrate the importance of organizational networks in organizational performance is relatively rich; less understood are processes in organizational networking that entrepreneurs and organizations use in making sense of rapidly changing contexts for organizational performance.

This study conducts an exploratory organizational-level narrative analysis into firms’ experiences in two major emerging markets (EMs), namely, Russia and India – to identify organizational networking processes in the midst of institutional upheavals. The study is based on in-depth case studies of firms in EMs sourced from interview data from senior management and consolidated with secondary data.

The authors find that initially firms rely on informal networks (including blat/svyazi and jaan-pehchaan/jan-pehchan) and later formal (in the form of bureaucratic followed by proprietary) networks to make sense of the changes and uncertainties in turbulent environments. The authors also demonstrate the cyclical nature of strategic sensemaking in the process of developing organizational networks for performance.

The study has a number of theoretical and practical contributions. First, it extends the well-established business networking construct to a more inclusive organizational networking construct. Second, it demonstrates that sensemaking is dependent on interorganizational networking from the outset and throughout the growth of an organization in turbulent markets – from informal to formal bureaucratic and proprietary networks. Finally, this study is unique in documenting the entire process of sensemaking from scanning to performance as well as successfully demonstrating the cyclical nature of sensemaking.

This instant study explores the relationship between weight-based teasing and depressive symptoms in Indian college students. It further investigates the moderating effect of gratitude on depressive symptoms occurring due to weight-based teasing.

The study is theoretically based on Fredrickson's broaden-and-built theory (2001). PROCESS macro in IBM SPSS v21 was used to analyze the effect of gratitude in moderation of weight-based teasing and depressive symptoms. The study used correlation and regression analysis to assess the relationship between weight-based teasing and depressive symptoms.

The study has confirmed that weight-based teasing results in the development of depressive symptoms in Indian college students. The study has also revealed that gratitude casts a significant moderating effect on depression due to weight-based teasing, i.e. a reduction in regression weight of weight-based teasing.

This study is the first of its kind in India and will significantly add to the national literature on teasing and depression. Further, the study will help stakeholders like educators and policymakers to formulate psychological programs based on positive psychology 2.0 and gratitude to combat the rising issue of body shaming in India.

The connection between critical thinking and students' reliance on Artificial Intelligence (AI) has been examined in this chapter. While there are many educational advantages to AI technology, it has been demonstrated that a heavy dependence on it may impair autonomous problem-solving and critical thinking skills. The research highlights the necessity of incorporating a critical thinking approach into educational programs to assist students in scrutinizing, analyzing, and assessing AI technologies. For data analysis descriptive and correlational analysis were conducted to test the research hypothesis. Furthermore, by honing their critical thinking skills, students will be able to question data supplied by AI, recognize potential biases, assess the validity of sources, and make defensible conclusions. Additionally, the findings show a positive relationship between using AI and critical thinking toward transformation of innovative learning. This study highlights the importance of critical thinking abilities in navigating an AI-driven society by demonstrating a link between higher critical thinking capabilities and a stronger desire to employ AI technology. It is advised that lawmakers and educational institutions give the integration of critical thinking abilities in curricula top priority considering these findings. Furthermore, future studies should focus on the difficulties in integrating AI into classroom environments and the long-term impacts of a critical thinking approach on AI dependence. This chapter's main contention is that critical thinking is necessary for the ethical use of AI, autonomous reasoning, and independent decision-making.