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The COVID-19 pandemic has had an extremely destructive impact on the tourism and hospitality industry. However, there is a gap in the literature on measuring the economic impact of the pandemic on employees of urban tourism industries by class. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate the perceived economic impact of the COVID-19 by workers of urban tourism-related services in Tehran.

Based on stratified sampling, a Web-based survey was carried out among 383 employees of tourism industries. To measuring the perceived impact and evaluate statistically significant differences, one samples t-test, one-way ANOVA and post hoc test were used.

The study findings revealed that employees of tourism-related services perceived that COVID-19 outbreak has a huge negative impact on the tourism industries in terms of earnings reduction. However, the perceived impact on job losses and reduction of hours of work was non-monotonic.

Identifying the negative effects of the COVID-19 outbreak on city tourism by industries and their subclasses can contribute to more effective interventions to support and recover the tourism industries. In other words, it is essential to prioritize support for different class of services, to fair allocation of bailout monies and to improve their resilience against crises and shocks.

This paper aims to present the most influential factors on classroom indoor PM_2.5 (Particulate Matter < 2.5 µ), determining the level of PM_2.5 concentration in five pre-schools located in the most densely populated district of the Tehran metropolitan area (district 6) as a case study to consider the children's exposure to air pollutants and introducing a suitable model, for the first time, to predict PM_2.5 concentration changes, inside pre-schools.

Indoor and outdoor classes PM_2.5 concentrations were measured using two DUSTTRAK direct-reading instruments. Additional class status information was also recorded; concurrently, urban PM_2.5 concentrations and meteorological data were obtained from the fixed monitoring stations and Meteorological Organization. Then, the predicted concentrations of the indoor PM_2.5, from introduced multiple linear regression model via SPSS, compared with the nearest urban air pollution monitoring stations data.

The average outdoor PM_2.5 concentration (43 ± 0.32 µg m⁻³) was higher than the mean indoor (32 ± 0. 21 µg m⁻³), and both were significantly (p < 0.001) surpassing the 24-h EPA standard level. The indoor PM_2.5 concentrations had the highest level in the autumn (48.7 µg m⁻³) and significantly correlated with the outdoor PM_2.5 (r = 0.94, p < 0.001), the number of pupils, ambient temperature, wind speed, wind direction and open area of the doors and windows (p < 0.001). These parameters, as the main determinants, have led to present a 7-variable regression model, with R² = 0.705, which can predict PM_2.5 concentrations in the pre-school classes with more than 80% accuracy. It can be presumed that the penetration of outdoor PM_2.5 was the main source of indoor PM_2.5 concentrations.

This study faced several limitations, such as accessibility to classrooms, and limitations in technicians' numbers, leading to researchers monitoring indoor and outdoor PM concentrations in schools once a week. Additionally, regarding logistical limitations to using monitoring instruments in pre-schools simultaneously, correction factors by running the instruments were applied to obtain comparable measurements.

The author hereby declares that this submission is his own work and to the best of its knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person.

The objective of the work is to have an insight into the degree of the contemporary concept of greening the organization through human resource management (HRM) and to attempt to bridge the gap toward environmental awareness, as well as to observe the dimensions of green HRM (GHRM) practices and its impression toward environmental sustainability by using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and FAHP.

The research was carried out in two phases; multi-method was employed. The first phase mainly includes a systematic review to convene comprehensive knowledge of widespread GHRM practices to leverage environmental sustainability. In the second phase, the AHP and fuzzy AHP (FAHP) were employed to examine the influence of the respective dimension of GHRM practices toward environmental sustainability.

This study emphasizes the status of GHRM practices such as green recruitment and green selection, green performance management, green training and development, green compensation and rewards, green welfare aspects as a way to aid environmental issues. The findings suggest that these initiatives help to leverage environmental sustainability. Further, this paper reveals that green compensation and rewards have the highest impact on leveraging environmental sustainability. However, this study also emphasizes the comparative study of GHRM dimensions through AHP and FAHP.

As existing studies reveal, there is least research carried on this field of study and no study was conducted using AHP and FAHP in this field. Thus, this study reveals the necessity to discover the degree of concern toward GHRM practices in context to India.

The purpose of this paper is to extent the theory of planned behaviour (TPB), when extended by self-identity and religious commitment (RC), and is able to predict Muslim consumers’ willingness to pay (WP) for certified halal food.

A survey of 277 Muslim consumers in Malaysia was conducted and the cross-sectional data were analysed using the partial least squares technique.

Attitude (ATT) and religious self-identity (RSI) were found to have a positive impact on WP for certified halal food. Additionally, RC has a positive effect on ATT and RSI and has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between perceived behavioural control and WP.

The findings can benefit halal food companies by offering an insight into the willingness of Muslim consumers to pay for certified halal food.

The findings contribute to the research on halal foods by illustrating the factors that determine Muslim consumers’ WP for certified halal food. This study also extends the understanding of the TPB to the halal food context.

This study aims to investigate the factors that motivate Muslim consumers to pay for halal-certified food.

Data were collected through a survey of 272 Muslim consumers in Malaysia. The data were analyzed using the partial least squares technique.

The results showed that animal slaughter, halal logo, food quality and religious commitment have a positive effect on the willingness to pay for halal food. Religious commitment positively moderates the relationship between storage and transportation and the willingness to pay for halal-certified food.

Policy makers as well as managers of halal food companies can benefit from this study which provides insight into ways to increase demand for halal food.

The findings contribute to the literature on halal foods by illustrating the factors that determine Muslim consumers’ willingness to pay for halal food. This study also extends the literature by testing the moderating role of religious commitment.

In the verge of assessing Muslims’ participation in stock market, present study delved into evaluating the influence of Islamic religiosity (IR) on Muslim investor’s financial engagement factors with respect to stock market (i.e. financial literacy [FL], Islamic financial literacy [IFL], behavioural factors [BF], Shariah compliance [SC], technology adoption [TA] and institutional support [IS]), stock market participation (SMP) and financial well-being (FWB). Further, this study aims to examine the mediating role of IFL, TA and SMP and moderating role of IS.

Using a mixed-methods approach, a structured survey questionnaire was administered and responses have been collected from 319 Muslim investors from South India using stratified random sampling. Further, data was analysed using SPSS 20.0 and AMOS 20.0 by implementing one-way ANOVA, measurement model and structural equation model to assess the differences, mediating and moderating roles.

In this study, it is discovered that IR significantly impacts Muslim investor’s financial engagement factors, SMP and FWB. Further, it is explored that IFL accelerates the impact of FL and SC on SMP. The results also demonstrated the intervening role of TA in enhancing SMP through BF and the mediating role of SMP among Muslim investors with strong IR to attain and enjoy FWB. Interestingly, our study also argued that when the IS is more, the effect of IR on SMP is high.

Geographical boundaries are restricted to India, where the study proposes future studies in Islamic countries to better understand the religious belief system of the investors, as SC may vary in different countries.

In accordance with the results, it is recommended that the regulatory bodies and institutions intervene, support and incorporate IFL and also provide user-friendly Tec platforms to monitor and filter stocks and financial products for SC.

The present study intends to tackle the misconception of Islamic values with respect to participating in the stock market and recommends to undertake policy and regulatory framework to ensure the inclusive development of this community.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies so far have pondered on the mediating role of SMP in enhancing the effectiveness of IR on their FWB. Further, this study collectively examines the influence of IR on various financial engagement factors affecting SMP leading to FWB.

This paper seeks to establish design quality indicators (DQIs) that can be utilized for assessing the design of community centers, with an emphasis on the technical, functional, and behavioral performance domains.

A comprehensive literature review resulted in identifying 79 DQIs for community centers. A three round Delphi evaluation approach was utilized to rate the importance of the DQIs through their relative importance index (RII) values. The assessment of the DQIs involved a diverse group of stakeholders including facilities managers, architects/engineers (A/Es), community centers’ staff, and regular visitors of community centers.

The majority of the established DQIs were considered to be either “Very Important” or “Important”.

The established DQIs can be utilized to identify best practices in the design of community centers and benchmark the performance of different community centers.

The design quality of community centers could significantly impact the community's quality of life and user experience. The development of DQIs provides for enhanced accountability and improved service delivery for the communities they serve. This enables community centers to be more effective, efficient, and responsive to the needs of the users they support.

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has a significant influence on many aspects of life, including education. As a result, the education system in emerging nations such as Bangladesh needs a rapid transition from conventional to technology-based distance learning. This study looks at the current state of higher education and how well online courses that use technology work.

This study used a structural equation model (SEM) to analyze the 392 student records taken from several universities in Bangladesh.

This research showed that students are more likely to use a digital higher education system if faculty are willing, students are eager and the economy is stable. Students who have had a bad experience with digital learning should know that a virtual evaluation system is needed. The willingness of students to use technology also plays a significant role in whether or not the students will take online classes. The research shows that combining traditional classroom and online learning is the best way to create a long-term learning system.

The model suggested in this study has a big effect, and Bangladesh policymakers should consider this model when planning a new kind of technology-based education.

Oil palm is a labor-intensive crop where the labor issue is one of the most intransigent problems facing the industry. The negative perception toward this sector associated with the unattractive working environment which commonly refers to dark, dirty and dangerous has distress local youth to stay away from this occupation. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to explore the level of job satisfaction among oil palm plantation workers in Malaysia and analyze the factors that contribute to their satisfaction level.

The survey was conducted in 2014 through interviews from the selected samples of oil palm plantation workers who aged ranging from 16 to 40 years old, which was considered as youth category and staying within the location 5 km radius within the plantation area. The structural equation modeling is used to analyze the factors affecting job satisfaction among workers in the plantation sector.

The study found that the government and employer policies associated with plantation worker and economic profitability offered in this sector were the most significant factors that positively contribute to the joy of working among them. On the other hand, the negative relationship between working environment and perception of social job status with job satisfaction proven that these two factors were repulsion factors.

Currently, with the local youth negative perception on the agriculture sector and Indonesia’s economy booming and wages on the rise, Malaysia is struggling to attract new expatriate workers and retain those already active in the sector. Oil palm plantation companies have to counter this by enhancing worker’s welfare to ensure their job satisfaction in plantation environment. This study is to convince the organization that worker’s job satisfaction is a crucial factor to enhance their performance. With the strategy recommended by this study, employees will be getting higher level of job satisfaction, thus increasing their performance and enjoying working in the plantation sector.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, there are yet to be studies that look at the agricultural employees’ job satisfaction particularly in the plantation sector. Most of the previous studies in the field of plantation sector highlight on the labor productivity, economic performance of palm oil plantation sector and environmental impact of oil palm plantation. Thus, this study provides a better understanding of the factors that contribute to job satisfaction among plantation workers.