Impact of environmental taxation, green innovation, economic growth, and renewable energy on green total factor productivity

The issue of environmental degradation and depletion of resources is getting serious despite multiple meetings and commitments by world leaders. This research argues that nations cannot achieve green productivity goals without imposing substantial penalties on carbon emissions and limiting economic growth. Using the data from twelve Chinese provinces, this research studies the role of environmental tax, renewable energy, green innovation, and economic growth in green total factor productivity (GTFP). The data is analyzed from 2010 to 2021 using Fully Modified and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares econometric techniques. The robust analyses indicated that strong environmental taxes are significantly facilitating the Chinese government to push firms toward green productivity. Moreover, green innovation and capitalizing on renewable energy also build Chinese firms' momentum towards GTFP. However, the enormous economic growth rate is a significant hurdle toward GTFP and impacts it negatively. The findings encourage the developing nations to follow China's footprints by taxing companies for carbon emissions and capitalizing on renewable liveliness and green innovation to counter ecological challenges and achieve green financial development

The Impact of COVID-19 on the Perceived Value of Music Listening

This study considers if, and how, the value people place in music listening changed during the COVID-19 pandemic, by comparing findings with pre-COVID data. A sample of 296 Australian university students (Mage = 19.32) completed an online survey in which they provided a short response to an open-ended question, “has the value you place in music listening changed during the pandemic? If so, how?” Of the 67.20% of respondents who indicated that their perceived value of music listening had changed, 99.50% expressed that the value had increased. A thematic analysis resulted in seven themes characterizing how people's value in listening had increased: emotion regulation, exploration, social connection, uses, listening more, self-connection, and reliance. Relative to pre-COVID value themes, emotion regulation remained the most frequently endorsed value. In the COVID context, many more people highlighted music's ability to combat loneliness, promote social connection, and provide solace, comfort, and companionship during difficult times. Our findings highlight that people's perception of the value of music is malleable and influenced by context. Future research will reveal whether the increased value of music listening seen in the present study is long-lasting

Screening depression and anxiety in Indigenous peoples: A global scoping review

Indigenous peoples’ worldviews are intricately interconnected and interrelated with their communities and the environments in which they live. Their worldviews also manifest in a holistic view of health and well-being, which contrasts with those of the dominant western biomedical model. However, screening depression and/or anxiety in Indigenous peoples often occurs using standard western tools. Understandably, the cultural appropriateness of these tools has been questioned. The purpose of this scoping review was to map the literature that used any type of tool to screen depression or anxiety in Indigenous adults globally. A systematic scoping review method was used to search databases including, but not limited to, CINAHL, PubMed, Scopus and Google. Database-specific search terms associated with Indigenous peoples, depression and anxiety, and screening tools were used to identify literature. In addition, citation searches of related systematic reviews and relevant websites were conducted. The data set was limited to English language publications since database inception. Fifty-four publications met the review's inclusion criteria. Most studies were completed in community settings using standard western depression and anxiety screening tools. Thirty-three different tools were identified, with the Patient Health Questionnaire-9 being the most frequently used. The review's findings are concerning given repeated calls for culturally appropriate screening tools to be used with Indigenous peoples. Although there has been some work to cross-culturally adapt depression screening tools for specific Indigenous populations, clearly more clinicians and researchers need to be aware of, and use, culturally appropriate approaches to screening

Halal servicescape in the metaverse

Purpose: With increasing advances in emerging technologies including the metaverse and a continued rise in Muslim-friendly tourism, hospitality providers need to understand the opportunities and challenges involved in capitalizing on the metaverse phenomenon to design new service environments or servicescapes for their Muslim customers. This paper aims to develop a conceptual model of a servicescape in the metaverse that caters to the needs of Muslims and to advance a research agenda in this field. Design/methodology/approach: The main methodology for this conceptual study is a multidisciplinary literature review. Accordingly, this study synthesized relevant literature on service environments and halal markets from the services marketing, Islamic marketing and computer science fields to advance a logical framework built on seminal servicescape models and the Stimulus-Organism-Response framework. Findings: This paper provides several contributions. First, this study identifies the experienscape as a suitable foundational servicescape model for halal markets in the metaverse. Second, the authors introduce the “5 Ps halal metaverse component,” which elaborates on the associated opportunities and challenges in catering to the needs of Muslim metaverse travelers. Third, this study develops the halal metaverse servicescape model, which factors the relevant media metaverse components. Finally, the authors propose key managerial implications around four strategic areas and provide a comprehensive research agenda in the concluding section. Research limitations/implications: Given the conceptual nature of this study, further empirical research is required to ascertain the variables and key relationships proposed in the conceptual model. Practical implications: The findings of this study highlight the multi-stakeholder and multidisciplinary approaches needed to create a metaverse for halal markets. In addition, the insights help developers and managers to better understand the implications of the metaverse for halal markets and provide them with strategic considerations to better design service landscapes for Muslims in the metaverse. Originality/value: To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first conceptual paper that develops a servicescape model in the metaverse in the context of Muslim consumers and comprehensively discusses its challenges and opportunities, thereby advancing the literature on servicescapes for the metaverse as well as service environments optimized for Muslim markets

Effects of Mortality Salience on Racism in Singapore

This article aims to examine the effects of mortality salience on explicit racism (Studies 1 and 2) and implicit racism (Study 3) in Singapore. There was no significant effect of mortality salience on both explicit racism and implicit racism (Studies 1–3). Furthermore, while social dominance orientation was associated with higher explicit racism, it did not moderate the effects of mortality salience on explicit racism (Study 2). In contrast, while social dominance orientation was not associated with implicit racism, it moderated the effects of mortality salience on implicit racism (Study 3). The results might be explained by the adoption of a superordinate Singaporean identity, the strict laws against explicit racism in Singapore, and a lack of mortality salience effects. Future research directions include examining the effects of mortality salience on racism in countries with lenient laws against racism and examining right-wing authoritarianism as a potential moderator

Mpox vaccination strategies in DR Congo

[Extract] Alexandra Savinkina and colleagues1 present findings from the first mpox vaccination modelling study in DR Congo. Using a dynamic transmission model, they assess various vaccination strategies across age groups (15 years) and provinces (endemic and nonendemic)

Mental Healthcare Providers Understanding and Experiences of Palliative Care: A Qualitative Analysis

Objective: To understand the experiences and perceptions of mental health providers about palliative care. Background: Little attention is paid to the experience of people with chronic persistent mental illness (CPMI) and life-threatening diseases and how their dying experience might differ from those without a CPMI. Methods: Interpretive description informed the project. Sixteen mental health care providers were interviewed using a semi-structured interview template. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using a reflexive, inductive-deductive thematic approach, guided by Braun & Clarke's framework for thematic analysis. Results: Four themes were identified from the data: intersectionality, limited collaboration, misconceptions about palliative care, and relationships. Mental health providers identified gaps in their knowledge of palliative care practices along with their knowledge of death and dying

Sex estimation by discriminant function analysis of long bones in prehistoric Southeast Asian populations

Biological sex estimation is an integral part of reconstructing the biological profile of an individual in forensic anthropological and bioarchaeological contexts. Formulating population specific discriminant function equations for metric variables is vital for reconstructing biological sex of fragmentary skeletal remains. This study aimed to develop multivariable and univariable sectioning point sex estimation equations from long bones of prehistoric Thailand and Cambodia people dated from 4700 to 1450 BP. A total of 481 individuals (236 females and 245 males) with 997 long bone measurements were analyzed. Discriminant function analysis was used to analyze sexually dimorphic measurements from long bones of humeri (177 females and 183 males), femora (169 females and 178 males), and tibiae (139 females and 151 males). Stepwise and direct multivariable functions offered the highest accuracies of 97.3% for humeri, 97% for femora, and 96.7% for tibiae. Univariable functions indicated that the recommended measurements for use in sex estimations with high cross-validation accuracies are the humeral epicondylar breadth (89.1%), femoral maximum head diameter (87.1%), and tibial midshaft circumference (88.3%). These equations are applicable for use in sex estimation for the specific prehistoric Southeast Asian populations to improve our understanding of the prehistoric demography. Further evaluation and validation of the equations are required to test whether these equations can also be applied to estimate biological sex of contemporary Southeast Asian populations

The Applied Music Studio: A Decade of Research and Inquiry

The applied music studio at its best provides intense inspiration and instruction for musicians, yet at its worst can alienate and demotivate students. Mostly widely known as one-to-one teaching, in the master-apprentice model, the challenges of teaching in the applied studio have been studied for over two decades. This chapter reviews the most recent body of work and provides an overview of practical findings from the research

Effects of dietary synbiotic supplementation on digestive enzyme, total Vibrio count, and hepatopancreas of Pacific white shrimp, Penaeus vannamei challenged with Vibrio parahaemolyticus

This study evaluated the effects of dietary synbiotics on enhancing digestive enzymes, reducing the overall bacterial count of Vibrio, and minimizing hepatopancreatic histological damage caused by V. parahaemolyticus in shrimp (Penaeus vanamei). The experiments involved administering different treatments, namely Bacillus NP5 (SBM), Pseudoalteromonas piscicida1Ub (SPM), and Bacillus NP5 and P. piscicida 1Ub (SBPM), incombination with the prebiotic mannan oligosaccharide (MOS). This study was conducted for 60 days, followed by a challenge test with Vibrio parahaemolyticus for 7 days. The results of the experiments showed that dietary synbiotic supplementation demonstrated better digestive enzyme activity and histology of the hepatopancreas compared to controls (p < .05). After the challenge test, it was found that the damage to the hepatopancreatic tissue of shrimps was less severe and the total vibrio count was lower in the synbiotic treatment, indicating a protective effect compared to the positive controls (p < .05). In conclusion, the use of dietary synbiotics had the potential to enhance digestive enzyme function and provide disease protection for Penaeus vannamei shrimp