The spread of COVID-19 in stock returns along global value chains

This paper examines the performance of industries in the trade network in international stock markets during the onset of COVID-19. In general, the value of all industries in G20 countries declines significantly in the pandemic. Stock returns of industries in the central positions of global value chains exhibit remarkable resilience despite the economic hardship caused by COVID-19. This pattern is more pronounced when the disruptions caused by social distancing requirements are considered. We postulate that this is related to the essential services provided by the central industries.

Intelligent Telework Internet Cost Requirement Modeling Using Optimizable Machine Learning Algorithms

The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption to the economy due to the increasing infection that affects the workforce in different sectors. The Philippine government has imposed lockdowns to control the spread of infection. This urged the different sectors to implement flexible work schedules or work from home setup. A work-from-home (WFH) setup burdens both the employee and employer by installing different equipment set-ups such as WiFi-equipped laptops, computers, tablets, or smartphones. However, the internet stability in some of the areas in the Philippines is not yet reliable. In this study, an application is used collect survey information and provide an estimate of the telework internet cost requirement of a given government employee or a given government employee implementing a work-from-home set up in their respective household. This involves survey results from different respondents who are currently on a work-from-home setup and significant factors from the survey have been analyzed using machine learning (ML) algorithms. Among the machine learning algorithms used, the ensemble bagged trees model outperformed the other ML models. This work can be extended by incorporating a wider scope of datasets from different industry doing work from home set-up. In addition, in terms of education, it is also recommended to determine the WFH set up not just with the government employee and employer but to also extend this into the education side. © 2022 IEEE.

Disability, workplace inclusion and organizational citizenship behavior: an exploratory study of the legal profession

PurposeMany workers with disabilities face cultures of exclusion in the workplace, which can affect their participation in decisions, workplace engagement, job attitudes and performance. The authors explore a key indicator of engagement—perceptions of organizational citizenship behavior (OCB)—as it relates to disability and other marginalized identities in the workplace.Design/methodology/approachUsing an online survey, legal professionals answered questions about their workplace experiences. Ordinary least squares (OLS) multivariate regression analysis with progressive adjustment was used to investigate the effect of demographic and organizational factors on perceptions of OCB.FindingsThe authors find that employees with disabilities have lower perceptions of OCB, both before and after controlling for other personal and job variables. The disability gap is cut nearly in half, however, when controlling for workplace culture measures of co-worker support and the presence of an effective diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policy. Disability does not appear to interact with gender, race/ethnicity and LGBTQ + status in affecting perceptions of OCB.Originality/valueThe results point to the workplace barriers faced by people with disabilities that affect their perceptions of engagement, and the potential for supportive cultures to change these perceptions.

Digitalization of Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) Process of Accreditation of Nutritionist and Dietetics

With the recent global COVID-19 pandemic and lockdowns, accreditation delays have become inevitable in lieu of the strict travel restrictions. The usual accreditation inspection process conducted face-To-face was affected. Organizations are shifting to a reliance on technology to adapt to the national emergency. The study aims to bridge the gap by digitalization Professional Regulation Commission's (PRC) monitoring and accreditation system to conduct a virtual inspection and monitoring. With all of these said, the specific objectives of the researchers and developers are to develop an efficient digitized system that captures the original one. In developing the proposed accreditation and monitoring system and document management system (website) for PRC, the group will adapt and take inspiration from the Agile Development Lifecycle methodology, which will help the modification and other functionality of the system by using the iterative style in the development of the system. The proposed digital monitoring system undergoes a cross-browser test, and performance test, i.e., Requirements Traceability Matrix (RTM). These tests show that the proposed system passed the compatibility for commonly used browsers like Chrome, Edge, Mozilla, and many more. The Final Test in Performance Testing showed that the system RTM functions had passed all final testing. © 2023 IEEE.

Domestic Space Connections, Relationships and Overcrowding in Affordable Housing

In people's imagination, the dwelling represents a fundamental part of life. The house has forever been not only a shelter, but it also occupies the majority of people's economic and temporal resources. The matter of housing has become however noticeably more complex following the COVID-19 pandemic, since it has imposed a different relationship between the dwelling and the way of living the population was used to, as well as working, entertaining and conducting their own lives. Therefore, in addition to the energetic matters, already highlighted for some time, also problems related to the general welfare have been added, with particular attention to the quality of the space in which the daily life takes place. The paper reports some initial considerations of a piece of research which intends to investigate the domestic space and its relations with the users in the new house-hold configurations and in possible evolutionary scenarios of the concept of house and domestic space. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

An Approach of Skill-Based Education for Industry-Ready Electrical Engineers: Power Electronics Course as A Case Study

Recently, and particularly after the Covid19 pandemic period and during teaching different courses, it has been noticed that most of the undergraduate engineering students have rising the type of questions such as ''Why we are learning this particular course?'' and ''What are the main benefits and direct impacts of such course on our future carrier? Also as a direct impact of the new available job requirements, it becomes most importance to prepare future engineers to thrive in recent dynamic changing in employment landscape. Hence for students who want to compete and involved in promising working opportunities, it is important to bridging the gap between teaching courses and the industry requirements by focusing on the concept of ''Industry Ready Engineers Since most of recent jobs concentrate on specific required competencies, the author believes that it is important now to give more focusing on the skill-based learning methodology. This paper introduces an approach focusing on group categorization for the recent specific required skills of electrical engineers;then how to involve these skills in specific teaching courses. The main objectives of such approach is to intentionally improve such group skills (one by one) throughout the all program courses in order to introduce a final graduated engineer with great working readiness skills. The approach is validated and evaluated on teaching the power electronics course 1 as a case study. © 2023 IEEE.

10-year follow-up of interventional electrophysiology: updated German survey during the COVID-19 pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: This study provides an update of survey-based data providing an overview of interventional electrophysiology over the last decade. Overall infrastructure, procedures, and training opportunities in Germany were assessed. METHODS: By analyzing mandatory quality reports, German cardiology centres performing electrophysiological studies were identified to repeat a questionnaire from 2010 and 2015. RESULTS: A complete questionnaire was returned by 192 centers performing about 75% of all ablations in Germany in 2020. In the presence of the COVID-19 pandemic, a total of 76.304 procedures including 68.407 ablations were reported representing a 38% increase compared to 2015. The median number of ablations increased from 180 in 2010 to 377 in 2020. AF was the most common arrhythmia ablated (51 vs. 35% in 2010). PVI with radiofrequency point-by-point ablation (64%) and cryo-balloon ablation (34%) were the preferred strategies. Less than 50 (75) PVI were performed by 31% (36%) of all centres. Only 25 and 24% of participating centres fulfilled EHRA and national requirements for training centre accreditation, respectively. There was a high number of EP centres with no fellows (38%). The proportion of female fellows in EP increased from 26% in 2010 to 33% in 2020. CONCLUSION: Comparing 2020, 2010 and 2015, an increasing number of EP centres and procedures were registered. In 2020, more than every second ablation was for therapy of AF. In the presence of an increasing number of procedures, training opportunities were still limited, and most centres did not fulfill recommended EHRA or national requirements for accreditation.

State-level data on TANF policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic.

OBJECTIVE: COVID-19 mitigation measures prompted many states to revise the administration of their welfare programs. States adopted policies that varied across the U.S. to respond to the difficulties in fulfilling program requirements, as well as increased financial need. This dataset captures the changes made to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, from March 2020 through December 2020. The authors created this dataset as part of a larger study that examined the health effects of TANF policy changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. DATA DESCRIPTION: TANF is the main cash assistance program for low-income families in the U.S., but benefits are often conditional on work requirements and can be revoked if an individual is deemed noncompliant. Structural factors during the COVID-19 pandemic made meeting these criteria more difficult, so some states relaxed their rules and increased their benefits. This dataset captures 24 types of policies that state TANF programs enacted, which of the states enacted each of them, when the policies went into effect, and when applicable, when the policies ended. These data can be used to study the effects of TANF policy changes on various health and programmatic outcomes.

A Secure and Efficient Scheme for Mutual Authentication for Integrity of Exchanged Data in IoMT

The emergence of pandemic diseases like Covid-19 in recent years has made it more important for Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) environments to build contact between patients and doctors in order to control their health state. Patients will be able to send their healthcare data to the cloud server of the medical service provider in remote medical environments through sensors connected to their smart devices, such as watches or smartphones. However, patients' worries surrounding their data privacy protection are still present. In order to ensure the security and privacy of patients' healthcare data in remote medical environments, a number of different schemes have been proposed by researchers. However, these schemes have not been able to take all security requirements into account. Consequently, in this study, we have proposed a secure and effective protocol to safeguard the privacy of patients' medical data when it is sent to the server. This protocol entails two components: mutual authentication of the patient and the server of the medical service provider, as well as the integrity of the exchanged data. Also, our scheme satisfies security requirements and is resistant to well-known attacks. Following this, we used the Scyther tool to formally analyze our proposed scheme. The results showed that the scheme is secure, and in the section on performance analysis, we demonstrated that the proposed scheme performs better than comparable schemes. © 2023 IEEE.

Modern innovation strategy in the hotel sector

One of the economic engines of the world is the leisure and hospitality sector. The industry's rapid embrace of new technology in recent years has significantly changed the manner that Both giving and receiving services. This study examines examine some of the most cutting-edge technology available today employed in the hotel sector and their working conditions boosting visitor experiences and transforming the hospitality platform for services. We also think about some possible futures. We might anticipate hospitality services as the Internet of IoT technology is continually developing. We continue to debate Several major obstacles must be overcome in order to implement a long-term, future-proof hospitality solution industry. Because the hospitality sector is very competitive and those who do not adapt are left behind, it is crucial to not only stay on top of the most recent technological advances but also to change with the times. In the context of COVID, keeping an eye on the pulse is especially crucial because consumer expectations and requirements are always changing.

ANALYZING A MACROPRUDENTIAL INSTRUMENT DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC USING BORDER COLLISION BIFURCATION

Bank Indonesia, el banco central de Indonesia, ha realizado ajustes en un instrumento de política macroprudencial llamado índice de intermediación macroprudencial (IIM) para impulsar el crecimiento de los préstamos en el contexto de la recuperación económica nacional debido a la pandemia de COVID-19. En este artículo, se desarrolla un modelo dinámico de préstamo bancario con comportamiento procíclico, y se equipa con el instrumento predecesor del IIM denominado requerimiento de reserva basado en la relación préstamo-depósito (RR-RPD). Examinamos los efectos de los parámetros RR-RPD en la dinámica del préstamo utilizando el análisis de bifurcación de colisión de fronteras para determinar los valores umbral de los parámetros RR-RPD para que se pueda mantener la estabilidad del equilibrio del préstamo. Este modelo se aplica a los datos mensuales de los bancos comerciales de Indonesia antes y durante la pandemia de COVID-19 para evaluar la región de estabilidad de los parámetros del instrumento.Alternate :Bank Indonesia, the central bank of Indonesia, has made adjustment settings in a macroprudential policy instrument called macroprudential intermediation ratio (MIR) to boost loan growth in the context of national economic recovery due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper, a dynamic model of bank loan with procyclicality behavior is developed, and it is equipped with the predecessor of the MIR instrument called loan-to-deposit ratio based reserve requirement (LDR-RR). We examine the effects of LDR-RR parameters on the dynamics of loan using the border collision bifurcation analysis to determine the threshold values of the LDR-RR parameters so that the stability of loan equilibrium can be maintained. This model is applied to monthly data of Indonesian commercial banks before and during the COVID-19 pandemic to assess the stability region of the instrument parameters.

Philanthropic conference-based requirements engineering in time of pandemic and beyond.

As software engineering (SE) practitioners, we can help society by using our communities of experts to address a software need of a socially conscious organization. Doing so can benefit society in the locale of a SE conference and provide access to international experts for local organizations. Furthermore, established SE researchers as well as practitioners and students have the opportunity for a unique learning experience. While the SE community has already realized the importance of addressing human values and promoting social good objectives in software development, we are unaware of previous attempts to leverage SE conferences for this activity. Conferences present an opportunity to enjoy the assembly of SE practitioners, researchers, and students for the purpose of a philanthropic endeavor. Over the past four years of running a "Requirements Engineering for Social Good" event called RE Cares, co-located with the International Conference on Requirements Engineering, we worked with the stakeholders local to the conference venue. We selected stakeholders who would not necessarily have ready access to requirements engineering, software design, and development expertise otherwise, to build software targeting "good causes." In the last two years, this event was altered to adapt to the constraints induced by COVID-19, moving to a hybrid mode and changing many of its practices accordingly. This paper summarizes and generalizes our experiences, discussing our lessons learned in the context of the pandemic and beyond and providing a framework for conducting similar social contribution in any SE conferences in general.

Agile Model-Based Systems Engineering of Passenger Train Operational Design

The Railway industry is facing a productivity issue as is often publicised with regular delays in rolling stock projects [1]. Plus, there is a growing need for innovation in remote services and management that have become the new normal during the COVID-19 pandemic. It drives a need for better Systems Engineering (SE) methods which include increased automation and dependence between systems and system performance, increasing number of disparate specialist engineering teams. [2] The aim of this paper is to develop an adaptable model which expresses the operational behavior of a train system in different railway environments, this model will be quickly and accurately configured to a specific environment to define the needs for a specific passenger service mission. Preventing late changes (cost and time-saving) by generating the right system requirements at the very early design phase through agile Model-Based Systems Engineering (MBSE) approach is the key benefit. Another goal includes increased productivity by minimizing unnecessary manual transcription of concepts when coordinating the work of large teams. This Generic* functional model of a Rolling Stock system can be configured to define specific products for an operator or Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).

Ergonomic Approach to Teaching Online Activity Using Principles of Axiomatic Design

The need to carry out online teaching activities in universities has required the use of solutions that maximize the efficiency of such activities but with the maximum fulfillment of the ergonomic requirements as far as possible. In the last two years, additional demand for the development of online teaching activities has been generated by the pandemic caused by the covid virus 19. Axiomatic design principles were used to identify an equipment solution used in online teaching. In this way, it was outlined a version of the equipment that would allow the teacher to use a way to write texts and make drawings to be transmitted online, in conditions as close as possible to those of onsite teaching activity. In the future, it is intended to take steps to optimize the constructive solution of online teaching equipment.

A Traceable Spectral Radiation Model of Radiation Thermometry

Featured ApplicationRadiation thermometry of real objects under real conditions.Despite great technical capabilities, the theory of non-contact temperature measurement is usually not fully applicable to the use of measuring instruments in practice. While black body calibrations and black body radiation thermometry (BBRT) are in practice well established and easy to accomplish, this calibration protocol is never fully applicable to measurements of real objects under real conditions. Currently, the best approximation to real-world radiation thermometry is grey body radiation thermometry (GBRT), which is supported by most measuring instruments to date. Nevertheless, the metrological requirements necessitate traceability;therefore, real body radiation thermometry (RBRT) method is required for temperature measurements of real bodies. This article documents the current state of temperature calculation algorithms for radiation thermometers and the creation of a traceable model for radiation thermometry of real bodies that uses an inverse model of the system of measurement to compensate for the loss of data caused by spectral integration, which occurs when thermal radiation is absorbed on the active surface of the sensor. To solve this problem, a hybrid model is proposed in which the spectral input parameters are converted to scalar inputs of a traditional scalar inverse model for GBRT. The method for calculating effective parameters, which corresponds to a system of measurement, is proposed and verified with the theoretical simulation model of non-contact thermometry. The sum of effective instrumental parameters is presented for different temperatures to show that the rule of GBRT, according to which the sum of instrumental emissivity and instrumental reflectivity is equal to 1, does not apply to RBRT. Using the derived models of radiation thermometry, the uncertainty of radiation thermometry due to the uncertainty of spectral emissivity was analysed by simulated worst-case measurements through temperature ranges of various radiation thermometers. This newly developed model for RBRT with known uncertainty of measurement enables traceable measurements using radiation thermometry under any conditions.

Conceptualization of Natural Language-Based Product Configurators for New Product Development in Apparel

Digital technologies enable apparel manufacturers to unlock solutions for new product development (NPD) challenges faced during the Covid-19 pandemic. A Product Configurator (PC) is the key to Mass Customization (MC) as it can employ to elicit customer requirements, which is essential in successful NPD. Even though some online PCs exist in apparel retail and product development, no one could gather customer requirements and deploy them in the NPD. This paper conceptualizes a Natural Language Processing (NLP)-based PC on eliciting customer requirements based on a systematic literature review and a basic concept of Design Space Analysis. Finally, it is contended that this knowledge can apply in relevant software development to modernize apparel design, development and online retail. © 2023 The authors and IOS Press.

The Taxation of 'Digital Nomads' and the '3 W's': Between Tax Challenges and Heavenly Beaches

Work mobility is not something new, but it certainly received an important boost with the COVID-19 pandemic as many people began working remotely which reflected on their lifestyle. In this context, the objective of the present study is to analyse the challenges imposed by what is known as 'digital nomads' from the exclusive perspective of individual taxation. The first part aims to understand the first 'W', i.e., who the 'digital nomads' are and the factors that favour the choice for this type of work. Subsequently, it examines the impacts caused by the 'digital nomadism' in determining the tax residence (second 'W' – where) and presents the measures, albeit incipient and indistinguishable, adopted by some countries in relation to this phenomenon. The third section delves into the taxation of income obtained by 'digital nomads' through either an employment relationship or the provision of services (third 'W' – what). Based on the analysis of examples and the presentation of some alternatives, this study seeks to demonstrate the need to adapt the tax residence rules at both of the levels of domestic law and double tax treaties (tiebreaker rules). The rules on the taxation of income from employment and the provision of independent services also demand modifications that detach them from the strict need for a physical presence.

From the Editor's Desk

[...]it is quite imperative for the Regulator to allow banks to consider NBFCs and MFIs as channel partners for lending to the people and informal enterprises who need small loans. Dr Arindam Bandhyopadhyay has given a comprehensive description of RBI's new capital adequacy norms that has paved a structured approach for strengthening urban cooperative banks, in his article "Prudential Norms on Capital Adequacy - Primary (Urban) Co-operative Banks (UCBs)". Prof Sanjay Basu has analysed the guidelines given by the RBI in its Master Circular on Basel III Capital Regulations, dated 1st April 2022, in his paper "Basel III Capital Regulation - A Brief Discussion " I am sure the readers will appreciate the perspectives shared by the contributors in the articles and appreciate the relevance of the same in the world of business today.

The Next Chapter in Global Compliance Auditing

The recent COVID-19 pandemic spurred evolutionary changes to how risk management programs are executed across the globe. As companies responded to the effects the virus had on their operations, they also had to continue their compliance verifications despite the inability of audit teams to visit sites for a first-hand evaluation of program status. Audit teams were driven to innovate to accomplish their mission. This metamorphosis has forever changed the process by which compliance auditing is conducted. These methodologies continue to evolve as the pandemic endures. This article will discuss the author's views of advancements in compliance auditing as a direct result of the pandemic. It will feature tools that have been developed, including planning tips, audit strategies, auditor utilization, and various concepts that audit teams can employ. The author will explain how she believes these aspects will affect the future of post-pandemic compliance auditing, particularly focusing on auditing for Process Safety Management (PSM) system requirements. © 2022 AIChE Spring Meeting and 18th Global Congress on Process Safety, GCPS 2022. All rights reserved.

Condition of water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) in Ghana's basic schools: Empirical evidence from Wa municipality

Access to functional water, sanitation and hygiene (WaSH) systems is a necessity for safe health and a fundamental determinant of human well-being. As a result, constant monitoring, tracking and bridging of the gaps in access to WaSH is a global public health requirement. Developing countries are currently disadvantaged in this era of the COVID-19 outbreak, particularly in the area of school-based WaSH. This study assesses the present condition and challenges hindering access to school-based WaSH in the Wa Municipality. Primary data involving 145 health teachers were sourced using survey questionnaires and supported with ocular assessment. Results show that basic schools in the Wa Municipality currently have in place some sort of WaSH facilities, thereby meeting the availability criteria to a large extent. However, these schools do not meet the remaining standards – functionality, accessibility, maintenance and quality of services, education and prac-tices. The major factors affecting the sustainable operationalisation of the school-based WaSH are poor maintenance and inadequate funding of WaSH infrastructure. The school-based WaSH in Ghana requires rapt policy attention if the quest to attain Sustainable Development Goal 6 by 2030 is to be achieved. © 2023 The Authors.