Interdisciplinary Teaching Reform of Financial Engineering Majors Based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process in the Post-Pandemic Era

In the post-epidemic era, the labor market has become increasingly complex, making it even more crucial to incorporate sustainability into employment demand. As we enter the post-pandemic era, a globalization trend has become more apparent. It is crucial to modernize employability through educational reform in order to assist employees in enhancing their professional skills. This study began by analyzing the importance of financial engineering practice instruction and graduate employability in the post-epidemic era. Second, the study proposed the content and a plan for inter-disciplinary teaching reform to address talent cultivation needs based on labor market requirements. Third, a face-to-face survey and interview were conducted with students affected by changes in teaching, and the results were analyzed and summarized. On this basis, the impact of education reform was evaluated using both the expert scoring method and the analytic hierarchy approach. The results indicated that the suggested financial engineering teaching reform program improved the school's discipline strength, enrollment rate, employment rate, and competition awards, especially discipline strength. This research can be used to inform the teaching of financial engineering majors in various countries, assist job candidates in enhancing their professional skills, and build a formidable talent pool for the labor market.

Post”-pandemic Capitalism: Reform or Transform? Comment on "Ensuring Global Health Equity in a Post-pandemic Economy

This commentary expresses appreciation for Professor Labonté's work, along with some hopefully constructive suggestions. Professor Labonté's editorial shows ambivalence about reforms within capitalism. Such reforms remain contradictory and unlikely to prevail. Transformation to post-capitalist political economies is an exciting focus of moving beyond the hurtful effects of capitalism. Can "the state … mitigate capitalism's inherent inegalitarianism”? Problematically, government resides in the capitalist state, whose main purpose is to protect the capitalist economic system. The state's contradictory characteristics manifest in inadequate measures to protect health, as during the COVID-19 pandemic. "Social determination,” referring to illness-generating structures of power and finance, is replacing "social determinants,” referring mainly to demographic variables. Problems warranting attention include: capitalist industrial agriculture causing pandemics through destruction of protective natural habitat, structural racism, sexism and social reproduction, social class structure linked to inequality, and expropriation of nature to accumulate capital. Transformation to post-capitalism involves creative construction of new solidarity economies, while creative destructions block smooth functioning of the capitalist system. © 2023 The Author(s);Published by Kerman University of Medical Sciences.

Confinement with No Rights. Perceptions of Inmates' Relatives Regarding Measures for COVID-19 Control Implemented in Mexican Prisons

Based on a participatory study design, this article describes how a group of family members of people deprived of liberty (PDL) experienced the COVID-19 control measures implemented in Mexico's prisons. We conducted 28 in-depth interviews and analyzed them using ATLAS.ti. We found that the measures implemented in Mexican prisons to avoid the spread of COVID-19 focused mainly on suspension of visitation and PDL confinement. The isolation imposed on PDL impacted their living conditions, making them more vulnerable to contracting COVID-19 due to lack of access to essential services, food, and hygiene supplies. Visit restrictions and PDL isolation also impacted PDL relatives' health and socioeconomic conditions. Our findings indicate that the consequences of COVID-19 control actions in Mexican prisons differ according to the gender and jurisdiction of PDL. Women in federal prisons were more isolated, while those in local ones were more deprived of basic supplies. Imprisoned women's isolation has especially severe effects on the mental and physical health of their elderly parents and children. The results show how the measures adopted to control COVID-19 outbreaks in Mexican prisons have exacerbated the preexisting systemic violence experienced by PDL and their families and how they have failed to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in these settings. These findings provide support for the health-informed penal reform of Mexican prisons.

Manufacturing Innovation

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-USASCII text omitted.) The annual Global Innovation Index released in September 2021 ranked China twelfth, surpassing developed economies such as Japan, Israel, and Canada and raising fears in the United States amidst sluggish growth in North America and strong growth in the Asia Pacific region.1 Interestingly, the United States government responded by boycotting the Beijing Olympic Games, citing human rights abuses as the main reason.2 A tech war between China and the United States brewed beneath the diplomatic rancor over the attendance at the Olympic Games. Part I documents how the United States has assisted China's tech and intellectual property domination through President Nixon's historic visit to China, giving China Most Favorite Nation (MFN) status and ascending China to the World Trade Organization (WTO). [...]under Deng Xiaoping's leadership during the reform period, China rapidly developed its special economic zones (SEZs), laying the foundation for subsequent tech innovation and production. [...]broadcasting, telecommunications, office machines, computers, integrated circuits, and cell phones are among China's notable exports to the world.9 China dominates in commodities and raw materials, exporting refined petroleum, cotton, plywood, and tea.10 For agricultural products, China occupies the perch as the world's largest producer. Shenzhen rose as the largest among the four.18 Shenzhen, a small fishing locale in the southern part of China's southern province, Guangdong, served as the pioneer of Deng Xiaoping's embrace of economic reforms.19 A market-oriented economy took root in Shenzhen, allowing foreign companies and entities from Hong Kong and Macau to operate and allowing Chinese talents the freedom to leave their hometowns and move into the SEZs.20 Cheap labor proved to be another significant factor facilitating China's rise as a global manufacturer.21 In the 1980s, multinational corporations from Taiwan, Japan, and South Korea, as well as domestic Chinese companies, opened their factories in the SEZs and other cities in China to take advantage of the cheap and plentiful labor force.22 Indeed, when Deng Xiaoping began his pilot SEZs, China's young workers who wished to lift themselves out of poverty descended into the economic zones in search of better opportunities.23 Shenzhen grew from a population of 59,000 in 1980 to a population of 12,357,000 in 2020.24 The new migrants became the workers, participants, and stakeholders in the global manufacturing frontier.25 Because of the abundance of cheap labor, manufacturers in China have no difficulty keeping production prices low and pleasing consumers and businesses worldwide.26 China's currency manipulation is another factor propelling China to its domination in global manufacturing.27 The United States Congress attempted numerous times to introduce legislation to combat China's currency manipulation.28 China artificially devalued its currency through government control of the exchange rate and refused to let the Chinese Renminbi (RMB) float.29 Despite strong criticisms from the United States, China refuses to allow its currency to freely float.30 China's currency manipulations, according to critics, caused the widening of trade deficits between the United States and China.31 China's currency manipulation allows products to be manufactured at lower prices, hampering competitors and thereafter replacing them.32 In order to cope with China's currency practices, United States manufacturers facing their own existential crises must decide to either outsource jobs overseas or face large risks, including financial ruin.33 The United States lost millions of manufacturing jobs due to massive job outsourcing as the trade deficits between the United States and China continued to persist.34 Geopolitically, in shaping post-Cold-War powers, the United States decided to assist China in its transformation from a poverty-stricken country to a global manufacturer.

Mitochondrial Neurogastrointestinal Encephalopathy (MNGIE) Disease

Does mens rea matter to the criminal legal system? Our study addresses this question by performing the first-ever empirical analysis of a culpable mental state's impact on administration of a criminal statute. We focus on the U.S. Supreme Court's 2019 decision in Rehaif v. United States, which applied a culpable knowledge requirement to the federal felon-in-possession statute, 18 U.S.C. 922(g). Prior to Rehaif, federal courts viewed 922(g)'s critical legal status element-whether a firearm or ammunition possessor meets the conditions for one of nine prohibited categories-as being subject to strict liability. After Rehaif, the government must now prove that the target of a 922(g) prosecution was aware of their prohibited legal status to secure a conviction. Our study provides reason to believe that this new mens rea requirement significantly reduced the number of defendants charged with 922(g) per month, the number of 922(g) charges filed each month, the number of 922(g) charges per defendant, and the likelihood that any individual charge of 922(g) would be adjudicated guilty. We estimate these charging reductions prevented 2,365.32 convictions and eliminated 8,419.06 years of prison sentences for 922(g) violations during the eight-month period between the issuance of the Rehaifopinion and the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, which severely disrupted federal criminal prosecutions. At the same time, we also find that the government's 922(g) conviction rate-the likelihood that someone charged by federal prosecutors with violating 922(g) will ultimately be found guilty-did not change after Rehaif. All told, our study indicates that mens rea can constrain prosecutorial discretion, lower convictions, and reduce punishment without bringing criminal administration to a halt.

Labour Reforms and Economic Justice: Inequality, the COVID-19 Pandemic and Regionalism

Analysing the patterns of inequality in India, this paper argues that those at the bottom of the income pyramid lack the enabling conditions of access to good healthcare and education to break out of the cycle of poverty. Addressing extreme inequalities would require not just the redistribution of wealth but also a transformation in the structure of the economy so that the processes of income generation become more equitable. A beginning in this direction would require a fundamental change in the relationship between labour and capital. Analysing recent legislations to reform labour laws within India, the author observes that while they provided some benefits to the unprivileged working classes, the overall effect has been to weaken labour unions and relax labour laws making it easier for them to be exploited. Enduring change will require new development models based on strong normative frameworks for ensuring equity and sustainability. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Time to Rethink: Educating for a Technology-Transformed World

Purpose We hope to provoke a conversation about preparing students for an uncertain future that unforeseeable technological innovations will transform in ways we cannot predict. The unprecedented disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic makes this an opportune time to reconsider all dimensions of education. Design/Approach/Methods We present information on how technology is transforming virtually every aspect of our lives and the threats we face from social media, climate change, and growing inequality. We then analyze the adequacy of proposals for teaching new skills, such as 21st-Century Skills, to prepare students for a world of work that is changing at warp speed. Findings Despite harbingers of a radically different future, most schools continue to operate much as they have for centuries, providing a one-size-fits-all education. Technology now enables an unprecedented degree of personalization. We can tailor learning opportunities to individual students' interests, talents, and potential with teachers serving as guides, resources, and critical friends. The Internet afford a cornucopia of learning opportunities—online courses, international experts, global collaborations, accessible databases, and libraries. Learning can occur virtually anywhere. Originality/Value The future depends on decisions we are making today about education. The value of this article is that we call for rethinking every component of education rather than considering each element independently.

Reimagining Prosperity: Social and Economic Development in Post-COVID India

This book explores the second-order effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and economic development in India. The chapters in this volume provide theoretical perspectives and empirical insights from a range of disciplines including history, economics, water management, food and nutrition security, agriculture, rural management, public health, urbanization, gender studies and development of the marginalized. It discusses the pressing questions that have been raised by the disruption caused by the pandemic and proposes insights and interventions to build a more just, sustainable and united post-COVID India. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023.

Teaching in the Post COVID-19 Era: World Education Dilemmas, Teaching Innovations and Solutions in the Age of Crisis

This handbook showcases extraordinary educational responses in exceptional times. The scholarly text discusses valuable innovations for teaching and learning in times of COVID-19 and beyond. It examines effective teaching models and methods, technology innovations and enhancements, strategies for engagement of learners, unique approaches to teacher education and leadership, and important mental health and counseling models and supports. The unique solutions here implement and adapt effective digital technologies to support learners and teachers in critical times - for example, to name but a few: Florida State University's Innovation Hub and interdisciplinary project-based approach;remote synchronous delivery (RSD) and blended learning approaches used in Yorkville University's Bachelor of Interior Design, General Studies, and Business programs;University of California's strategies for making resources affordable to students;resilient online assessment measures recommended from Qatar University;strategies in teacher education from the University of Toronto/OISE to develop equity in the classroom;simulation use in health care education;gamification strategies;innovations in online second language learning and software for new Canadian immigrants and refugees;effective RSD and online delivery of directing and acting courses by the Toronto Film School, Canada;academic literacy teaching in Colombia;inventive international programs between Japan and Taiwan, Japan and the USA, and Italy and the USA;and, imaginative teaching and assessment methods developed for online Kindergarten - Post-Secondary learners and teachers. Authors share unique global perspectives from a network of educators and researchers from more than thirty locations, schools, and post-secondary institutions worldwide. Educators, administrators, policymakers, and instructional designers will draw insights and guidelines from this text to sustain education during and beyond the COVID-19 era. © Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2021. All rights reserved.

Overhauling the Human Medicines Directive and Regulation

On 1 March 2021, the EC published its roadmap to revise the general pharmaceutical legislations building on lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that the future regulatory framework is fit-for-purpose and crisis-resistant (3). Since the EC published its strategy roadmap, it has conducted a series of consultations and has proposed a series of amendments to: o ensure access to affordable medicines o foster innovation, including in areas of unmet medical need o improve security of supply o adapt to new scientific and technological developments o reduce red tape (8). The Regulatory Scrutiny Board (RSB), an independent body within the EC that undertakes impact assessments and evaluation fitness checks, has reviewed the proposal and drafted a number of negative opinions. According to EFPIA, the overall goal of the new regulations should be to reinforce expertise-driven assessment and enable a more agile centralized authorization framework by facilitating member states and removing unnecessary, burdensome interfaces between committees and the EC (Figure 2).

The Impact of COVID-19, Election Policies, and Partisanship on Voter Participation in the 2020 U.S. Election

The COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to wreak havoc on elections. Democracies initiated varied policies to minimize health risks to voters and election workers. This study assesses the impact of voting policies, personal exposure to COVID, and partisanship on voter behavior in the 2020 U.S. general election. Using a comparative state-politics approach and new data, we demonstrate that exposure to COVID substantially influenced voter turnout, and election policies had a major effect on whether a voter cast a ballot by mail, early in-person, or in-person on Election Day. Unique circumstances, including the emergence of voting policies as a polarizing issue, also spawned a new partisan voting gap that is especially prominent among heavy news consumers. Compared to 2018, many more Democrats than Republicans abandoned Election Day voting in favor of mail voting.

Retail Crime - A Perfect Storm

In recent years there has been a noticeable increase in crime and theft aimed at retail establishments. Often these events involve organised groups that systematically steal and sell in-demand items. More recently, there has also been an increase in crowd or mob-based looting events, presenting merchants with overwhelming circumstances outside of their ability to control. This study examines various influences that contribute to this dilemma. Factors commonly believed to contribute to theft and looting that are discussed include adjustments made in criminal charging and prosecution of retail thefts, current public events focusing on police violence, prosecutorial reforms, and the impact of COVID-19 on law enforcement responses.

Path dependence or steps for major reforms? Pandemic-related social protection measures in ten OECD countries

This article examines with empirical evidence the social protection measures implemented in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in ten welfare states in the Global North. We analysed the potential similarities and differences in responses by welfare regimes. The comparative study was conducted with data from 169 measures, collected from domestic sources as well as from COVID-19 response databases and reports. In qualitative terms, we redeveloped Hall's theory on the distinction between first-, second- and third-order changes. In accordance with the path-dependence thesis, we show systematically that the majority of the studied changes (91%) relied on a pre-pandemic tool demonstrating flexibility within social security systems. The relative share of completely new instruments was notable but modest (9%). Thematically, the social protection measures converged beyond traditional welfare regimes, particularly among the European welfare states. Somewhat surprisingly, the changes to social security systems related not just to emergency aid to mitigate traditional risks but, to a greater extent, also to prevent new risks from being actualised.

International Law and Digital Disease Surveillance in Pandemics: On the Margins of Regulation

The COVID-19 pandemic elicited a surge in the use of digital tools to replace "classic” manual disease tracking and contact tracing across individuals. The main technical reason is based on the disease surveillance needs imposed by the magnitude of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus since 2020, particularly how these needs overwhelmed governments around the world. Such developments led to stark variations across countries in terms of legal approaches towards the use of digital tools, including self-reporting software and mobile phone apps, for both disease tracking and contact tracing. Against this backdrop, in this article I highlight some of the normative challenges posed by the digitalization of disease surveillance, underscoring its almost non-existent regulation under international law. I look back at the historical emergence of the epidemiological principles underlying this procedure, by referring to John Snow's trailblazing work in cholera control. I emphasize how the COVID-19 pandemic prompted both technical and normative shifts related to the digitalization of these procedures. Furthermore, I refer to some of the overarching obstacles for deploying international law to tackle future tensions between the public health rationale for digitalized disease tracking and contact tracing, on the one hand, and normative concerns directly related to their legality, on the other hand. Lastly, I put forward conclusions in light of the current juncture of international health law reforms, and how they so far display limited potential to herald structural changes concerning the legality of the use of digital tools in disease surveillance.

Corporate Restructuring Laws Under Stress

Bail-outs by way of loan have a similar effect (on the debtor: plainly, the cost of delivering relief is allocated differently as between a bail-out and a bail-in) in that they enable the debtor to meet current fixed costs through borrowing, in effect swapping shorter-term liabilities with a longer-term liability. The authors acknowledge the support of the Oxford Law Faculty in funding the Conference "Corporate Restructuring Laws Under Stress" (St Hugh's College, Oxford, 10 October 2022) at which the papers in this special issue were first presented, and the support of the Covid-19 Research Response Fund at Oxford University, which provided funding for the wider project of which the Conference formed one part. Most authors, however, express some concerns in relation to Covid-19 bail-out design, and in particular query whether some bail-outs may have been too generous. [Extracted from the article] Copyright of European Business Organization Law Review is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The Global Challenge of Educational Reform

Three vectors describe the research about the global challenge of educational reform (Shirley, J Educ Change 21(3):385-392, 2020). These vectors address fundamental questions within the field: Who is doing the work and how are they supported? How can reform that is successful in one realm be both sustained within that context and travel to other contexts? Who benefits? These sticky questions are not rhetorical, and yet they also do not have an answer. In spite of decades of practice and research, much of the field of educational reform remains in flux. This chapter builds upon such scholarship, describing the global challenge of educational reform, briefly tracing the history of reform over the last 20 decades in order to frame the understanding of educational reform, and then outlining the obstacles that have been met along the way. These waves of reform and across the waves the vectors of change play a strong role in making sense of the past and highlighting the global challenge of educational reform work. The chapter then describes the challenges of the present moment, including but not limited to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on reform efforts. © The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Dialect connectedness and tunneling: evidence from China

PurposeThis study aims to examine the effects of dialect connectedness between the chairman and the chief executive officer (CEO) (DCCC) on the tunneling activities of controlling shareholders.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses abnormal related-party transactions (ARPT) as a proxy for tunneling activities and traces dialects of chairmen and CEOs based on the respective birthplace information. Baseline results are examined using a fixed-effects model. The results remain robust when using the instrumental variable approach, propensity score matching (PSM) technique, changing the measurement of tunneling and Heckman two-step selection model.FindingsThe results show that DCCC reduces tunneling activities. This negative association is more pronounced for non-state-owned enterprises and firms whose chairmen and CEOs work in the respective hometowns. DCCC restrains tunneling activities through mechanisms by establishing an informal supervisory effect on CEOs because the CEOs fear reputational damage and strengthening cooperation between chairmen and CEOs. Further analyses suggest that this negative association is more significant when chairmen and CEOs are non-controlling shareholders, but the association is weakened during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.Originality/valueAs dialect is a carrier of culture, this study's results imply that cultural proximity can replace formal mechanisms to enhance corporate governance.

China: The Bankable State

The volume on China: The Bankable State rejects neoliberal consensus and focuses on crucial contributions of the Chinese state in shaping Chinese economy. This book makes crucial theoretical contributions to the study of local political economy of China. This book engages with Chinese state responses to challenges China faces in the processes of reform, transition and development of both commercial and non-commercial banks. This book explores Chinese economic growth and development policy processes and its uniqueness in the wider world economy. The book examines Chinese financial policy praxis and offers an insightful account of its successes for the wider resurgence of alternative political economy of local development. Additionally, this book also showcases state led entrepreneurship in China. The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021.

Challenges in implementing GP clusters in Scotland: a qualitative study comparing the views of senior primary care stakeholders in 2016 with those in 2021.

BACKGROUND: Formation of GP clusters began in Scotland in April 2016 as part of a new Scottish GP contract. They aim to improve the care quality for local populations (intrinsic role) and the integration of health and social care (extrinsic role). AIM: To compare predicted challenges of cluster implementation in 2016 with reported challenges in 2021. DESIGN & SETTING: Qualitative study of senior national stakeholders in primary care in Scotland. METHOD: Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with 12 senior primary care national stakeholders in 2016 (n = 6) and 2021 (n = 6). RESULTS: Predicted challenges in 2016 included balancing intrinsic and extrinsic roles, providing sufficient support, maintaining motivation and direction, and avoiding variation between clusters. Progress of clusters in 2021 was perceived as suboptimal and was reported to vary significantly across the country, reflecting differences in local infrastructure. Practical facilitation (data, administrative support, training, project improvement support, and funded time) and strategic guidance from the Scottish Government was felt to be lacking. GP engagement with clusters was felt to be hindered by the significant time and workforce pressures facing primary care. These barriers were considered as collectively contributing to cluster lead 'burnout' and loss of momentum, exacerbated by inadequate opportunities for shared learning between clusters across Scotland. Such barriers preceded, but were perpetuated by, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: Apart from the COVID-19 pandemic, many of the challenges reported by stakeholders in 2021 were predicted in 2016. Accelerating progress in cluster working will require renewed investment and support applied consistently across the country.