Financial Restrictions Research Articles

The Influence of Foreign Bank Entry on the Development of Regional Financial Markets

Intensive international activity of banks caused by fairly recently lifted financial restrictions in many countries has been a subject of great scientific interest ever since. The article describes various short-term consequences of foreign bank penetration in the financial markets of some of the regions of the world. The authors pay specific attention to the reasons and modes of foreign bank entry in emerging market and transition market economies as well as to the differences in the impact of such entry on the stability and efficiency of financial systems and economies of the countries of Asia, Latin America, Central and Eastern Europe and Russia. Research methods: systemic, comparative and logical analysis.

Cyclic performance assessment of damaged unreinforced masonry walls repaired with steel mesh reinforced shotcrete

Unreinforced masonry (URM) buildings are rather popular around the globe due to low construction costs, even though they can be prone to substantial damage caused by even moderate earthquakes. Numerous URM buildings that have experienced damages from past earthquakes require to be upgraded or at least return to their undamaged state in order to be able to withstand future earthquakes. In many cases, reconstruction is not the best choice because of financial and time restrictions. As such, repair/retrofit is the best choice, assuring the post-earthquake serviceability. Furthermore, seismic repair/retrofit can be a cost-efficient method to avoid reconstruction complexities and expenses. In this study, steel-mesh reinforce shotcrete (SRS) is proposed as a cheap and simply conducted yet effective repair/retrofit method. To prove the enhanced capability of the proposed system, a series of experimental tests were carried out on typical 1:1.5 scale URM walls while considering influential parameters i.e., vertical load, presence of opening in the walls, and the effect of prior damage in the URM. The walls were first tested without any intervention to improve their response; then, the damaged walls were repaired using shotcrete on one side and tested again. The repaired/retrofitted walls performed even better than the undamaged URM walls. The results show notable improvement in lateral behavior resulting in an average increase of 288% in lateral strength capacity. More importantly, the repaired walls performed as well as the corresponding retrofitted undamaged wall. To quantify the response of the walls, response modification factors were calculated based on the backbone curves derived from the hysteresis curves.

Економічний механізм природокористування: інституціональне підґрунтя та інструментально-методологічне забезпечення

It was found that the economic mechanism of nature management operates with an insufficient set of methods, instruments and levers that would make it possible to increase the complexity of economic development of natural resource potential and strengthen the effectiveness of the influence of the sphere of nature management on the pace of socioeconomic growth. It is substantiated that for the formation of a modern economic mechanism of nature management, it is necessary to create an institutional basis, which will provide for the installation in the regulatory environmental architectonics of new institutions-rules capable of ensuring more efficient involvement of natural raw materials and ecosystem services in market circulation. It is determined that the instrumental and methodological provision of the economic mechanism of nature management should cover a wide range of methods, instruments and levers, which will allow to ensure the budget-tax and financial-credit impact on the maximum number of operations related to the extraction of material substance of natural raw materials and the use of non-commodity qualities of natural complexes. Studies have shown that in the modern economic mechanism of nature management there should be present a wide range of financial-economic and managerial-economic methods. Financial and economic methods include: evaluation, accounting, programming, planning, forecasting, taxation, budget financing, investment, insurance, lending. The list of managerial-economic methods includes: licensing, expert assessment, certification, regulation, standardization, monitoring, cadastre, limiting, rationing. It is determined that the current economic mechanism of nature management should cover budget, tax, customs, credit, mortgage and collateral, stock, investment, insurance instruments, as well as instruments based on the implementation of public-private partnership agreements. It is substantiated that in the structure of the economic mechanism of nature management two types of levers be distinguished: financial and economic incentives (tax benefits, soft loans, customs privileges, price discounts/allowances, cross-subsidization. endowment) and financial and economic sanctions (fines, penalties, reimbursement, compensation, financial restrictions, budget limits)

Possibilities of receptive music therapy (RMT) for mothers raising children with developmental disorders as a self-help tool for overcoming stress during the COVID-19 pandemic

After the announcement of quarantine due to Covid-19 on March 16, 2020, parents of children with disabilities were left without help from educational and health professionals, while changes in routine, work and financial restrictions, isolation, exacerbations of children’s mental disorders increased the level of parental anxiety, tension, fear and anger. Research on music therapy conducted by the world scientists demonstrated the effectiveness of applying receptive music therapy (RMT) methods to cope with stress, when listening to music is used as a tool that can change the client’s state and help to reveal one’s experiences. The aim of the article is to reveal, theoretically and empirically, possibilities of remote application of receptive music therapy for mothers raising children with developmental disorders. Tasks: 1) to present a model of remote application of receptive music therapy for coping with stress; 2) to examine the possibilities of independent application of the developed therapeutic instrument for client’s self-help. Problem question: how can mothers use the therapeutic tool and skills acquired during the receptive music therapy on their own during the Covid-19 quarantine? The mixed data collection methodology was chosen for the research: 1) in-depth, semi-structured interview (content analysis method); 2) Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) questionnaire; 3) Musical Life Panorama (MLP) biographical interview; 4) Audio recordings of music therapy sessions – qualitative narrative analysis; 5) Music Listening Diary (MLD). Fours subjects were selected on a voluntary participatory basis by forming a homogenous group according to a similar experience of raising children with disabilities. The research revealed that remote application of RMT improved the study participants’ ability to recognize stressful situations better, feelings, and reactions arising during them, and helped them to understand their emotions better. The clients learned to apply the therapeutic instrument independently in order to relieve a stressful situation, adverse reactions, or the emerging emotions. With the formation of the habit of listening to music more often, not only did the ability to relax, not get upset, calm down was strengthened, but tension decreased and the general emotional background in the family improved. The application of RMT increased clients’ ability to cope with stress and reduced the risk of recurring stressful situations. Study participants confirmed the suitability of RMT both in remote sessions and in self-application of the instrument for self-help after the therapy during the COVID-19 quarantine.

ЧОРНИЙ ТА СІРИЙ СПИСКИ FATF ЯК ІНСТРУМЕНТИ В БОРОТЬБІ З ВІДМИВАННЯМ КОШТІВ, ОДЕРЖАНИХ ЗЛОЧИННИМ ШЛЯХОМ, ТА ФІНАНСУВАННЯМ ТЕРОРИЗМУ

The fight against money laundering and terrorist financing takes place on different levels and with the use of various tools. FATF is an important actor in this struggle. This group pays considerable attention to the assessment and identification of countries and territories that are considered to be deficient in their AML/CFT regulatory regimes. The purpose of the article is to reveal the features and consequences of using FATF black and gray lists as tools in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. To achieve the goal, the following methods were used: analysis and synthesis, logical generalization, comparison. The latest changes to the FATF lists are described and analyzed. It was determined that since the initial implementation of this tool, approaches to its use have changed significantly, and the analysis of recent changes shows its dynamism. The negative consequences of the impact on the economy of countries due to the use of the FATF black and gray lists are systematized in two groups: stimulating (which should accelerate the implementation of measures by the country's leadership to eliminate identified deficiencies in the area of AML/CFT); progressive (caused by increased control over the country's financial system and restrictions on correspondent relations between participants of the regulated banking system). The impact of the FATF lists on the economy of a number of countries is reflected. The effectiveness of using this tool is confirmed by empirical data. It has been established that the FATF lists as instruments of AML/CFT have an ambiguous relationship. On the one hand, the experience of countries that have made significant progress in complying with the FATF action plan shows that FATF lists are a powerful tool in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. On the other hand, the ambiguity of approaches in its application to all countries indicates the political nature of the process of listing and exclusion from them. This is a confirmation of the need for further study and refinement of the requirements for the formation of FATF lists.

Розвиток цифрового маркетингу у світі та в Україні

The article is aimed at studying the main problems and prospects for the development of digital marketing in the world and in Ukraine. The article defines the essence of the concept of digital marketing and analyzes the main areas of its application, such as: market segmentation, influence marketing, analysis of the behavior of Internet users, collaboration, remarketing, advertising in games. The main parameters by which digital marketing differs from online marketing are determined as follows: the format of interaction with the target audience; ways of collecting and transmitting analytical data; promotion channels and instruments. The dynamics of the main indicators of digital marketing development in the world and in Ukraine is examined. It is found that digital marketing and marketing information systems have become widespread in advanced economies, and in Ukraine these instruments are not used properly, which is associated with a low level of digitalization of society. On the basis of the carried out research, the main factors hindering the development of digital marketing in Ukraine are identified, including: the general state and dynamics of economic development; market underdevelopment; information opacity of the market; financial and organizational restrictions within companies, etc. For a comprehensive study of the phenomenon of digital marketing, the author determines its advantages (interaction with a wider audience; a significant impact on customers, which increases the likelihood of product interest; the ability for the consumer to quickly view information about services and goods; globalization; targeted advertising, etc.) and disadvantages (technical complexity of working with digital tools and lack of employees in the market with the required level of digital qualifications; the need for special skills, etc.). It is concluded that the use of digital technologies in marketing activities opens up broad prospects for enterprises and organizations to preserve regular customers and develop long-term partnerships with them.

Clinical, Radiographic, and Histopathologic Evaluation of Multiple, Non-Syndromic Hyperplastic Dental Follicles: A Unique Pediatric Case Report

Objectives: Physical and mental disabilities, the existence of financial restrictions, insufficient familial support, transportation problems, and confined access to dental services can have harmful effects on the oral health and overall quality of life of the elderly. Moreover, the incidence of the Covid-19 epidemic has created an additional concern in providing appropriate dental care. Therefore, in this article, geriatric dental education and management due to the Covid-19 pandemic in both developing and developed countries are precisely discussed and compared. Methods: A complete query was carried out on PubMed, PubMed Central, Medline, EBSCO, Google Scholar, and Embase databases, and the studies published during 2010-2022 were collected using the keywords "Geriatric Dentistry," "Covid-19," "Education," "Artificial Intelligence," and "Mobile Dentistry." Ultimately, 41 relevant articles and 2 textbooks were selected and evaluated. Results: The existing crisis can be properly managed by preparing an accurate curriculum emphasizing practical preventive care and effective communication skills, holding domestic or international conferences for dental students, organizing mandatory practical dental courses in nursing homes, and evolving new theories including artificial intelligence and mobile dentistry. Conclusion: It is essential to have a multidisciplinary approach including dentistry, medicine, education, engineering, and legislation to achieve the best treatment plan for the elderly.

Toward Nurses’ Transformative Agency in Transitional Care for Older Adults: A Change-Laboratory Intervention

Mobilization of nurses’ agency across healthcare sectors is needed to counter challenges associated with older adults’ transitions between hospital and primary care. Based on Cultural Historical Activity theory and the Change Laboratory method, we developed a learning intervention with 16 nurses. The aim was to foster the nurses’ transformative agency to improve care. Video-recording of nine learning sessions were transcribed and analyzed. Results demonstrated that shared transformative agency exhibited as an emergent phenomenon crossing sectoral boundaries as a prerequisite for change in transitional care. The nurses progressed from acting as individuals criticizing the current conditions to collectively forming a vision around a transitional care model. This was nurtured through the nurses’ negotiations which included a recognition of sharing similar challenges deriving from the healthcare organization and related financial restrictions, and conflicting healthcare and nursing ideals across healthcare sectors. The evolution of transformative agency was grounded in a professional nursing identity.

Impacts of the 2017 Brazilian National Primary Care Policy on public primary health care in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

In 2017, in a scenario of financial restrictions caused by an economic crisis in Brazil, a new primary health care policy promoted changes in the way different primary health care models were prioritized and implemented, with possible negative effects on the access to primary health care. This study aims to investigate if the 2017 Brazilian National Primary Care Policy (PNAB) negatively affected the primary care organization based on the Family Health Strategy (FHS) model and on the access to public primary care services in the city of Rio de Janeiro. The annual averages and the pre- and post-2017 averages of 15 variables were analyzed to identify possible trend breaks in 2017. A Bayesian structural time series model was used to determine the differences between actual and predicted post-2017 averages of each variable. The data were obtained via the Brazilian Health Informatics Department (DATASUS), the Department of Informatics of the Brazilian Unified National Health System. The annual average of family health teams was 1,179.9 teams, in 2017, and 788.8 teams in 2020, while the annual average of equivalent family health teams was 163.6, in 2017, and 125.4, in 2020. The actual post-2017 average of 989.3 family health teams (p = 0.004) was 16.7% lower than the predicted post-2017 average of 1,187.4 teams. In total, 62.6% and 40.5% of the population in Rio de Janeiro were covered by the FHS in 2017, and 2020, respectively. The provision of public primary care services decreased after 2017. Results show a deterioration of the FHS in Rio de Janeiro after 2017 and no increase in the traditional primary care model. Access to public primary care services reduced in the same period.

Geriatric Dental Management and Education Due to the Covid-19 Crisis; Challenges and Solutions

Objectives: Physical and mental disabilities, the existence of financial restrictions, insufficient familial support, transportation problems, and confined access to dental services can have harmful effects on the oral health and overall quality of life of the elderly. Moreover, the incidence of the Covid-19 epidemic has created an additional concern in providing appropriate dental care. Therefore, in this article, geriatric dental education and management due to the Covid-19 pandemic in both developing and developed countries are precisely discussed and compared. Methods: A complete query was carried out on PubMed, PubMed Central, Medline, EBSCO, Google Scholar, and Embase databases, and the studies published during 2010-2022 were collected using the keywords "Geriatric Dentistry," "Covid-19," "Education," "Artificial Intelligence," and "Mobile Dentistry." Ultimately, 41 relevant articles and 2 textbooks were selected and evaluated. Results: The existing crisis can be properly managed by preparing an accurate curriculum emphasizing practical preventive care and effective communication skills, holding domestic or international conferences for dental students, organizing mandatory practical dental courses in nursing homes, and evolving new theories including artificial intelligence and mobile dentistry. Conclusion: It is essential to have a multidisciplinary approach including dentistry, medicine, education, engineering, and legislation to achieve the best treatment plan for the elderly

A REASSESSMENT OF FINANCIAL LIBERALIZATION AND ECONOMIC GROWTH IN A DEVELOPING COUNTRY: EMPIRICAL EVIDENCE FROM CO-INTEGRATION ANALYSIS

The study examines the level of financial liberalization and its impact on economic growth of Pakistan by using the time series data set for the year 1980-2018 respectively with having secondary data in nature. Augmented Dickey Fuller (ADF) test employ to confirm the level of unit root to various macroeconomic variables. In order to check the association of long and short run the study used ARDL technique of the main model. The empirical results of ARDL showed that FLI has a positive effect on country economic growth in both short-run and long-run. To find the stability of econometric model, this study used impulse response function. The results confirmed that the policy makers should plan different strategies and financial reforms to maintain the financial sector environment in the economy more open to attain the desired level of growth. As financial restrictions negatively affect growth of the country, it is recommended that decreasing barriers to financial sector can increase the economic growth. Keywords: Financial liberalization, Economic Growth, FLI and PCA.

Analysis of the Working Capital Management Efficiency of the Manufacturing Companies in the Islamic Index

Unlike the traditional finance model, Islamic finance is based on its own principles, outlined by the sharia provisions regarding the management of money in Islamic law. The most important of these principles are profit and loss sharing, risk sharing, interest prohibition, the principle of basing transactions on goods, and the prohibition of investing in extreme uncertainty. In addition to these principles, Islamic law prohibits investing in interest-based financial institutions and some sectors that Islam does not approve of such as alcohol, adult films, pork, etc., and refrains from cooperating with these sectors. The Islamic financial system has been established to take into account social and moral issues as well as acting on religious principles. Islamic finance has implemented Islamic indices as a guide for those who want to invest in Sharia-compliant stocks. The main purpose of Islamic indices is to inform which company stocks are suitable in terms of sharia. Qualitative and quantitative criteria must be met in order to be included in Islamic indices. Qualitative criteria are related to the fields of activity of companies. However, quantitative criteria consist of financial constraints. One of the financial constraints is the rate of investment in working capital components in total assets. The most important reason for this is that some of the working capital components generate interest income. Working capital is the portion of companies' assets that are expected to be converted into cash within one year. Therefore, the ratio of these assets in total assets is important for companies' risk, profitability, and liquidity. In conclusion, the main research question of this study is how financial restrictions in Islamic indices affect the working capital management of companies. There are quite a few studies on Islamic indices in the literature. Most of the studies are related to the structural characteristics of these indices. Likewise, there are many publications on the financial performance of these indices. However, studies on working capital management of companies included in Islamic indices are quite limited. In these studies, the relationship between working capital and profitability has been examined. As a result of the literature review, no academic study was found on the working capital management efficiency of companies in Islamic indices. Therefore, this study is the first study done on this subject. In particular, the effect of restrictions on current assets (working capital components) on working capital management has been investigated for the first time. Calculation of working capital management efficiency in the study was determined by the index method developed by Bhattacharya (1997). This method consists of calculating three indices. These are performance, utilization, and efficiency indices. Working capital components (cash and equivalents, trade receivables, other trade receivables, inventories, prepaid expenses, and other current assets) and sales of the company are taken into account in the calculation of the three indices. In this study, Participation 30 index companies serving as an Islamic index were selected as the universe of the research. However, not all of the 30 companies that make up this index are included in the analysis. In addition, not all types of companies need working capital management. Working capital management is essential for manufacturing industry companies. Therefore, only manufacturing industry companies were selected in this study. Since there are 17 manufacturing companies in the Participation 30 index, these companies constitute the universe of the study. Financial sector companies supplying the financing of manufacturing industry activities were excluded from the scope of the study. In addition, companies in the retail sector that do not produce commodities are not included in the analysis. In the study, the six-year balance sheet and income statement data of the companies between 2013 and 2018 were used, and these data were obtained from the public disclosure platform. According to the results obtained from the study, the performance index of 65.69% of the companies, the usage index of 55.89%, and the efficiency index of 67.65% were higher than 1. In other words, these companies have been successful in managing working capital. To sum up, it is concluded that the restrictions imposed by Islamic indices on working capital components do not adversely affect the effectiveness of companies' working capital management.

Financial Constraints, Corporate Savings and Labor Income Share—Based on China’s Economic Transition

What causes are responsible for China’s declining labor income share? We investigate this phenomenon in depth from the standpoint of financial constraints. By summarizing the stylized facts of China’s economy, this paper demonstrates that as China’s economy transforms, the financial market’s imperfections lead to more efficient (non-state-owned) enterprises inclined to use corporate savings for the purpose of “crowding out” workers’ remuneration for endogenous financing, resulting in a rising savings rate and a declining share of labor income. On this foundation, we construct a more general theoretical model regarding China’s economic transformation, propose research propositions, and conduct an empirical study utilizing the Chinese Industrial Enterprises Database from 1999 to 2007. The findings show a strong negative relationship between the financial market imperfections and the labor income share, with a 1% increase in financial constraints reducing labor income share by 0.051%. The rise in savings as a result of the financial restrictions works as a mediator variable in this process. Furthermore, our prediction for the path of the labor income share suggests that China’s savings rate would decline after reaching its peak, while the labor income share will bottom out and rebound by the end of the country’s economic transition. This study uses firm-level micro-data to reveal the internal mechanism of financial constraints lowering labor income share, which is a useful supplement to the existing literature. It also provides empirical evidence and policy options for developing countries to reform their financial systems and increase labor income share in the pursuit of sustainable development.

INTERNATIONALIZATION AS A STRATEGIC DIMENSION FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS

The paper is devoted to the analyses of specific features of internationalization of academic research institutions, first of all at National Academy of Educational Sciences (NAES) of Ukraine. We conducted a brief observation of contemporary English language literature in the area of internationalization of academic institutions and evaluation of its effectiveness. We tried to analyze the situation with internationalization at academic institutions in situation of limited financial support and restrictions, connected with pandemic situation with COVID-19. Special stress was made on elaboration and implementation of successful strategy of internationalization with realistic, accurate and measurable dimensions of internationalization. Using as an example the Strategy of Internationalization of NAES of Ukraine, which was approved by the Presidium of NAES of Ukraine on March, 18, 2021, we observed the main dimensions of internationalization with the relevant indicators, which could be implemented in other academic institutions in Ukraine. Also, we compare some of these indicators with the indicators of internationalization at leading international university rankings (QS and THE).

EFFICIENCY EVALUATION OF ACTIVITY OF THE RUSSIAN PUBLIC COMPANIES IN THE CONDITIONS OF ACTIVE REGULATION OF OPERATING COSTS AND EXTERNAL EFFECTS (SHOCKS)

The author considers influences of active regulation of operating costs and negative effects (shocks) on financial policy of the Russian public companies. The Russian firms make the choice for benefit of internal financing for the purpose of increase in the corporate benefit in the conditions of external financial restrictions (sectoral sanctions). Growth of the corporate benefit leads to increment of company assets and respectively to welfare of the shareholder. The Russian public companies will review the capital structure in the conditions of growth of adjustment costs. The active policy of the Russian companies is connected with availability of sufficient size of assets which are source of mortgage providing for regulation of capital structure. Thereby, the organization solves problem of adverse selection – financing source selection taking into account its price. The companies are forced to regulate actively the capital structure in the conditions of growth of operating costs and negative shocks. Regulation of capital structure is connected with the aspiration of the company to keep part of debt for its use as financing source. Operating costs are the indicator estimating efficiency of management decisions. The Russian companies will finance the investments, first of all, by internal financing sources. Cash flows are the resource servicing the investment capital. The firms will be attracted the loan capital in the period of deficit of cash flow. The Russian companies will work in logic of precautionary motive, creating monetary stock in the conditions of shocks. The precautionary motive is the protective buffer from negative impacts from the capital markets. Low values of cash flows allow to limit the management concerning his illegal behavior – decision making in private interests.

Economy Policy of Iran Against Financial Sanctions

Sanctions are one of the foreign policy instrument of states taking its roots from the depth of the history. This instrument restricts activities utilized by one or more international actors, upon any other international actor -like certain institutions, individuals or private companies of a certain country- in order to achieve foreign policy goals or for making that actor change its behaviour. These restrictive activites may be in the form of political, economic, financial restrictions or some of them together.
 Financial sanctions are relatively younger tools than the other kinds and they are used as suplementary to economic sanctions to increase their forcefulness. But, as well as conventional methods to evade financial sanctions, there is also a transformation process about the existing global financial mechanism. In this article, effeciency of the financial sanctions will be analysed by the Iran sanctions case during the 2010’s, taking into consideration newly developed evasion methods and the changing global financial environment.

Behavioral Analysis in International Business Negotiations Based on the Bargaining Model of Game Theory

In the process of global digital trade rules negotiation, game and cooperation coexist, and all parties are actively seeking cooperative relationship while negotiating game. Against this background, this paper provides a comprehensive overview of the negotiation process of global digital trade rules and analyzes the core issues of the negotiations and their implied political game. This paper firstly compares the core issues of global digital trade rules negotiations at multilateral and regional levels and quantitatively reflects the weighting relationship between core issues and keywords by means of a dynamic thematic model. In order to judge the potential partnership of each country, this paper constructs a theoretical model of partner selection for global digital trade rules negotiation from the perspective of political game and uses the data of 62 major digital trade countries for empirical testing. Compared with traditional trade agreements, the consensus reached in digital trade negotiations is less influenced by traditional economic geography factors and more influenced by the level of digital trade restrictions and political distance. When signing digital trade terms, a country tends to choose countries with similar levels of digital trade restrictions and high political similarity as partners. Financial restrictions and trade restrictions are the most important digital trade restriction factors that countries pay attention to when negotiating, and political stability is the most important political factor that countries pay attention to when negotiating. Compared with developed countries, developing countries pay more attention to market size, cultural differences, and digital infrastructure when negotiating. The formulation of global digital trade rules may follow a reconstructive path from bilateral to regional to multilateral, promoting regional digital trade rule systems at this stage and gradually expanding the scope of negotiations to the multilateral level.

NUcore at 10: A Decade of Experience Developing a Core Facilities Management Application.

Implementing an effective software solution is an important step in managing a portfolio of core facilities. Though commercial options are available, developing or adopting a custom platform is a viable path for many institutions. At Northwestern University (NU), the cores program was reorganized beginning in 2008, and we pursued the latter path in order to retain control of the development priorities and to ensure integration with other enterprise systems. This manuscript describes our experience and results after a decade of effort. The platform, named NUcore, began enrollment in 2011, and full enrollment was achieved in 2019. Key features of NUcore include a stable and secure environment, a responsive and intuitive interface for users and core staff, seamless integration with the university financial system, rules and restrictions to ensure compliance, and both core-specific and enterprise reporting. NUcore now supports nearly half of all sponsored award dollars at NU at a cost of only 1 cent per dollar of business transacted. On average, there are over 4000 active users each year. NUcore is managed as an open-source project, available at no cost to any organization. Five academic organizations currently use the NUcore code base. For NU, NUcore has been a substantial success, and continuous development will ensure that it meets the future needs of our university and its cores.

The impact of financial incentives and restrictions on cyclical food expenditures among low-income households receiving nutrition assistance: a randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThe Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is the largest anti-hunger program in the United States. Two proposed interventions to encourage healthier food expenditures among SNAP participants have generated significant debate: financial incentives for fruits and vegetables, and restrictions on foods high in added sugar. To date, however, no study has assessed the impact of these interventions on the benefit cycle, a pattern of rapid depletion of SNAP benefits that has been linked to worsening nutrition and health outcomes over the benefit month.MethodsLow-income households not currently enrolled in SNAP (n = 249) received benefits every 4 weeks for 12 weeks on a study-specific benefit card. Households were randomized to one of four study arms: 1) incentive (30% incentive for fruits and vegetables purchased with study benefits), 2) restriction (not allowed to buy sugar-sweetened beverages, sweet baked goods, or candy using study benefits), 3) incentive plus restriction, or 4) control (no incentive or restriction). Weekly household food expenditures were evaluated using generalized estimating equations.ResultsCompared to the control group, financial incentives increased fruit and vegetable purchases, but only in the first 2 weeks after benefit disbursement. Restrictions decreased expenditures on foods high in added sugar throughout the benefit month, but the magnitude of the impact decreased as the month progressed. Notably, restrictions mitigated cyclical expenditures.ConclusionsPolicies to improve nutrition outcomes among SNAP participants should consider including targeted interventions in the second half of the month to address the benefit cycle and attendant nutrition outcomes.Trial registrationClinicalTrial.gov, NCT02643576. Retrospectively registered December 22, 2014.

Students e-Learning Access in Select Higher Learning Institutions of Less-Economically Developed South East Asian Nations: Implications for Economics of Education

Because of the growing pandemic of Corona Virus Disease-2019, Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) must utilize electronic learning (e-learning). Today's work economy, which is forever in flux because of the creation of new jobs and the continual disappearance of old ones, necessitates an on-the-job shift. Despite HEIs in less-wealthy nations like some countries of Asia being developed countries, in essence, it is much more difficult for students and teachers at these higher learning institutions to deal with the transition to e-learning due to their tight financial restrictions. This study sought to determine whether learners at the start of the COVID-19 Era were ready for e-learning and a connection between demographic variables and readiness for e-learning. A quantitative survey obtained information from 1200 students from elite higher educational institutions in South East Asia. A majority of respondents' scores lacked on the Online Learner Readiness Self-Assessment (OLRS). Inadequate OLRS findings among younger, female, and rural respondents. Factors affecting the success of students on the OLRS were age, sex, family socioeconomic status, and where they lived in the neighborhood. The inferences drawn from the study's findings would serve as an excellent benchmark to improve the delivery of e-learning processes.