Selling Of Assets Research Articles

Relationship between the cost of illness and quality of life among adolescents with type 1 diabetes—a mixed method study

Type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is a major problem worldwide that affects the quality of life, well-being of patients and their families. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the cost of illness and quality of life among patients with T1DM. A concurrent, parallel, mixed-method study of 113 adolescents with T1DM registered in public and private hospitals in the Mysore district was conducted by obtaining data related to the cost of illness and quality of life using a validated Diabetes-Specific Quality of Life (DSQoL) questionnaire. Thematic analysis was used to identify the themes. There was a significant association amonghealth insurance status, treatment facility type, catastrophic health expenditure (CHE), and cost of illness. The CHE proportion was32.7%. Financial sources for treatment were met primarily by borrowing money with interest (58 patients, 51.3%), followed by individualincome (40 patients, 35.3%), contributions from friends and relatives (10 patients, 8.8%), and selling of assets (5 patients, 4.4%). The monthly health expenditures of approximately 22 (19.46%) households were greater than their monthly incomes. There was a positive correlation (rvalue of 0.979) between the cost of treatment and the DSQoL score, and this correlation was statistically significant, with a p value < 0.001. The higher theDSQoL score was, the worse the quality of life and the worse the well-being of T1DM patients. Three themes were identified: the impact of financial cost on family coping, the impact of financial cost on seeking care and the emotional burden of financial cost. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between the cost of treatment and the DSQoLscore. Adolescents with T1DM who had greatertreatment costs had worseDSQoL, and significantly lower health expenses were observed among adolescentswho had health insurance. Cost of illness acts as a barrier to treatment and placesa burden on patients and their families.

Legal Aspects of Crypto Assets on Indonesian Digital Investment Development

This study aims to understand the legal aspect of digital investment in Indonesian crypto assets which is linked to the theories of legal certainty, justice, and benefit. Currently, Indonesian people are very fond of the cryptocurrency digital investment trend. The Indonesian government has provided several regulations regarding the physical crypto market mechanism. However, the rules regarding cryptocurrencies cannot guarantee that problems will not arise in the future. Moreover, cryptocurrency and its rules are still very new. There is still a lot of confusion in society about whether crypto investment is safe or not. This study is normative juridical study using a statutory and conceptual approach, which is summarized by examining statutory regulations and related legal doctrine. The results of this study explain that the Indonesian government is opening up opportunities by legalizing digital crypto investment activities to strengthen the economic sector. Crypto in Indonesia can only be used as an investment instrument, not currency. The implementation of crypto asset trading is regulated in the Commodity Futures Trading Supervisory Agency (Bappebti) Regulation Number 5 of 2019 concerning Technical Provisions for the Implementation of Physical Crypto Asset Markets. This regulation regulates the use of Good Corporate Governance principles in the context of carrying out buying and selling of crypto assets on the Crypto Futures Exchange (CFX). Bappebti's regulations were then changed with the enactment of Law Number 4 of 2023 concerning Development and Strengthening of the Financial Sector (UU P2SK) which expanded the authority and responsibility of the Financial Services Authority (OJK) to include digital financial assets, crypto assets and Financial Technological Innovation Sector. (ITSK).

Make Microfinance Great Again: Can Flexibility in Repayments Improve Business Outcomes in North India?

Classic microfinance loan contracts characterised by rigid weekly repayment schedules used by most microfinance institutions (MFIs) offer little flexibility—and little benefit—to borrowers who are poor and have seasonal income. Previous research has also shown that such contracts can negatively affect the economic well-being of poor borrowers leading to underinvestment of capital, selling of productive assets, over-indebtedness through cross-financing from informal sources, reductions in consumption and income, and in some cases, a deterioration in borrowersʼ mental health arising from stress and worry. If lenders offered more flexibility in loan repayment schedules, would it help to overcome some of these problems? To explore this, we tested whether clientsʼ business outcomes were sensitive to various repayment schedules using primary data collected from the clients of three MFIs, a cooperative society and a few local traders specialising in business lending in a village in North India. We analysed alternatives to the rigid contract model, focussing on the degree of flexibility and the length of gap between repayments in the loan schedule. This study finds that clients repaying their loans monthly invested more in their businesses and earned higher income, compared both to those who repaid weekly and to those with an irregular payment schedule. JEL Codes: G12, D12, O16, O12

Household food-security strategies and migration in Tigray, Northern Ethiopia

Food security has continued to be a global concern despite progress in the international agenda to reduce food insecurity over the last decades. A considerable number of populations are facing difficulties in dealing with hunger globally. Ethiopia is among the countries that face persistent challenges to achieving food security. However, the subjective dimension of food security has not received much attention in the food-security literature. This study, therefore, aims to assess food security in Ethiopia's Tigray region, using self-reported parameters to apply a household food-insecurity access scale (HFIAS) score, and also recording people's coping behaviors in the context of migration. We assessed how different livelihoods contribute to household food security where migration is assessed as adaptive livelihood and short term means of coping strategy during food insufficiency. Since food security is an outcome of livelihood, the paper further examines the need to integrate livelihood-based approaches to assessing food security. A qualitative research approach was used for the study, with Participatory Research Approach (PRA) methods and household interviews being employed to acquire the data. Data transcription, cleaning, coding, and restructuring were performed on the datasets while descriptive statistics, including frequency and cross-tabulation, were used in the analyses. HFIAS results show that the reversible coping strategies applied when food crisis persists include consumption of foods of the same variety or cheaper or less-preferred foods, remittance, reduction of food portion size, selling of assets, daily labor and borrowing money or grain. The livelihoods of the households perused mainly included agriculture, migration, and off-farm and non-farm activities. The results further revealed that all the households engaged in agriculture, with 67% of them owning an average of 0.5 ha of land. The major finding reveals that households with diversified livelihoods including remittance income were found to be more food-secure; therefore, we concluded that the overall livelihood has to be addressed to ascertain rural households’ food security.

Farmers’ perceptions, determinants of adoption, and impact on food security: case of climate change adaptation measures in coastal Bangladesh

ABSTRACT Coastal households in Bangladesh are exposed to a variety of extreme climate events, which represent a major threat to food security. However, there is a dearth of empirical research on the adoption and impact of climate change (CC) adaptation measures on food security. Using cross-sectional data from 750 households, this study investigates farmers’ perceptions of CC, the drivers of adaptation measures, and the impact on the household food security in coastal areas of Bangladesh. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, multivariate probit, and propensity score matching. According to the findings, most respondents believed that CC is occurring. Climate change adaptation measures were classified into six categories. Borrowing and selling of assets, as well as off-farm labour employment, were used as adaptation measures by more than 85% of the households. Crop farming-related adaptation measure was used by around 47% of the households. Among the explanatory factors, cultivable land area, farming experience, access to climate information, yearly income, and location of households had a significant role in the choice to use adaptation measures. The findings suggested that agriculture-based adaptation measures, such as a change in crop farming technique, significantly reduced food insecurity, whereas off-farm labour employment, as well as borrowing and selling of assets, increased it (as measured on the household food insecurity access scale [HFIAS]). This analysis suggests that government and non-governmental organizations operating in coastal communities may want to prioritize actions to increase understanding and access to climate information amongst farmers and other households. Policies that are location-specific and specific to farmers’ needs must also be developed to fully reap the benefits of adaptation measures.

Overview of Challenges of NFT Marketplaces and Introduction to Elixer

Abstract: The NFT marketplace is a bustling arena, where individuals can buy, sell, and exchange Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Much like a stock market, NFT marketplaces allow for the buying, selling, and trading of digital assets. In this research paper, we delve into uncharted territory by proposing a revolutionary approach to trading NFTs - the utilization of in-app coins, low gas fees, and a centralized network. We scrutinize the current NFT marketplace landscape, highlighting the most popular platforms and the dilemmas faced by users. Our research begins with a comprehensive overview of NFTs and how they differ from other fungible digital assets. We then present a novel method of trading NFTs, which utilizes in-app coins, aimed at improving the performance and usability of the marketplace. However, it is important to acknowledge that this new approach is not without its drawbacks, and we will examine them in detail. The implications of NFT marketplaces and digital ownership are far-reaching, encompassing both environmental and legal concerns. This research paper provides ideas applied in the use cases of industries towards innovative growth.

Illnesses and hardship financing in India: an evaluation of inpatient and outpatient cases, 2014-18

BackgroundProgress towards universal health coverage requires strengthening the country's health system. In developing countries, the increasing disease burden puts a lot of stress on scarce household finances. However, this burden is not the same for everyone. The economic burden varies across the disease groups and care levels. Government intervention is vital in formulating policies in addressing financial distress at the household level. In India, even when outpatient care forms a significant proportion of out-of-pocket expenditure, government schemes focus on reducing household expenditure on inpatient care alone. Thus, people resort to hardship financing practices like informal borrowing or selling of assets in the event of health shocks. In this context, the present study aims to identify the disease(s) that correlates with maximum hardship financing for outpatients and inpatients and to understand the change in hardship financing over time.MethodsWe used two waves of National Sample Survey Organisation’s data on social consumption on health- the 71st and the 75th rounds. Descriptive statistics are reported, and logistic regression is carried out to explain the adjusted impact of illness on hardship financing. Pooled logistic regression of the two rounds is estimated for inpatients and outpatients. Marginal effects are reported to study the changes in hardship financing over time.ResultsThe results suggest that cancer had the maximum likelihood of causing hardship financing in India for both inpatients (Odds ratio 2.41; 95% Confidence Interval (CI): 2.03 - 2.86 (71st round), 2.54; 95% CI: 2.21 - 2.93 (75th round)) and outpatients (Odds ratio 6.11; 95% CI: 2.95 - 12.64 (71st round), 3.07; 95% CI: 2.14 - 4.40 (75th round)). In 2018, for outpatients, the hardship financing for health care needs was higher at public health facilities, compared to private health facilities (Odds ratio 0.72; 95% CI: 0.62 - 0.83 (75th round). The marginal effects model of pooled cross-section analysis reveals that from 2014 to 2018, the hardship financing had decreased for inpatients (Odds ratio 0.747; 95% CI:0.80 - -0.70), whereas it had increased for outpatients (Odds ratio 0.0126; 95% CI: 0.01 - 0.02). Our results also show that the likelihood of resorting to hardship financing for illness among women was lesser than that of men.ConclusionGovernment intervention is quintessential to decrease the hardship financing caused by cancer. The intra-household inequalities play an important role in explaining their hardship financing strategies. We suggest the need for more financial risk protection for outpatient care to address hardship financing.

A Research on the Investment Patterns in Banking and Securities: A Study on Indian Investment Behavior

Abstract: The Investment Industry is highly growing amidst the pandemic issues. Today with developing infrastructure we have numerous options in the investing industry. Investments are broadly classified into 2 types, namely the active and passive. The active investment requires investor to change their assets in the portfolio as per the trends of market and requires knowledge, time , patience. The passive doesn’t need you to be active and is termed as buy and hold strategy of the industry. This is for ones who cannot indulge completely. Active includes high investment and the passive includes smaller investments. The risk in active increases with increase in buying and selling of assets and securities where as passive risk reduces with longer time of hold to the securities. Therefore the study solely focuses on both factors and to assess the changes in behaviour pattern of citizens of India in terms of investment. Their behaviour is observed on majority parameters and also how technology has changed the phase of industry. In the present study, the researcher has tried to understand the mindset of Indian citizens and their attitude towards investment and its changing patterns. The researcher tries to convince the readers to understand and be aware of all forms of Investment. The pandemic era has created a vacuum of lack of capital. The study has tried to incorporate maximum aspects to justify the study. The investment industry has totally become electronic controlling with improvement in technology for easy usages, reach and access.

Measuring the burden of accidental injuries in India: a cross-sectional analysis of the National Sample Survey (2017–18)

Globally, injuries are the leading cause of premature deaths and disability and account for nearly 9 per cent of total deaths worldwide. Like other countries, India also faces a very high burden of injuries, with the second most common cause of death and disability. Annually, 0.15 million people lose their lives due to accidental injuries/road traffic accidents in India, which is 11 per cent of the accident-related death worldwide. This study aims to analyse the socio-economic and demographic differentials in the magnitude of economic burden and coping strategies associated with accidental injuries in India. The study used the nationally representative cross-sectional data on the ‘Key Indicators of Social Consumption in India: Health, (2017–18)’ of the National Sample Survey Organisation (NSSO). Simple descriptive statistics have been used to measure the incidence and intensity of accidental injuries. The economic burden is estimated through out-of-pocket (OOP) health expenditure on accidental injuries and the use of different sources of finance to cope with the same. In addition, the logistic regression analysis has been used to analyse the association between socio-economic covariates and the likelihood of suffering from accidental injuries in India. The findings reveal that, unlike outpatient care, the high incidence in inpatient care reveals that hospitalisation is inevitable in most cases after accidental injuries. Among various socio-economic variables, the incidence of accidental cases is higher among individuals residing in urban areas, males, educated persons, and economically better-off sections of society. Also, the mean monthly OOP expenditure on the accidental injuries-affected population has been estimated at INR 2672 .46 (US$ 41.06) and INR 3041.64 (US$ 47.09) in inpatient and outpatient care, respectively. Almost the same sections and the individuals who received insurance spend more OOP expenditure on accidental injuries. However, OOP expenditure as a share of total consumption expenditure (TCE) is significantly high among their counterparts, such as rural inhabitants, illiterates, scheduled castes, the very poor and those who do not have any kind of health insurance coverage. In addition to savings/income, individuals depend more on the distress sources such as borrowings and selling of household assets to meet their OOP health expenditure in India. In conclusion, the high incidence of accidental injuries threatens people more than some of the other ailments in India. A strict motor vehicle act, administrative and political determination, awareness campaigns through various media platforms, diverse road lane systems and traffic norms can help reduce accidental fatalities in the country. Reducing the economic burden of accidental injuries requires increasing public spending on healthcare services as a percentage share of the country’s GDP. Furthermore, comprehensive universal health insurance coverage for all, including each component of healthcare expenditure, is the need of the hour.

English

The research examined farmers&rsquo; perception and adaptation strategies to rainfall variability in north-western Katsina. The objectives were to determine the level of rainfall variability using 1976 to 2015 rainfall data; find-out farmers&rsquo; perceptions of rainfall variability; determine its effects on farming activities, and identify adaptation strategies within the farming systems. Rainfall data were sourced and established (Rainfall Variability Index, RVI of 1.6) to support the farmers&rsquo; perception of very high variability. Some 385 questionnaires were administered to sampled farmers using Krejcie and Morgan&rsquo;s (1970) from nine selected wards. SPSS (16.0) was used to analyze the results. Findings indicated main adaptation strategies to rainfall variability employed were mixed cropping; use of early maturing crops; irrigation and Fadama farming against rain-fed agriculture; use of chemical fertilizers; reducing land-area of production; abandonment of agricultural activities or; selling of assets. It was concluded that rainfall characteristics negatively affect crop yields and the adaptation strategies have positive contributions to production. It is recommended that farmers should adapt efficient water harvesting techniques; planting of drought-resistant and early-maturing crops as well as dry-planting. Government, on the other hand, should intensify on small irrigation schemes, promote agricultural extension services, and invest in soil-water conservation. Key words: Farmers&rsquo; perceptions, adaptation strategies, rainfall variability, Northwestern Katsina.

THE IMPACT OF THE CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) PANDEMIC ON INVESTORS’ BEHAVIOUR IN THE LIGHT OF BEHAVIOURAL FINANCE

The aim of the research was to find out the opinions of stockbrokers working at the Warsaw Stock Exchange regarding the behaviour of Polish investors in the face of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The research was carried out among 51 stockbrokers representing brokerage houses with a long history of operations. It has been found that psychological conditions of people and stock market sentiments play an important role in the decision-making process, and irrational investor behaviours, including largely herd effects, are particularly evident during the pandemic. The research shows that the occurrence of the coronavirus has not reduced the activity of Polish investors. Thus, significantly growing interest in shares of companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange has been noted. The behaviour and attitude of market participants towards risk were volatile during the developing pandemic, which manifested itself in rapid buying of overvalued assets or rapid selling of assets.

MIDP: An MDP-based intelligent big data processing scheme for vehicular edge computing

The number of Vehicle Equipment (VE) connected to the Internet is increasing, and these VEs generate tasks that contain large amounts of data. Processing these tasks requires a lot of computing resources. Therefore, it is a promising issue that offloading compute-intensive tasks from resource-limited vehicles to Vehicular Edge Computing (VEC) servers, which involves big data transmission, processing and computation. In a network, multiple providers provide VEC servers. When a vehicle generates a task, our goal is to make an intelligent decision on whether and when to offload this task to VEC servers to minimize the task completion time and total big data processing time. When each vehicle passes VEC servers, the vehicle can decide to offload its task to the VEC server in the current communication range, or continue to drive until it reaches the next server's communication range. This issue can be considered as an asset selling problem. It is a challenging issue to make a smart decision for the vehicle with a location view because the vehicle is not sure when the next VEC server will be available and how much about the available computing capacity of the next VEC server. Firstly, this paper formulates the problem as a Markov Decision Process (MDP), defines and analyzes the state set, action set, reward model, and state transition probability distribution. Then it uses Asynchronous Advantage Actor-Critic (A3C) algorithm to solve this MDP problem, builds the various elements of the A3C algorithm, uses Actor (the strategy function) to generate two actions of the vehicle: offloading and moving without offloading. Thirdly, it uses Critic (the value function) to evaluate Actor's behavior, and guide Actor's actions in subsequent stages. The Actor starts from the initial state in the state space until it enters the termination state, forming a complete decision-making process. It minimizes the completion time of task offloading through learning thereby reducing the delay of big data processing. Compared to the Immediately Offload (IO) scheme and Expect Offload (EO) scheme, the MIDP scheme proposed in this paper reduces the average task offloading delay to 29.93% and 29.99%, close to the EO scheme in terms of task completion rate and up to 66.6% improvement compared to the IO scheme.

Flight-to-safety and retail investor behavior

Flight-to-safety (FTS) episodes are associated with substantial yet short-lived changes in expected returns on equities and bonds. These price changes are typically surrounded by active trading and/or risk transfer between different investors. Using aggregate net exchanges, flows from bond to equity mutual funds, in the US for a period 1984 until 2015, I empirically investigate retail investor behavior around FTS episodes. Overall, I find a reversal statistical relation between net exchanges and market excess returns. A one-standard-deviation shock to net exchanges leads to an increase of market excess return of 1.75%, of which 72% is reversed within 5 months. In particular, FTS episodes are preceded by periods where more risk averse investors, e.g. retail investors, rebalance their portfolios towards risky assets. A trading strategy that is based on signals from past net exchanges outperforms the market portfolio, significantly during FTS periods by 1.4% monthly. However, I find that the observed reversal relationship is not necessarily due to price ‘noise’ induced by uninformed trading. It is more reasonable that the sudden increase in market stress and selling of risky assets is caused by other demand/supply shocks driven by increased economic uncertainty.

Food insecurity, food insecurity determinants and coping strategies in the urban space – The experience of low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane

Food security remains central in the United Nation Development Agenda (2030) as highlighted in the Sustainable Development Goal (SDGs 2). Nonetheless, there is still limited literature on food security in African countries and the drivers of urban food insecurity remain less understood, especially in Eswatini where urban food insecurity continues to rise. This study investigated the levels of food insecurity in the low income households of Msunduza in Mbabane and the coping strategies employed by Msunduza residents to deal with food shortages. The study sought to respond to the following research questions: What are the levels of food insecurity in Msunduza? What are the determinants of food insecurity in Msunduza? How do Msunduza residents cope with food insecurity challenges? To respond to the research questions, the study adopted a quantitative approach based on a case study research design. Data was collected from 91 heads of households, selected through systematic sampling procedure. The results reveal that majority of households in Msunduza are food insecure, with a larger proportion in the mildly food insecure category. Household income, household size, employment status and gender of the household head were found to be among the key determinants of food (in)security in the area. In cases of food shortages, households in the informal settlement of Msunduza employ different coping strategies which include reducing food intake (size of meals), begging, selling of household assets and skipping of meals, among others. The paper recommended that food security interventions be considered for low income urban households, more particularly, female headed households which tend to be more vulnerable to food insecurity.

Analysis Produk Keuangan Syariah Sukuk

The development of the financial industry continues increase people are increasingly interested in using Islamic financial products. The products offered are increasingly varied to meet the needs of the community. In addition to providing benefits, Islamic financial products can contribute widely to the development of the country, in this case, the Sukuk product. Legally, Sukuk or Islamic bonds, get the law first, when compared to Islamic banks. Sukuk has law number 19 of 2008 concerning State Sharia Securities (SBSN). The Sukuk instrument continues to grow and can provide benefits for investors and benefits for the country's development. The purpose of this study is to determine the development of state Sukuk products, and analysis of Islamic financial products. The method used is qualitative, with a literature study approach. The data sources used are secondary data, data that has been presented by certain institutions and then processed, and from other sources deemed relevant to the theme. The data collection technique used is literature study from several sources, both from books, journals, and others. The analytical technique used is descriptive qualitative, describes the development of Sukuk products in 2020 to 2021, and describes the analysis of the Sukuk ijarah products. The results of this study indicate that there are developments in state Sukuk in the 2019 to 2020 period, PBS Auction Sukuk, PBS Private Placement Sukuk, SNI, SPN-S, Rite Sukuk (SR), and Savings Sukuk (ST) grew by 40.80 percent. Auction PBS Sukuk grew by 39.59, PBS Private Placement Sukuk grew by 214.39%, SR grew by 72.93%, SNI Sukuk by 26.86 percent. Meanwhile, SNI Sukuk decreased by -30.01% and ST decreased by -35.76 percent. Analysis of Islamic sharia financial products, especially with the ijarah scheme. There is a sale and purchase transaction is considered engineered, then the resale of assets from the investor to the issuer such as a sale and purchase transaction is prohibited. Buying and selling of Sukuk assets which are then leased back and have a time limit and conditions on the object of sale and purchase, making the seller not have control over the asset. Then the sale and purchase can become a sale and purchase without the obligation to resell the product that has been purchased if the owner of the goods can return the money for the goods he sells.

Comments: Shattering Crystal Balls

Begin a conversation about jobs in the oil and gas industry with people employed in the sector, or who have left their jobs voluntarily or involuntarily, and then settle in for a lengthy (maybe even heated) discussion of the pros and cons. Job availability, compensation, working conditions, opportunities for advancement, and work/life balance all come into play. But what does the employment in our industry look like after the tumultuous past 18 months? The US Department of Labor report released in early October showed the total of the monthly incremental increases since January 2021 was 7,400 in September, bringing the number of people employed in the US oil and gas industry from 133,000 to 140,400. This is nearly back to the level seen at the end of 2019 (142,500) but nowhere near the peak of October 2014 when nearly 201,000 people were employed (Table 1). The reasons for the lower levels of employment are many, among the most glaring are the industry downturns in 2016 and another in 2020 because of the global effects of the pandemic. As SPE President Kamel Ben-Naceur writes this month, the downturns brought with them a pullback in upstream spending of 26% in 2016 and 31% last year. As a result, cost cutting included the cancellation or delay of capital projects, selling of assets, and mergers and acquisitions to wring out savings wherever possible, ultimately also cutting headcounts. Also playing a significant role are technological advances and efficiency gains achieved in the things that make our industry hum. For example, automation of equipment such as rigs and the remarkable leaps in digitization in all functions, be it monitoring, modeling, or data interpretation and analysis. All disciplines have been touched by these advancements. And it cannot be ignored that retirements and attrition also contributed to the numbers, many of which were decisions made as the downturns took their toll. Fig. 1 shows the most recent breakdown of the 10 occupations accounting for the most employees in the oil and gas sector (May 2020). The numbers total 56,060, accounting for 44% of the total shown in the table for the same month (133,100). Leading the tally are petroleum engineers, accountants and auditors, and wellhead pumpers. While the numbers may have changed since May 2020, the graph serves as an indicator of the roles sustaining the industry. Providing another comparison, Fig. 2 shows the changes in industry employment globally. Even though the collection of the data may not have used the same criteria as the US Bureau of Labor, the figure shows the comparative decreases in 2021 compared with 2019. Is it realistic to think the peak could be seen again? For all industries, the dynamics of unexpected change and the need for quick adaptation are often unpredictable. No one predicted the global effects the pandemic would bring upon people, business, and trade, or how long they would linger. Many crystal balls were cloudy or shattered. The global move to cleaner energy sources to meet climate goals also affected the types of employment. As the transition progresses, it remains to be seen how roles will shift or change along with business strategies. Demand remains strong and the levels of investment low. The foreseeable short-term (possibly longer?) supply/demand imbalance also provides possibilities for roles in managing demand to ensure energy security, upskilling, and digital, among others. So, back to the question: Is it realistic to think the peak of 2014 could be seen again? Perhaps as the industry’s settling in for the long haul (if that is possible) continues, the types of jobs will change and a peak of employees in the “energy” industry will achieve or bypass the historical peak. Disclaimer: My crystal ball offers no more clarity in prognostications than others.

Household shocks and coping mechanisms in Camiguin Province, Philippines

Island’s vulnerability is anchored towards stewardship to accommodate environmental conservation and economic activity. Vulnerability poses risk and uncertainty of island households. Household as an important entity plays a role for island development. This study aimed to identify the profile of rural households, evaluate the shocks as well as coping mechanisms employed by the rural households. Stratified random sampling was undertaken to identify the 377 randomly selected samples from the municipalities of Catarman and Sagay in the province of Camiguin, Philippines. The survey was conducted from February to March 2019. Household’s data collected includes age of the respondent, sex of the respondent, household size, household income in range, educational attainment of respondent, farm size, and tenurial status. Respondents were asked to rank the shocks and risks encountered as well as the coping mechanisms. Data collected were analysed using descriptive statistics. Results revealed that post-harvest losses played a significant role in agricultural shocks while could not buy food due to food price increase as economic shocks. Selling of livestock, land and other assets got the highest rank for mechanisms to cope up with shocks. Improved storage facilities and efficient transport system can be taken into consideration to improve the quality of agricultural products to be marketed inside and outside the island to minimize post-harvest losses.

Psychological, sociocultural and economic coping strategies of mothers or female caregivers of children with a disability in Belu district, Indonesia.

Caring for children with a disability can cause a range of psychological and socioeconomic challenges for parents and caregivers, such as anxiety, depression, inability to find affordable and appropriate childcare, loss of income and expenses related to disability specific treatment. As part of a study exploring the impacts of childhood disability on mothers or female caregivers and families, and the copy strategies they used, this paper describes strategies employed by mothers or female caregivers to cope with challenges associated with childhood disability within their family in Belu district, Indonesia. A qualitative approach using one-on-one in-depth interviews was used to collect data from participants (n = 22) who were recruited using a combination of purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim and imported to NVivo 12 for analysis. A qualitative framework analysis was used to guide data analysis. The conceptual framework of coping strategies guided the conceptualisation and discussion of the findings. The findings showed that active psychological coping strategies, including cognitive or acceptance strategies, knowledge of both health condition and socio-academic related development of children with a disability, and family relationship and support, were used by the participants to cope with psychological challenges facing them. Self-reliance and religious/spiritual coping strategies were also utilised. Sociocultural strategies, such as social withdrawal or disengagement, professional support and culture-based support, were used by the participants to cope with social impacts, stigma, and discrimination associated with childhood disability. Participants also reported using financial strategies such as selling of family assets to cope with the economic challenges. The findings indicate the need for programs and interventions that address the needs of mothers and female caregivers and their families, to assist with effectively managing the significant challenges they face when caring for a child with a disability. Further studies are needed, with a larger number of participants and the inclusion of fathers or male caregivers, in order to better understand the broader coping experience of childhood disability impacts within families.

P0597 / #857: OUT-OF-POCKET COSTS AND TIME/PRODUCTIVITY LOSSES FOR PEDIATRIC SEPSIS IN UGANDA: A MIXED-METHODS STUDY

Aims & Objectives: The primary objectives were to explore care-seeking practices including key cost drivers, and to estimate out-of-pocket (OOP) costs and time/productivity losses for sepsis-related care in Uganda. Methods: In this mixed-methods study, data were collected through four qualitative focus groups (FGs) with parents of children aged <5 years who were diagnosed with sepsis (n=29), followed by a cross-sectional household survey (n=153) in the study communities. Results: Participants in the FGs revealed key cost drivers related to primary hospitalization, re-admissions, post-discharge follow-up care, medications, laboratory tests/imaging, communication, meals, and transport. The primary admission cost an average of UGX31,856[US$9; standard deviation (SD):16]. Due to medication stock outs at the public facilities, parents spent an average of UGX53,928[US$15:SD18] per hospitalization. Of thirty children who required re-admissions, 14(47%) went to a private health facility and paid an average UGX104,750[US$29:SD40] per re-admission. Additionally, 88 children (58%) sought follow-up care from lower-level public health facilities resulting in an average cost of UGX6,064[US$1.6:SD5.9] per visit. Nearly 80% participants reported using a public transport to the health facility (average cost UGX28,055 [US$ 7.6:SD:SD7.7). Another 93% of parents purchased on average of 20 meals which cost UGS66,708 [$18:SD26]. Over 60% of parents reported missed wages which cost UGX127,767[US$35:SD72]. Also, 39(26%) parents hired someone on daily wages which cost on average of UGX37,737[US$10:SD11.7]. One-third of parents reported selling of household assets to pay for the care-related expenses (average value UGX382,083 [$US104:SD146]). Conclusions: This study concluded a substantial economic burden to families for sepsis-related care in Uganda.

Multiagent systems for modeling the information game in a financial market

AbstractThis paper aims to examine the information game in an artificial financial market. The main objective of this work is to implement an agent‐based model that simulates complex stock markets. Similar existing simulation models address the buying and selling of assets but do not investigate the information exchange process. We extend the previous model by investigating the information exchange process during the transaction process. In this research, we simulate an asynchronous marketplace where interacting and heterogeneous agents exchange information and assets simultaneously. We study the effect of heterogeneous and cumulative information setup on the volume of transactions and the price dynamics during market sessions. We argue that the right interpretation of relevant information is conducive to rational decision‐making by the simulated agents. Our simulation shows that stock market results are sensitive to the type of information about agents. Our model will enhance the exchange decisions in the markets, which will lead to more efficiency.