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PurposeThis study investigates the interactions between the US daily public debt and currency power under impacts of the Covid-19 crisis.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ the multivariate generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (MGARCH) modeling to explore the interactions between daily changes in the US Debt to the Penny and the US Dollar Index. The data sets are from April 01, 1993, to May 27, 2022, in which noticeable points include the Covid-19 outbreak (January 01, 2020) and the US vaccination campaign commencement (December 14, 2020).FindingsThe authors find that the daily change in public debt positively affects the USD index return, and the past performance of currency power significantly mitigates the Debt to the Penny. Due to the Covid-19 outbreak, the impact of public debt on currency power becomes negative. This effect remains unchanged after the pandemic. These findings indicate that policy-makers could feasibly obtain both the budget stability and currency power objectives in pursuit of either public debt sustainability or power of currency. However, such policies should be considered that public debt could be a negative influencer during crisis periods.Originality/valueThe authors propose a pioneering approach to explore the relationship between leading and lagging indicators of an economy as characterized by their daily data sets. In accordance, empirical findings of this study inspire future research in relation to public debt and its connections with several economic indicators.Peer reviewThe peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/IJSE-08-2022-0581

This paper studies how return connectedness exhibits potential linkages among 17 economies over a 20-year period starting in 2001. We obtained three main results by employing the dynamic connectedness approach, which is based on vector auto-regression (VAR), to calculate generalized forecast error decompositions. First, although the financial crisis (2007–2008) experienced a high level of connectedness, the spillover index spiked during the early stages of the COVID-19 outbreak. Second, the “return shock sender” is a community of countries that includes the United States, Australia, and European countries, while Vietnam is immune to financial linkages. Third, we discovered the predictive power of U.S. economic policy uncertainty and disease fear with market volatility for the Vietnamese return connectedness. As a result, our research identifies a range of relevant policies to mitigate spillover risks in the context of financial stability.

Background: Although “social isolation” protects the life and health of Vietnamese citizens from the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, it also triggers massive reductions in the economic activities of the country. Objective: our study aimed to identify negative impacts of COVID-19 on occupations of Vietnamese people during the first national lockdown, including the quality and quantity of jobs as well as adverse problems at work due to COVID-19. Methods: A cross-sectional study using web-based platforms was conducted during the first time of social isolation in Vietnam at the beginning of April 2020. We utilized a respondent-driven sampling technique to select 1423 respondents from 63 cities and provinces over Vietnam. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was used to define sub-domains of perceived impacts of COVID-19 on occupations. Findings: Approximately two-thirds of respondents reported decreases in their income (61.6%), and 28.2% reported that their income deficit was 40% and above. The percentage of female individuals having decreased revenue due to COVID-19 was higher than that of male respondents (65.2% and 54.7%, respectively). “Worry that colleagues exposed to COVID-19 patients” and “Being alienated because employment-related to COVID-19” accounted for the highest score in each factor. Compared to healthcare workers, being self-employed/unemployed/retired were less likely to suffer from “Increased workload and conflicts due to COVID-19” and “Disclosure and discrimination related to COVID-19 work exposure.” Conclusion: Our study revealed a drastic reduction in both the quality and quantity of working, as well as the increased fear and stigmatization of exposure to COVID-19 at workplaces. Health protection and economic support are immediate targets that should be focused on when implementing policies and regulations.

BackgroundWhether the prevalence rates of common mental disorders can be compared across countries depends on the cultural validity of the diagnostic measures used.AimsTo investigate the prevalence of Western and indigenously defined mental disorders among Vietnamese living in Vietnam and in Australia, comparing the data with an Australian-born sample.MethodComparative analysis of three multistage population surveys, including samples drawn from a community living in the Mekong Delta region of Vietnam (n=3039), Vietnamese immigrants residing in New South Wales, Australia (n=1161), and an Australian-born population (n=7961). Western-defined mental disorders were assessed by the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI) 2.0 and included DSM–IV anxiety, mood and substance use disorders as well as the ICD–10 category of neurasthenia. The Vietnamese surveys also applied the indigenously based Phan Vietnamese Psychiatric Scale (PVPS). Functional impairment and service use were assessed.ResultsThe prevalence of CIDI mental disorders for Mekong Delta Vietnamese was 1.8% compared with 6.1% for Australian Vietnamese and 16.7% for Australians. Inclusion of PVPS mental disorders increased the prevalence rates to 8.8% for Mekong Delta Vietnamese and 11.7% for Australian Vietnamese. Concordance was moderate to good between the CIDI and the PVPS for Australian Vietnamese (area under the curve (AUC)=0.77) but low for Mekong Vietnamese (AUC=0.59). PVPS- and CIDI-defined mental disorders were associated with similar levels of functional impairment.ConclusionsCultural factors in the expression of mental distress may influence the prevalence rates of mental disorders reported across countries. The findings have implications for assessing mental health needs at an international level.

Background Studies suggest that immigrants have higher rates of anxiety-depression than compatriots in low-middle income countries and lower rates than populations in host high income countries. Elucidating the factors that underlie these stepwise variations in prevalence may throw new light on the pathogenesis of anxiety-depressive disorders globally. This study aimed to examine whether quantitative differences in exposure to, or the interaction between, risk factors account for these anxiety-depression prevalence differences amongst immigrant relative to source and host country populations. Methods Multistage population mental health surveys were conducted in three groups: 1) a Vietnamese-immigrant sample settled in Australia (n = 1161); 2) a Vietnamese source country sample residing in the Mekong Delta region (n = 3039); 3) an Australian-born host country sample (n = 7964). Multivariable logistic regression analyses compared risk factors between the Vietnamese-immigrant group and: 1) the Mekong Delta Vietnamese; and 2) the Australian-born group. Twelve month anxiety-depression diagnoses were the main outcome measures, derived from the Composite International Diagnostic Interview (CIDI), supplemented by an indigenously derived measure - the Phan Vietnamese Psychiatric Scale (PVPS) in both Vietnamese groups. Results The 12-month prevalence of anxiety-depression showed a stepwise increase across groups: Mekong Delta Vietnamese 4.8%; Vietnamese-immigrants 7.0%; Australian-born 10.2%. The two Vietnamese populations showed a similar risk profile with older age, exposure to potentially traumatic events (PTEs), multiple physical illnesses and substance use disorder (SUD) being associated with anxiety-depression, with the older Vietnamese-immigrants reporting greater exposure to these factors. The interaction between key risk factors differed fundamentally when comparing Vietnamese-immigrant and Australian-born samples. Age emerged as the major discriminator, with young Vietnamese-immigrants exhibiting particularly low rates of anxiety-depression. Conclusions The findings reported here suggest that core risk factors for anxiety-depression may be universal, but their patterning and interaction may differ according to country-of-origin. The study also highlights the importance of including both standard international and culturally-specific measures to index cross-cultural manifestations of common mental disorders.

Six protease fractions, namely FI, FII, FIII-1, FIII-2, FIII-3 and FIV, were isolated from Perionyx excavatus earthworm biomass by acetone precipitation, followed by serial chromatography using anion exchange, hydrophobic interaction and size exclusion chromatography. All fractions exhibited strong hydrolytic activity towards casein. The activity of six fractions towards fibrin, determined by fibrin plate assay, ranged from 44 to 831 plasmin unit.mg-1 and ranked as FIII-3 > FIII-2 > FI > FIII-1 > FIV > FII. Casein degradation was optimal at pH 7 and 11, and at 45-60°C. All fractions were considerably stable at high temperature and wide pH range. They were completely inhibited by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride (PMSF). The molecular weights (MW) and isoelectric points (pI) determined by 2D-electrophoresis were 27.5-34.5 kDa, and 4.3-5.2, respectively. Tandem mass spectrometry (MS) analysis was used to deduce the amino acid sequences of some peptides from FIII-1 and FIII-2. The sequences shared 16.9% and 13.2% similarity, respectively, with the fibrinolytic enzymes from two related earthworm species, Lumbricus rubellus and Eisenia fetida. The P. excavatus proteases were classified as serine proteases. They could perform rapid hydrolysis on both coagulated fibrous fibrin and soluble fibrinogen monomers without the presence of activators such as tPA or urokinase.