#Actuarial Methods Project Help

[bestimmigrationconsultantji]

How to give Vetassess skill assessment test ?

What is VETASSESS?

VETASSESS (Vocational Education and Training Assessment Services) is a leading Australian authority responsible for conducting skills assessments for migration and employment purposes. This organization plays a vital role for individuals looking to migrate to Australia under skilled migration visa categories.

The VETASSESS assessment process involves evaluating an applicant’s educational background, employment history, and supporting documentation to determine if they meet the required skill standards for their nominated occupation. The specific criteria and procedures may vary depending on the visa subclass and the nominated role.

Understanding the VETASSESS Skills Assessment

Skilled Migration Visas: VETASSESS is designated to assess qualifications and work experience for individuals applying under Australia’s skilled migration visa programs. These visas are intended to attract qualified professionals in high-demand occupations within the Australian labor market.

Occupational Assessments: VETASSESS evaluates a broad range of occupations to verify whether applicants meet Australian standards in terms of education and work experience for their nominated field.

Employability Assurance: Through its rigorous assessments, VETASSESS helps ensure that skilled migrants have the qualifications and expertise needed to contribute meaningfully to the Australian workforce, supporting national standards for vocational and professional capabilities.

Points for Migration: A successful VETASSESS skills assessment contributes to the applicant’s overall points under the General Skilled Migration (GSM) points test. A higher score improves the chances of receiving an invitation to apply for a skilled visa.

Is Your Occupation Assessed by VETASSESS?

Below is a selection of professional and trade occupations evaluated by VETASSESS, listed alongside their ANZSCO (Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Occupations) codes:

Business & Finance:

224111 — Actuary

225111 — Advertising Specialist

132111 — Corporate Services Manager

224311 — Economist

225113 — Marketing Specialist

222211 — Financial Market Dealer

224712 — Organisation and Methods Analyst

224113 — Statistician (and many more)

Science & Agriculture:

234514 — Biotechnologist

234211 — Chemist

234411 — Geologist

252213 — Naturopath

251312 — Occupational Health and Safety Adviser

234914 — Physicist

272112 — Drug and Alcohol Counsellor

121318 — Pig Farmer

361311 — Veterinary Nurse (and others)

Arts & Education:

242111 — University Lecturer

249311 — TESOL Teacher

212312 — Director (Film, TV, Radio, Stage)

232411 — Graphic Designer

211112 — Dancer or Choreographer

249214 — Music Teacher (Private Tuition) (additional roles included)

Construction & Manufacturing:

133111 — Construction Project Manager

312111 — Architectural Draftsperson

312212 — Civil Engineering Technician

312913 — Mine Deputy

399912 — Interior Decorator (among others)

Hospitality & Retail:

141111 — Café or Restaurant Manager

149311 — Conference and Event Organizer

142111 — Retail Manager (General)

149913 — Facilities Manager

612114 — Real Estate Agent

451711 — Flight Attendant (more roles available)

Trade Occupations:

351311 — Chef

351411 — Cook

321211 — Motor Mechanic (General)

323211 — Fitter (General)

341111 — Electrician (General) (additional trades listed)

Conclusion

For those planning to migrate to Australia, undergoing the skills assessment through VETASSESS is a critical step in the visa process. Ensuring that your qualifications and work experience meet Australian standards significantly improves your chances of securing a skilled migration visa.

Get a Free Skills Assessment Today!

[mithrasconsultant]

Maximizing Business Efficiency through End of Service Benefit Planning and Actuarial Valuation

In today’s competitive business environment, employee satisfaction and retention are crucial to long-term success. One often overlooked yet significant factor contributing to this is the End of Service Benefit (EOSB)—a financial entitlement that employees receive at the conclusion of their employment. For employers, managing EOSB strategically through Actuarial Valuation not only ensures compliance but also enhances financial planning, mitigates risk, and supports workforce stability.

This blog explores the importance of End of Service Benefits, the need for actuarial valuation, and how businesses can leverage these strategies for better financial management and employee retention.

What is End of Service Benefit?

End of Service Benefit is a statutory or contractual payout provided to employees when their employment ends due to resignation, retirement, or termination. Common in countries across the Middle East and parts of Asia, EOSB is designed to reward employees for their loyalty and years of service.

The calculation typically considers:

Employee’s final salary

Length of service

Reason for termination

While it is a legal obligation, managing EOSB responsibly is also a key indicator of a company’s integrity and long-term vision.

Why EOSB Matters for Businesses

Enhances Employee Trust and Loyalty Offering a clear and fair EOSB policy builds trust among employees, increasing satisfaction and reducing attrition rates.

Boosts Employer Brand Companies with a well-structured benefit system are more attractive to potential hires, especially skilled professionals looking for long-term security.

Supports Financial Planning Proactively calculating and allocating funds for EOSB ensures businesses are not caught off guard by large, unplanned liabilities.

Ensures Legal Compliance Failure to provide EOSB in accordance with local labor laws can lead to litigation, penalties, and reputational damage.

The Role of Actuarial Valuation

Actuarial Valuation is a financial analysis method used to estimate future liabilities and risks. When applied to End of Service Benefits, it allows businesses to predict the amount of benefit payable over time, ensuring accurate provisioning and compliance with accounting standards like IAS 19.

Key Benefits of Actuarial Valuation:

Accurate Liability Estimation: By using demographic data, attrition rates, and salary projections, actuarial valuation gives a realistic estimate of EOSB obligations.

Compliance with Financial Reporting Standards: For companies following IFRS or GAAP, actuarial valuations help align EOSB reporting with accounting norms.

Risk Management: Identifies trends or shifts in workforce dynamics that could significantly affect EOSB liabilities in the future.

Improved Budgeting and Cash Flow Management: Avoids financial surprises by estimating liabilities well in advance.

How Mithras Consultants Help

Mithras Consultants specialize in providing accurate, efficient, and customized actuarial valuation services for End of Service Benefits. Their approach involves:

Comprehensive data collection and analysis

Customized reports based on company size and employee structure

Full compliance with international and local accounting standards

Strategic guidance for HR and finance teams

Whether you are a startup or a large enterprise, Mithras Consultants can help design a proactive EOSB strategy that enhances operational efficiency and aligns with business goals.

Integrating EOSB and Actuarial Valuation into Business Strategy

To get the most from your EOSB and valuation efforts, consider these strategic actions:

1. Create a Formal EOSB Policy

Define the eligibility, calculation method, and payout process. Transparency builds trust and clarity among employees.

2. Conduct Regular Actuarial Valuations

Annual or bi-annual evaluations help track changing liabilities and allow for adjustments based on employee movements or economic shifts.

3. Fund the Liability

Set aside a reserve or invest in a separate fund to cover the EOSB liability. This ensures availability of funds when needed.

4. Integrate with HR and Finance

Ensure coordination between HR (for employee data and attrition trends) and finance (for budget forecasting and reporting).

5. Review and Adapt

Regulations and workforce structures evolve. Periodically review your EOSB policy and valuation method to keep them up-to-date.

Conclusion

As organizations grow and evolve, the importance of End of Service Benefits and Actuarial Valuation becomes more apparent. These aren’t just compliance checkboxes—they are essential tools for financial health, risk management, and employee satisfaction. By partnering with experienced professionals like Mithras Consultants, businesses can create sustainable, compliant, and strategically sound EOSB frameworks.

Implementing structured EOSB policies backed by expert actuarial valuations will not only ensure regulatory compliance but also demonstrate a commitment to employee welfare—solidifying your organization’s reputation as a responsible and forward-thinking employer.

📌 Need help managing your End of Service Benefits? Explore Mithras Consultants’ solutions for End of Service Benefit and Actuarial Valuation to optimize your workforce strategy today.

[aryacollegeofengineering]

What are the options available in mathematics after B.Tech?

After completing a B.Tech in Mathematics and Computing, numerous career options are available across various industries such as finance, software, telecom, pharmaceuticals, consulting engineering, and government organizations. Some of the top career options include:

Investment Banker: Provides financial services, including investment-related news and industry knowledge. Investment bankers typically have a bachelor's or master's degree and help businesses and individuals make financial and investment decisions.

Financial Analyst: Offers financial assistance by collecting and analyzing data to help businesses and individuals make financial and investment decisions. Financial analysts need strong analytical and math skills to interpret financial data.

Software Developer: Designs, researches, and develops software programs for various companies. Software developers are responsible for developing the underlying system that controls devices or runs applications.

Data Analyst: Responsible for analyzing and interpreting data to help organizations make informed decisions. Data analysts use their math and statistical skills to identify trends and insights from large datasets.

Additionally, students can also opt for higher education in fields such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Mathematical Modeling, Economics and Finance, and Image Processing. They may also have the opportunity to travel to universities and research centers abroad for their projects. For those interested in pursuing a career in mathematics after engineering, there are options to study mathematics in India through various exams like JAM and opportunities abroad through Math GRE, General GRE, IELTS, and TOEFL. Some popular master's degree programs include:

 Master of Science (MSc) in Mathematics: Provides advanced training in pure and applied mathematics, preparing students for research or teaching careers.

Master of Science (MSc) in Statistics: Focuses on statistical theory, methods, and applications, with opportunities in data analysis, forecasting, and quality control.

Master of Science (MSc) in Actuarial Science: Evaluates financial risks and uncertainties, with applications in insurance, investment firms, and pension funds.

The average salary for a B.Tech Mathematics and Computing graduate is around Rs. 7 LPA but can vary depending on the company, experience, skills, and job role. Top recruiters in this field include Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, World Quant, and Goldman Sachs

 What Are The Top Exams For B.Tech Mathematics And Computing

The top entrance exams for admission to B.Tech Mathematics and Computing programs in India are:

 1. JEE Main: This is the most important exam for admission to NITs, IIITs, and other centrally funded technical institutions. Candidates need to secure an All India Rank between the opening and closing ranks released by JoSAA.

2. JEE Advanced: For admission to IITs, candidates must appear for JEE Advanced after clearing JEE Main. The cutoff ranks for top IITs offering B.Tech Mathematics and Computing are:

 IIT Delhi: 156 - 312

IIT Hyderabad: 601 - 925

IIT Kanpur: 444 - 910

IIT Kharagpur: 897 - 1451

IIT(BHU) Varanasi: 1271 - 1674

IIT Guwahati: 641 - 977

IIT Goa: 4437 - 5695

3. State-level entrance exams: Some states conduct their engineering entrance tests for admission to state-level institutions.

4. University-level entrance tests: Private universities like Amity University and SRM University provide direct admission based on their entrance tests or 10+2 merit.

The eligibility criteria for B.Tech Mathematics and Computing is 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as mandatory subjects. The average course fee ranges from Rs. 3.34 Lakhs to Rs. 20.17 Lakhs depending on the institute.

What Are The Job Responsibilities Of A Research And Development Role In Academia Or Research Institutions?

The job responsibilities of a research and development role in academia or research institutions typically include:

 Strategic Research Advancement: Research development professionals are responsible for advancing strategic research by staying updated on trends in higher education and research funding through publications like University Affairs, the CAUT Bulletin, and the Chronicle of Higher Education.

Facilitation of Grant Applications: Research development officers support the research enterprise by facilitating grant and award applications. This involves providing direct support to faculty researchers applying for internal or external research grants and offering pre-submission consulting, guidance, and feedback on grant applications.

Organizing Research Events: Managing and organizing faculty-wide research events such as conferences, seminars, workshops, and special lectures to promote research collaboration and dissemination of knowledge within the institution.

Engagement in Research Committees: Participating in research-relevant faculty and university-wide committees, attending administrative meetings, and liaising with equity offices to support research and recruiting efforts for successful grant applications.

Grant Writing and Management: Writing grant proposals, collaborating with grant officers and financial managers to ensure proper grant and project management processes, and providing grant-writing seminars for faculty and graduate students.

Research Program Development: Developing research programs to improve existing products, studying the potential of new products, and understanding customer expectations to enhance product development and meet market needs.

Technical Product Evaluation: Managing product testing and trials, assessing materials, process efficiency, and final product effectiveness, and reporting on technical product issues discovered during evaluation.

Project Leadership: Leading key projects with research and development teams to support business goals, establishing project goals and priorities, and collaborating with marketing and operations departments to ensure project success.

Technology Transfer: Transferring new technologies, products, and manufacturing processes into and out of the company, staying informed on research and development advancements, and ensuring the company remains up-to-date with the latest R&D developments.

These responsibilities encompass a wide range of tasks aimed at advancing research initiatives, securing funding, promoting collaboration, and ensuring the successful development and implementation of research projects within academic and research institutions. Arya College of Engineering & I.T. is the of Best B.Tech college in Jaipur Rajasthan

Source: Click Here.

[educationtech]

Top 10 Career in Mathematics in 2024 after BTech - Arya College

After completing a B.Tech in Mathematics and Computing, numerous career options are available across various industries such as finance, software, telecom, pharmaceuticals, consulting engineering, and government organizations. Some of the top career options include:

Investment Banker: Provides financial services, including investment-related news and industry knowledge. Investment bankers typically have a bachelor's or master's degree and help businesses and individuals make financial and investment decisions.

Financial Analyst: Offers financial assistance by collecting and analyzing data to help businesses and individuals make financial and investment decisions. Financial analysts need strong analytical and math skills to interpret financial data.

Software Developer: Designs, researches, and develops software programs for various companies. Software developers are responsible for developing the underlying system that controls devices or runs applications.

Data Analyst: Responsible for analyzing and interpreting data to help organizations make informed decisions. Data analysts use their math and statistical skills to identify trends and insights from large datasets.

Additionally, students can also opt for higher education in fields such as Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Mathematical Modeling, Economics and Finance, and Image Processing. They may also have the opportunity to travel to universities and research centers abroad for their projects. For those interested in pursuing a career in mathematics after engineering, there are options to study mathematics in India through various exams like JAM and opportunities abroad through Math GRE, General GRE, IELTS, and TOEFL. Some popular master's degree programs include:

Master of Science (MSc) in Mathematics: Provides advanced training in pure and applied mathematics, preparing students for research or teaching careers.

Master of Science (MSc) in Statistics: Focuses on statistical theory, methods, and applications, with opportunities in data analysis, forecasting, and quality control.

Master of Science (MSc) in Actuarial Science: Evaluates financial risks and uncertainties, with applications in insurance, investment firms, and pension funds.

The average salary for a B.Tech Mathematics and Computing graduate is around Rs. 7 LPA but can vary depending on the company, experience, skills, and job role. Top recruiters in this field include Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook, World Quant, and Goldman Sachs

What Are The Top Exams For B.Tech Mathematics And Computing

The top entrance exams for admission to B.Tech Mathematics and Computing programs in India are:

1. JEE Main: This is the most important exam for admission to NITs, IIITs, and other centrally funded technical institutions. Candidates need to secure an All India Rank between the opening and closing ranks released by JoSAA.

2. JEE Advanced: For admission to IITs, candidates must appear for JEE Advanced after clearing JEE Main. The cutoff ranks for top IITs offering B.Tech Mathematics and Computing are:

IIT Delhi: 156 - 312

IIT Hyderabad: 601 - 925

IIT Kanpur: 444 - 910

IIT Kharagpur: 897 - 1451

IIT(BHU) Varanasi: 1271 - 1674

IIT Guwahati: 641 - 977

IIT Goa: 4437 - 5695

3. State-level entrance exams: Some states conduct their engineering entrance tests for admission to state-level institutions.

4. University-level entrance tests: Private universities like Amity University and SRM University provide direct admission based on their entrance tests or 10+2 merit.

The eligibility criteria for B.Tech Mathematics and Computing is 10+2 with Physics, Chemistry, and Mathematics as mandatory subjects. The average course fee ranges from Rs. 3.34 Lakhs to Rs. 20.17 Lakhs depending on the institute.

These responsibilities encompass a wide range of tasks aimed at advancing research initiatives, securing funding, promoting collaboration, and ensuring the successful development and implementation of research projects within academic and research institutions. Arya College of Engineering & I.T. is the Best college of B.Tech in Jaipur Rajasthan.

[fincrew]

The policy reserve is a sum of money set aside by insurance companies to pay claims made by policyholders who have completed or expected to make legitimate claims for their policies. It is to pay out unpaid claims that insurers have incurred.

Understanding The Concept Of The Policy Reserve

Financial protection is the main reason why people purchase insurance coverage. The company offering this service charges customers a premium so that it can assume this risk. Insurance premiums are payments made to the insurance company by individuals or small businesses monthly or semi-annually or pay upfront before coverage begins. By agreeing with customers, an insurance company accepts all liability in the event of an adverse occurrence that damages what it agreed to insure. Taking responsibility for a legitimate claim means paying the insured. An insurance company handles claims against each policy it sells every year. If an auto insurance policyholder is involved in an accident, they can file for reimbursement to claim their vehicle’s damages with their insurance provider.

Property losses caused by fires, for example, are easy to estimate and quickly resolved. The settlement of some types of insurance policies is more complex and may happen long after the policy has expired, such as product liability. In the context of insurance policies, a policy reserve is a fund that was reported but not settled (RBNS) or incurred but not reported (IBNR). Each file that fits these descriptions will be assigned a claims reserve, reflecting the company’s estimate of the eventual settlement amount. As the amount owing on any given claim is not known until settled, the outstanding claims reserve is an actuarial estimate.

It is the claim adjuster’s responsibility to estimate the amount to be paid. One method for determining the monetary amount of the claim reserve is based on either the claim handler’s judgment or statistically by evaluating past data to establish loss projections in the future. Throughout the insurance contract, policyholders pay a portion of their premiums to make up the policy reserve.

Special Considerations

Insurers can find it difficult to accurately determine how much money needs to be set aside for policy reserves. Reviewing helps, although this does not mean that they allocate adequate funding. A significant underestimation can hurt investors by eroding the trust they place in accounting practices and dumping shares. The assessment of claims that were incurred but not reported (IBNR) is particularly challenging. For example, an employee may inhale asbestos while performing their job yet not file a claim for an illness arising from the adverse event for 20 years after the adverse event occurred.

Claims Reserve Recording

An outstanding claims reserve is a liability recorded on the balance sheet of a company. They are liabilities because they need to settle this in the future. Therefore, policyholders may be liable for these occurrences. The claims reserve is adjusted during the claims settlement process as each case develops and new information is obtained. During the claims settlement process, the insurer will incur expenses such as fees for claims adjusters, investigators, and legal assistance, as well as the expected settlement amount.

[sankhyiki]

Sankhyiki: Best IIT Jam Coaching In Delhi

Sankhyiki are best at their following offers such, 

Sankhyiki is a supreme educational institute that offers courses like Actuarial Science, IIT-JAM, CSIR-NET/JRF, GATE in (mathematics and statistics), and Data Science (R and Python). They help individuals to develop their career options in such a learning environment through face-to-face and direct-to-home (DTH) video classes for each course. 

For exam preparation is by providing them plenty of time for practice and revision.udents just in case of missed classes and on-demand doubt sessions to make sure each module is completed before the exam. Sankhyiki prepares students for exams and helps them for every circumstance so the student can keep their studies on track. The convenience of studying with them is the best as they schedule classrooms in a suitable way for all students. 

 You can find a long list of students that have successfully qualified exams including, all India subject toppers. Students stay worry-free with sankhyiki as they are always ready to help students in study technique, profession, and time management queries. They follow a supreme approach of leveraging content, technology, marketing, and services to offer quality education in partnership with corporate & academics for a rigorous & industry program. 

 They aimed to provide quality education to offer better future and career goals to every individual. They work with a core principle of conducting themselves with honesty and ethics to prepare for every opportunity. They are committed to providing quality content, assessment tools, and educational services in all possible media. 

 Classroom training, in which they teach students by face-to-face tutorials at several locations across cities. 

DTH classes make studying convenient for students in which they can take tutorials at their home comfort through HD quality videos; no need to have an internet connection. 

Corporate training offers corporate training programs. 

Courses sankhyiki offers:

Actuarial Science

IIT JAM(Maths & Statistics)

NET/JRF & GATE Maths 

Data Science

BIMANKIK

DTH Classes

Actuarial Science:

Actuarial science involves the study of evaluating risks and maintaining the economic stability of insurance or financial corporations. Students of Actuarial science learn using Mathematics, Statistics, and Probability principles for anticipating future financial events and measures to be taken accordingly. Actuarial Science aims to have the knowledge to perform an actuary job. They analyze past data and use it in determining how much money should be set aside to cover financial losses that can occur in the future. 

The prime challenge that every actuary faces is when they didn’t get any past data or the data is not relevant to use in a particular situation. 

The Exam of Actuarial Science is no doubt difficult and requires intense preparation to pass the exam. Many students take 7-10 years to pass all the exams; the exam is of 3-5 hours and involves MCQ and written answers both. An actuary can work as an actuary assistant or junior analyst in its initial stage of career. 

 IIT JAM(Maths & Statistics):

Joint admission test is an M.Sc. (JAM) conducted by the Indian Institute of Technology (IITs) for further admission in Ph.D. degree programs at IISc, Bangalore, and M.Sc(two years), Joint M.Sc.- Ph.D. dual degree, Joint M.Sc- M.tech, M.Sc- M.S.(research)/Ph.D dual degree and other Post Bachelor’s degree programs at IITs. 

The exam is conducted to consolidate Science as a career option for better future opportunities worldwide. The academic environment, interdisciplinary interaction, and research infrastructure at Sankhyiki motivate the students to pursue their careers not only in research and development but in interdisciplinary areas of science and technology too. The weightage of mathematics and statistics in IIT JAM is 40% and 60%. 

 NET/JRF & GATE Maths:

NET/JRF exam is a reputed exam for higher studies and teaching, Stands for the National Eligibility Test for Lectureship in Indian Universities and Colleges. A test score is compulsory for all aspirants who are willing to pursue a career as an assistant professor in universities and colleges across India. JRF (Junior Research fellow) is a way of getting admission to a Ph.D. if you want to go for research. 

Exams conducted by CSIR will get the NET-JRF after you can apply for admission to Ph.D. programs. 

  Data science:

Data science involves different tools, algorithms, and machine learning with the motive to discover hidden patterns from the available raw data. It is a field that gives insights from structured and unstructured data by using various scientific methods and algorithms to help in generating insights, making predictions, and devising data-driven solutions. Data science uses various large amounts of data to get relevant insights through statistics and computation for decision-making. Data used in data science is generally extracted from different sources i.e. E-commerce sites, social media, survey reports, etc. access to the data is possible only because of advanced technology. 

The extracted data helps in making predictions and generating profits for the corporation. Data Scientist is considered as one of the demanded career fields as per the survey. 

  BIMANKIK

A course of Excel, VBA, and R for Actuarial aspirants; at Sankhyiki students get training for the same. As per the market demand, they have analyzed that companies need people who have a great knowledge of Excel as many actuarial/ insurance corporations work on excel.

They have created the Curriculum in a way that it caters to the requirements of the actuarial aspirants and therefore the learning accompanied through CAPSTONE PROJECTS which make a student ready for the big day. 

At Sankhyiki, learning includes loan calculators, Data Visualization, Exploratory Data Analysis, Understanding Statistics, and Application in the field of insurance with Actuarial case studies i.e., Run of Triangles, Computing cash flows, Running Regressions, and making predictions. 

[bountyofbeads]

Coronavirus Live Updates: China Says 1,700 Medical Workers Have Been Infected https://nyti.ms/2P8fTVJ

CORONAVIRUS LIVE UPDATES: China Says 1,700 Medical Workers Have Been Infected .... Six of the workers have died, the government said on Friday. It was the first time that officials had disclosed the number.

RIGHT NOW: China reports 5,090 new coronavirus cases and 121 new deaths in the past 24 hours.

READ UPDATES IN CHINESE: 新冠病毒疫情最新消息汇总

HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

Release of information on infected medical workers underscores risks.

For more than a month, medical workers in Hubei, the province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, have been working nearly nonstop even as they struggled with a shortage of personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns and safety goggles.

For the first time on Friday, China disclosed figures that drove home the risks faced by those on the front line: 1,716 medical workers have contracted the virus and six of them have died. Of those people, 1,502 were in Hubei Province, with 1,102 of them in Wuhan, the provincial capital and the center of the outbreak.

The announcement was the first official confirmation about the number of infected medical workers, and is likely to ratchet up fears about the spread of the virus.

“I think it’s quite concerning,” said Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong. “Health care workers face the challenge of caring for a substantial number of patients in Wuhan. It’s worrying to discover that a number of them have been infected.”

[A MEDICAL WORKER DIES: The death of the doctor whose warnings about the coronavirus were silenced has become a potent symbol of Beijing’s failures. SEE TIMELINE]

Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, said the numbers of infected workers represented 3.8 percent of China’s overall confirmed infections as of Feb. 11.

He added that further research was needed to ascertain whether the infections spread throughout the hospital or within the community.

Medical workers, struggling to both treat patients and keep themselves safe, have resorted to begging from friends, putting out frequent calls for donations, and using tape to patch up torn masks and gowns.

Many doctors and nurses there say they eat just one meal a day because going to the restroom means removing and discarding safety gowns that they would not be able to replace.

During the SARS outbreak of 2002-3, 961 medical workers were infected, representing 18 percent of all infections, according to government data. About 1 percent of the medical workers infected with SARS died, a medical expert, Xu Dezhong, told Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

BLOOD PLASMA FROM SURVIVORS COULD HELP CREATE A TREATMENT.

A senior health official in Wuhan, China, the center of the outbreak, has called on residents who have recovered from the coronavirus to donate blood plasma, believing their naturally produced antibodies could be used to treat patients who are still sick.

Dr. Zhang Dingyu, the director of the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, made his appeal on Thursday after Chinese researchers said they believed that such antibody treatments could help people recover from the virus.

The search for a drug capable of treating or curing the virus has frustrated researchers, as rates of infection and deaths continue to mount.

The government is currently prescribing a combination of antiviral drugs and traditional Chinese medicine. But on Thursday, China National Biotec Group, a state-owned company under the Ministry of Health, said it had found that administering a round of human antibodies from the survivors to more than 10 critically ill patients caused inflammation levels to drop significantly after 12 to 24 hours of treatment.

The company called the use of plasma “the most effective method, which can significantly reduce the mortality of critically ill patients.”

Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong, said the use of antibodies to treat the coronavirus was “a really good idea,” noting that it had been used before in influenza pandemics. But he cautioned that it needed to be proven in a controlled trial.

“It’s basically transferring immunity from a patient who has recovered to a patient still fighting the infection, and then helping them to recover,” he said.

CHINA RECORDS MORE THAN 5,000 NEW cases in 24 HOURS.

Numbers continued to climb after the government changed the criteria by which it tracks confirmed cases. China on Friday reported 5,090 new coronavirus cases and 121 new deaths in the previous 24 hours.

The authorities said a total of 63,851 people had been infected by the coronavirus and at least 1,380 had been killed by the disease. Most of the cases occurred in Hubei Province, the center of the outbreak, which recorded 4,823 new cases and 116 deaths over the same period.

The tally in Hubei jumped most drastically on Thursday after the authorities changed the diagnostic criteria for counting new cases. The government now takes into account cases diagnosed in clinical settings, including the use of CT scans, and not just those confirmed with specialized testing kits.

[ MEASURING AN OUTBREAK: Here’s an explanation for why the case numbers suddenly changed. SEE BELOW ]

A CORONAVIRUS CLINIC IN HONG KONG IS ATTACKED.

A Hong Kong clinic designated to treat suspected coronavirus cases suffered a second arson attack early Friday, officials said.

Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority said it “seriously condemned” the attack, against an outpatient clinic in the New Territories district of Tsuen Wan. A police spokeswoman said it had occurred overnight and left a door charred. The first attack, on Saturday afternoon, damaged an air-conditioner. No one was wounded in either attack.

The clinic is about four miles from an apartment building where dozens of residents were evacuated this week after two residents on different floors were found to be infected, raising fresh fears about how the virus spreads. (Officials said an unsealed pipe might be to blame.)

There were 56 confirmed cases in the city as of Friday. Fearing a wider outbreak, residents have been staging small-scale protests at several clinics assigned to treat people with mild symptoms of the virus. Late last month, the government shelved a plan to turn an unoccupied housing project into a quarantine facility after protesters set a fire in the lobby.

As public anger and anxiety mount, the Beijing-backed government has been accused by many residents of not doing enough to contain the spread of the virus, including the refusal to quickly order a complete shutdown of the border with mainland China. The authorities have gradually restricted arrivals from mainland China over the past few weeks.

Carrie Lam, Hong Kong’s chief executive, said on Friday that her administration would do its best to repatriate more than 2,000 of the city’s residents stranded in Hubei province and aboard the Diamond Princess, the cruise ship quarantined off Japan’s coast.

The Hong Kong government has received more than 1,000 requests for help from over 300 cities across Hubei, including from Wuhan, Mrs. Lam said. Ten people from Hong Kong in the region were confirmed to have been infected.

Some 330 Hong Kong residents remain stuck on the cruise ship in Japan, and 11 of them were infected, officials said. The Hong Kong authorities are pressing their Japanese counterparts to consider allowing its citizens to be quarantined onshore and to get tested for the virus as soon as possible, said John Lee, the city’s security minister, on Friday.

As the mind assesses risk, the coronavirus ‘hits all the hot buttons.’

The coronavirus has killed more than 1,300 and infected tens of thousands in China. Those are alarming statistics, but a much more common illness, influenza, kills about 400,000 every year, including 34,200 Americans last flu season and 61,099 the year before.

There remains deep uncertainty about the new coronavirus’s mortality rate, with the high-end estimate that it is up to 20 times that of the flu, but some estimates go as low as 0.16 percent for those affected outside of China’s overwhelmed Hubei Province. That’s about on par with the flu.

While the metrics of public health might put the flu alongside or even ahead of the new coronavirus for sheer deadliness, the mind has its own ways of measuring danger.

Experts used to believe that people gauged risk like actuaries, parsing out cost-benefit analyses every time a merging car came too close or local crime rates spiked. But a wave of psychological experiments in the 1980s upended this thinking.

Researchers instead found that people use a set of mental shortcuts for measuring danger. And they tend to do it unconsciously, meaning that instinct can play a large role.

The coronavirus, which has created a wave of fear, may be a case in point.

“This hits all the hot buttons that lead to heightened risk perception,” said Paul Slovic, a University of Oregon psychologist who helped pioneer modern risk psychology.

[ HOW THE MIND JUDGES DANGER: The flu might kill more people, but that’s not how we assess risk. SEE BELOW]

CITING FRUSTRATION, QUARANTINED RUSSIANS ESCAPE HOSPITALS.

At least five people fled coronavirus quarantine across Russia, local news media reported on Friday, citing frustration, erratic and inconsistent government policies, and bad conditions in the hospitals where they were held.

Alla Ilyina, 32, a woman from St. Petersburg, had enough patience to stay for only one day at a hospital in Russia’s second-largest city. She detailed how she had broken a lock in her room and sneaked away while doctors were distracted by another patient.

“I am a reasonable person, if someone told me that there was a suspicion, if doctors didn’t tell me that I was healthy, if I had not done three tests in separate hospitals, I would sit there,” Ms. Ilyina told reporters in an interview, broadcast on Russian television. “I don’t want to infect my relatives or threaten anybody, but I just don’t understand why an absolutely healthy person should be held somewhere.”

Three more people escaped quarantine in the same hospital, Fontanka.ru  reported on Friday.

In the city of Samara, Guzel Neder, 34, escaped through the window of another hospital. After staying in quarantine for four days, Mrs. Neder called a testing center and a specialist said if she hadn’t received a positive result within two hours, “then you should be fine.”

“My son already felt well, he didn’t have any fever symptoms, but doctors deliberately made us stay for longer, so that we wouldn’t leave, to ‘fulfill the order’ of isolating people, coming from China,” she said. She described conditions at the hospital, where doctors didn’t wear any protective gear.

Only two confirmed cases of coronavirus have been reported in Russia so far. Hundreds of Russian and Chinese nationals have been quarantined across the country for the 14-day period, following recommendations from the World Health Organization.

Valentine’s Day in the time of coronavirus leaves much to be desired.

During the coronavirus outbreak, cinemas and restaurants across China have shut their doors, parks and streets are empty, and public events have been postponed.

For couples, that meant there were few places to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Friday. But some came up with creative ways to declare their love.

In a nod to the scarcity of fresh vegetables, people ordered nicely wrapped bouquets of broccoli, cauliflowers and snacks, according to data from the delivery service Meituan. Others sent face masks, goggles and wipes, the data showed.

Online meal orders also reflected the crisis at hand. Last Valentine’s Day, the most popular orders were steak sets for two, hot pot and Cantonese food. This year, the top choices included simpler options — pizza and basic Chinese meals.

Hotels, of course, have seen bookings plummet. Zhang Lu, vice president of Myriad, a chain of 40 “love hotels” across the country, said most of them were closed on government orders. Some were being used as quarantine sites.

“I really hope this is going to end soon,” Ms. Zhang said.

Many people were stranded far from their significant others because of travel restrictions. On the social platform Weibo, people shared makeup tips for online video chats and recipes for homemade meals, under the trending topic “it’s a long-distance relationship for everyone this year.”

For florists who count on Valentine’s Day business, the situation was brutal. In Dounan Flower Market in the southwestern province of Yunnan, sellers had to dump millions of roses, according to a report by Jiemian, a Chinese news site. The price of roses had collapsed while the cost of delivery soared.

“Right now many people are worried about whether they can buy enough food,” one seller said. “They are not in the mood for flowers.”

SINGAPORE PRIME MINISTER SAYS THE CORONAVIRUS COULD LEAD TO A RECESSION.

Lee Hsien Loong, the prime minister of Singapore, said on Friday that it was possible the city-state could fall into recession as the coronavirus spreads.

“I think the impact will be significant at least in the next couple of quarters,” said Mr. Lee, in a video posted on his Facebook page.

At Singapore Changi Airport, the number of flights has fallen by a third and travelers who have recently visited mainland China are not allowed to disembark.

“It’s a very intense outbreak,” said Mr. Lee, who visited the airport to show his support for the workers there. “It is already much more than SARS, and economies of the region are much more interlinked together.”

Singapore, whose economy is particularly sensitive to global fluctuations, has already seen a slowdown in growth. The economy is estimated to have expanded by 0.7 percent in 2019, compared to 3.1 percent the year before, according to government statistics.

“China particularly is a much bigger factor in the region and therefore I can’t say whether we’ll have a recession or not,” Mr. Lee added. “It’s possible, but definitely our economy will take a hit.”

THE U.S. SAYS IT WILL APPROVE AID TO NORTH KOREA TO FIGHT THE CORONAVIRUS THERE.

The United States said on Friday that it would approve humanitarian assistance to North Korea to help international aid agencies fight the coronavirus there, amid fears that the impoverished country may be hiding an outbreak.

North Korea has not reported any cases of the new coronavirus. But in the past week, some South Korean news reports, citing unnamed sources within the secretive North, said there had been deaths in the country that were suspected to be related to the virus. The reports could not be confirmed.

North Korea shares a 930-mile border with China, where the coronavirus emerged, and has taken aggressive steps to prevent its spread, including suspending all flights and trains to and from China.

North Korea’s public health system remains dysfunctional, and the travel restrictions have made it more difficult for the North to buy or smuggle medicine, goods and other supplies from China. Relief organizations have complained that American-led U.N. sanctions have blocked them from quickly approving aid.

This week, the Red Cross called for a sanctions exemption allowing it to transfer money to its office in North Korea, describing it as “a lifesaving intervention.” It cited an urgent need for personal protective gear and testing kits to prepare for an outbreak in North Korea.

The United States has similarly expressed alarm, saying it would not stand in the way of such aid.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the North Korean people to a coronavirus outbreak,” Morgan Ortagus, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement on Thursday.

She added that Washington encourages American and international aid groups to “counter and contain the spread of coronavirus” in the North.

[ THE RESPONSE IN Pyongyang: North Korea has sealed its border with China, but there are fears that the impoverished country may be hiding an outbreak. SEE BELOW]

Wuhan doctor issues a rare public rebuke of the government’s handling of the crisis.

The Chinese government failed to sound a public warning in the early days of the outbreak even though scientists were aware of human-to-human transmission, a doctor from Wuhan wrote in a paper published by the Lancet this week.

Dr. Zhang Hong of Zhongnan Hospital wrote that the local authorities allowed more than 5 million people to leave Wuhan to travel for the Lunar New Year holiday despite warnings from Chinese scientists.

“Early detection and early reporting were delayed,” Dr. Zhang wrote.

The paper was a rare instance of a medical professional criticizing the government, especially at a time when doctors and nurses have come under pressure not to speak out. Dr. Zhang also wrote that doctors did not understand the severity and contagiousness of the new coronavirus early on, and that medical workers failed to fully protect themselves as a result.

He wrote that the supplies of protective equipment in hospitals are severely insufficient, and were worsened by the implementation of traffic controls after the government sealed off cities across China. He called on the government to “pay attention to the front-line doctors and provide adequate protective equipment to reduce their risk of infection.”

Overstretched hospitals were forced to turn patients away as the virus spread, “inevitably increasing morbidity and mortality,” he added.

The authorities in Wuhan have admitted that public announcements about the virus were delayed. In late January, when the outbreak was spreading throughout Wuhan, the city’s mayor, Zhou Xianwang, acknowledged that the disclosures had not been timely, but said his hands were tied because he could only publicize it “in accordance with the law.”

_______

Reporting and research was contributed by Sui-Lee Wee, Choe Sang-Hun, Richard C. Paddock, Elaine Yu, Motoko Rich, Lin Qiqing, Karen Zraick, Amie Tsang, Amber Wang, Zoe Mou, Albee Zhang, Yiwei Wang, and Claire Fu.

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How the Coronavirus Numbers Changed So Sharply

A new way of counting used by the Chinese authorities should catch more cases and get people into treatment earlier. But the scale of the epidemic will remain unclear for some time.

By Richard PÉREZ-PEÑA | Published Feb. 13, 2020 Updated Feb. 14, 2020, 9:46 a.m. ET | New York Times | Posted February 14, 2020 |

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The number of cases and deaths in the coronavirus epidemic in China jumped sharply on Thursday as the authorities there changed how they keep track of the disease, and not, primarily, because of any change in the shape of the outbreak.

There is still a lot of uncertainty about the true numbers — as with any new disease — and that will continue for the foreseeable future. Underscoring that point, hours after China revised its figures, the World Health Organization put out a lower set, saying that for now, it would not change the way it counts.

But experts say there were good reasons for changing the way patients with the disease, newly named Covid-19, were counted, and the new approach should catch many cases that had been missed before. That will allow more patients to get treatment and be quarantined faster.

Here is a look at what we know — and what we don’t — about the new coronavirus numbers and what they say about the scope of the crisis.

HOW DID THE NUMBERS CHANGE?

For several days, the Chinese government had reported figures that suggested the spread of the disease was slowing, but that changed abruptly on Thursday.

Officials in Hubei, the Chinese province that is the epicenter of the outbreak, said there had been more than 48,000 cases there, a 44 percent jump from the day before. They also reported 1,310 deaths, a 23 percent increase. The trend continued on Friday, though not as markedly, when Hubei officials disclosed another 4,800 cases and 116 more deaths.

Previously, cases were counted only if patients tested positive for the new virus. Now, the figures appear to include anyone who has a CT scan of the lungs showing a telltale pattern of pneumonia.

In the short run, the new accounting may deepen confusion about the true size of the epidemic. It also complicates efforts to track the growth of the disease over the last several weeks.

“We need to be careful in interpreting these numbers,” Dr. Michael Ryan, the World Health Organization’s emergency responses chief, said on Thursday. The larger number of cases, he said, “does not represent a significant change in the trajectory of the outbreak.”

The W.H.O. then released its own figures, leaving out the diagnoses made without a positive test for the virus — and indicating that it did not fully understand the change China had made.

“For consistency, we report here only the number of laboratory-confirmed cases,” the organization said in a situation report. “W.H.O. has formally requested additional information on the clinically diagnosed cases, in particular when these have occurred in the course of the outbreak and whether suspect cases were reclassified as clinically diagnosed cases.”

The W.H.O. reported almost 47,000 confirmed cases worldwide, fewer than 1 percent outside mainland China. The Chinese figures put the total at more than 61,000 cases.

Release of information on infected medical workers underscores risks.

For more than a month, medical workers in Hubei, the province at the center of the coronavirus outbreak, have been working nearly nonstop even as they struggled with a shortage of personal protective equipment such as masks, gowns and safety goggles.

For the first time on Friday, China disclosed figures that drove home the risks faced by those on the front line: 1,716 medical workers have contracted the virus and six of them have died. Of those people, 1,502 were in Hubei Province, with 1,102 of them in Wuhan, the provincial capital and the center of the outbreak.

The announcement was the first official confirmation about the number of infected medical workers, and is likely to ratchet up fears about the spread of the virus.

“I think it’s quite concerning,” said Benjamin Cowling, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Hong Kong. “Health care workers face the challenge of caring for a substantial number of patients in Wuhan. It’s worrying to discover that a number of them have been infected.”

[A MEDICAL WORKER Dies: The death of the doctor whose warnings about the coronavirus were silenced has become a potent symbol of Beijing’s failures. SEE TIMELINE]

Zeng Yixin, deputy director of the National Health Commission, said the numbers of infected workers represented 3.8 percent of China’s overall confirmed infections as of Feb. 11.

He added that further research was needed to ascertain whether the infections spread throughout the hospital or within the community.

Medical workers, struggling to both treat patients and keep themselves safe, have resorted to begging from friends, putting out frequent calls for donations, and using tape to patch up torn masks and gowns.

Many doctors and nurses there say they eat just one meal a day because going to the restroom means removing and discarding safety gowns that they would not be able to replace.

During the SARS outbreak of 2002-3, 961 medical workers were infected, representing 18 percent of all infections, according to government data. About 1 percent of the medical workers infected with SARS died, a medical expert, Xu Dezhong, told Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

WHAT WAS WRONG WITH THE OLD WAY OF COUNTING?

In a word, plenty.

Kits to test for the virus are not being produced quickly enough to keep up with demand, and they take days to produce results. Using CT scans means more patients can be checked, with the results available almost immediately.

And the tests for the virus have not been very reliable. Many sick people have tested negative, only to test positive later. That appears to be, at least in part, because standard testing involves swabbing nasal passages and the throat, while the virus may be lodged in the lungs.

In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shipped hundreds of testing kits to state laboratories — and days later revealed that some of them were faulty. It is not clear whether China has experienced similar problems in making the tests.

No.

There are several ways cases might still be missed. Some people get sick, and die or recover, without ever seeing a doctor. CT scans allow doctors to identify people whose infections have caused pneumonia, which can be fatal, but the scans will not catch people with milder symptoms.

There is another source of confusion about the numbers. It was reported this week that China is no longer counting as confirmed cases people who test positive for the virus yet show no symptoms. But some experts said they were not sure what had actually changed.

The Chinese health authorities say they can distinguish, on a CT scan, pneumonia brought on by the coronavirus from some other serious lung diseases. But it is not clear that they can tell it from pneumonia caused by other diseases, like seasonal influenza; the accuracy may vary with the skill of the doctor reading the scan.

WILL WE EVENTUALLY GET MORE ACCURATE FIGURES?

Quite possibly.

Right now, labs are testing for the virus itself, and viruses can be hard to detect. What is often easier to identify is the immune system's own response.

When a patient contracts an infection, the body produces antibodies to it — proteins in the blood that recognize a particular pathogen and trigger an immune system attack on it. Labs around the world are working to develop a test for antibodies to the new coronavirus, but none is available yet.

It could be tricky.

There are several strains of coronavirus in humans, including ones that cause common colds, SARS and MERS. Antibodies to the new virus may be hard to distinguish from the antibodies people already have to other coronaviruses.

In any case, it can take days or weeks before a patient tests positive for antibodies to a new infection, so the test may not be useful in diagnosing current illnesses.

So while an effective antibody test may produce a fairly comprehensive picture of an outbreak, that picture will lag a bit behind the reality.

*********

U.S. SUPPORTS AID TO NORTH KOREA FOR FIGHTING THE CORONAVIRUS The North has reported no cases of the virus, but relief groups say it is woefully unprepared to deal with an outbreak.

By Choe Sang-Hun | Published Feb. 14, 2020, 2:43 a.m. ET | New York Times | Posted February 14, 2020 |

SEOUL, South Korea — The United States said it would approve humanitarian assistance to North Korea to help international aid agencies fight the coronavirus there, amid fears that the impoverished country may be hiding an outbreak.

North Korea has not reported any cases of the new coronavirus. But in the past week, some South Korean news reports, citing unnamed sources within the secretive North, said there had been deaths that were suspected to be related to the virus. The reports could not be confirmed.

North Korea shares a 930-mile border with China, where the coronavirus emerged. It has since spread to numerous countries; more than 1,300 deaths have been reported, almost all of them in China.

North Korea has taken aggressive steps to keep the virus out, including suspending all flights and trains to and from China. But the border has long been porous for smugglers, who ferry goods across the shallow river frontier that separates the two countries.

North Korea’s public health system is dysfunctional, and the travel restrictions have made it harder for the North to buy or smuggle medicine, goods or other supplies from China. Relief organizations have complained that American-led international sanctions against the North, imposed because of its nuclear weapons program, have prevented them from providing aid quickly.

This week, the Red Cross called for a sanctions exemption that would let it transfer money to its office in North Korea, describing it as “a lifesaving intervention.” It cited an urgent need for personal protective gear and testing kits to prepare for a possible outbreak in the North.

The United States has also expressed alarm, and it said on Thursday that it would not stand in the way of such aid.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the North Korean people to a coronavirus outbreak,” Morgan Ortagus, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement. She added that Washington encouraged American and international aid groups to “counter and contain the spread of coronavirus” in the North.

“The United States is ready and prepared to expeditiously facilitate the approval of assistance from these organizations,” she said.

So far, North Korea has said nothing about how many people it may have quarantined or tested for the virus. But it is clearly taking the threat seriously, having suspended international tourism and, more recently, extended the quarantine period for people with coronavirus symptoms, from 14 days to 30 days.

Its state media has carried photos of mask-wearing officials holding emergency meetings at disease-control centers and disinfecting ports and train stations. The North also asked South Korean officials to vacate a joint liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong as a precaution against the virus.

​Earlier this month, state media said health officials had stepped up inspections on “all routes leading to the capital city,” Pyongyang, which is home to North Korea’s elite, including the top leader, Kim Jong-un. It said the authorities were requiring all people passing through Pyongyang’s main train station to wear masks.

The United States has also expressed alarm, and it said on Thursday that it would not stand in the way of such aid.

“The United States is deeply concerned about the vulnerability of the North Korean people to a coronavirus outbreak,” Morgan Ortagus, a State Department spokeswoman, said in a statement. She added that Washington encouraged American and international aid groups to “counter and contain the spread of coronavirus” in the North.

“The United States is ready and prepared to expeditiously facilitate the approval of assistance from these organizations,” she said.

So far, North Korea has said nothing about how many people it may have quarantined or tested for the virus. But it is clearly taking the threat seriously, having suspended international tourism and, more recently, extended the quarantine period for people with coronavirus symptoms, from 14 days to 30 days.

Its state media has carried photos of mask-wearing officials holding emergency meetings at disease-control centers and disinfecting ports and train stations. The North also asked South Korean officials to vacate a joint liaison office in the North Korean city of Kaesong as a precaution against the virus.

​Earlier this month, state media said health officials had stepped up inspections on “all routes leading to the capital city,” Pyongyang, which is home to North Korea’s elite, including the top leader, Kim Jong-un. It said the authorities were requiring all people passing through Pyongyang’s main train station to wear masks.

Amid the many signs that North Korea fears an outbreak, its state media has reported no public appearances by Mr. Kim since he watched a concert​ in Pyongyang a few weeks ago.

Liberty Post Korea, a Seoul-based website run by a North Korean defector, reported last week that 4,000 North Koreans had been ​placed under special monitoring for​ symptoms in one northern province ​bordering China, and that 720 had been quarantined in hospitals. The report quoted an unidentified source in the North and could not be independently verified.

Daily NK, another ​Seoul-based website that relies on anonymous sources inside the North, reported last week that five people had died in hospitals in another northern province after suffering from fevers, and that people there had speculated that they died from the coronavirus.

As North Korea shut its ports and borders to foreign goods and summoned back​ officials who had been earning hard currency​ in China​, quarantining them on the border, both commodity prices and exchange rates have ​begun rising in some northern towns, Daily NK said. North Korea’s military​ has also been smuggling in​ large ​quantities of South Korean face masks​ through China, it ​said.

Kim Seung-eun, a ​Christian ​pastor​ and human rights activist​ in South Korea who ​works with informants inside the North, said on Friday that he had not heard of any deaths from the coronavirus in the country.

He said the North Korean authorities had drastically stepped up border controls, even ordering guards to fire at those attempting to cross the border illegally. That draconian measure has made it impossible for groups like his to smuggle refugees out of North Korea, he said.

“North Korea has to take such an extreme step because their medical infrastructure is so bad that if an epidemic breaks out, it could run out of control,” Mr. Kim said.

The coronavirus emerged as North Korea seemed to be retreating from a period of relative openness, with the diplomacy between Kim Jong-un and President Trump having produced no concrete agreements on ending the North’s nuclear arms program or the international sanctions. In recent months, North Korea has opened resort towns ​in hopes of attracting Chinese visitors ​and badly needed tourist cash. But the coronavirus has halted that effort.

​Mr. Kim, the pastor, said the prolonged border shutdown had already caused hardship for North Koreans who rely on trading and smuggling for a living. With goods smuggled from China getting more expensive, traders have begun hoarding commodities in the expectation of further price increases, he said.

Mr. Kim reported no civil disturbances but said the disruptions in border trade could hurt the national economy. More than 90 percent of North Korea’s official external trade goes through China.

“North Korea is under increasing stress because of the coronavirus outbreak in China,” said Leif-Eric Easley, a professor in the international studies division at Ewha Womans University in Seoul. “The revenue stream Kim was anticipating from tourism is running dry and the informal economy is suffering from draconian border and travel restrictions.”

“North Korea may be on lockdown now, but it will soon be in need of economic concessions,” he added.

That raises the possibility that Pyongyang could return to diplomacy — or resume weapons tests to strengthen its negotiating hand, analysts said. ​

*********

Coronavirus ‘Hits All the Hot Buttons’ for How We Misjudge Risk

Psychologists say that differing responses to coronavirus and the flu illustrate our shortcomings when it comes to evaluating danger.

By Max Fisher | Published Feb. 13, 2020Updated Feb. 14, 2020, 6:31 a.m. ET | New York Times | Posted February 14, 2020 |

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Shortly after the University of Washington announced that the school’s fourth suspected case of the new coronavirus had turned out negative, two professors, one of public policy and the other of public health, held a small dinner for students and faculty members.

Like everywhere else on campus, and in much of the world, the coronavirus was all anybody could talk about.

But one of the attendees, a public health student, had had enough. Exasperated, she rattled off a set of statistics.

The virus had killed about 1,100 worldwide and infected around a dozen in the United States. Alarming, but a much more common illness, influenza, kills about 400,000 people every year, including 34,200 Americans last flu season and 61,099 the year before.

There remains deep uncertainty about the new coronavirus' mortality rate, with the high-end estimate that it is up to 20 times that of the flu, but some estimates go as low as 0.16 percent for those affected outside of China’s overwhelmed Hubei province. About on par with the flu.

Wasn’t there something strange, the student asked, about the extreme disparity in public reactions?

Ann Bostrom, the dinner’s public policy co-host, laughed when she recounted the evening. The student was right about the viruses, but not about people, said Dr. Bostrom, who is an expert on the psychology of how humans evaluate risk.

While the metrics of public health might put the flu alongside or even ahead of the new coronavirus for sheer deadliness, she said, the mind has its own ways of measuring danger. And the new coronavirus disease, named COVID-19 hits nearly every cognitive trigger we have.

That explains the GLOBAL WAVE of ANXIETY.

Of course, it is far from irrational to feel some fear about the coronavirus outbreak tearing through China and beyond.

But there is a lesson, psychologists and public health experts say, in the near-terror that the virus induces, even as serious threats like the flu receive little more than a shrug. It illustrates the unconscious biases in how human beings think about risk, as well as the impulses that often guide our responses — sometimes with serious consequences.

How Our Brains Evaluate Threat

Experts used to believe that people gauged risk like actuaries, parsing out cost-benefit analyses every time a merging car came too close or local crime rates spiked. But a wave of psychological experiments in the 1980s upended this thinking.

Researchers found that people use a set of mental shortcuts for measuring danger. And they tend to do it unconsciously, meaning that instinct can play a much larger role than they realize.

The world is full of risks, big and small. Ideally, these shortcuts help people figure out which ones to worry about and which to disregard. But they can be imperfect.

The coronavirus may be a case in point.

“This hits all the hot buttons that lead to heightened risk perception,” said Paul Slovic, a University of Oregon psychologist who helped pioneer modern risk psychology.

When you encounter a potential risk, your brain does a quick search for past experiences with it. If it can easily pull up multiple alarming memories, then your brain concludes the danger is high. But it often fails to assess whether those memories are truly representative.

A classic example is airplane crashes.

If two happen in quick succession, flying suddenly feels scarier — even if your conscious mind knows that those crashes are a statistical aberration with little bearing on the safety of your next flight. But if you then take a few flights and nothing goes wrong, your brain will most likely start telling you again that flying is safe.

When it comes to the coronavirus, Dr. Slovic said, it’s as if people are experiencing one report after another of planes crashing.

“We’re hearing about the fatalities,” he said. “We’re not hearing about the 98 or so percent of people who are recovering from it and may have had mild cases.”

That tendency can cut in both directions, leading not to undue alarm but undue complacency. Though flu kills tens of thousands of Americans every year, most peoples’ experiences with it are relatively mundane.

Being told how dangerous flu is does little to change this, studies find. The brain’s risk assessment approach simply overwhelms rational calculation — a source of endless consternation to health officials trying to raise flu vaccination rates.

“We’re conditioned by our experiences,” Dr. Slovic said. “But experience can mislead us to be too comfortable with things.”

Biases, Shortcuts and Gut Instincts

The coronavirus also taps into other psychological shortcuts for assessing risk.

One involves novelty: We are conditioned to focus heavily on new threats, looking for any cause for alarm. This can lead us to obsess over the scariest reports and worst-case scenarios, making the danger seem bigger still.

Maybe the MOST POWERFUL SHORTCUT of all is EMOTION.

Assessing the danger posed by the coronavirus is extraordinarily difficult; even scientists are unsure. But our brains act as if they have an easier way: They translate gut emotional reactions into what we believe are reasoned conclusions, even if hard data tells us otherwise.

“The world in our heads is not a precise replica of reality,” Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Prize-winning economist, wrote in a 2011 book. “Our expectations about the frequency of events are distorted by the prevalence and emotional intensity of the messages to which we are exposed.”

In extreme cases, this can lead to a “crowding-out effect,” Dr. Bostrom said, as our emotional impulses overwhelm our cognitive faculties. The coronavirus hits a number of those triggers, often quite hard.

ONE IS DREAD.

If a risk seems especially painful or disturbing, people tend to raise their estimate of how likely it is to happen to them. Reports on the coronavirus often feature upsetting imagery: unhygienic food markets, city-scale lockdowns and overcrowded hospitals.

Another trigger is a threat that is not fully understood. The less known it is, the more people may fear it, and overestimate its threat.

Threats that feel out of control, like a runaway disease outbreak, prompt a similar response, leading people to seek ways to reimpose control, for instance by hoarding supplies.

Risks that we take on voluntarily, or that at least feel voluntary, are often seen as less dangerous than they really are. One study found that people will raise their threshold for the amount of danger they are willing to take on by a factor of one thousand if they see the risk as voluntary.

If that number sounds high, consider that driving, a danger most take on voluntarily, kills over 40,000 Americans every year. But terrorism, a threat imposed on us, kills fewer than 100.

There are countless rational reasons that terrorism provokes a sharper response than traffic deaths. The same goes for a fast-spreading and little-understood outbreak versus the familiar flu.

And that is exactly the point, psychologists say.

“All of these things play on our feelings,” Dr. Slovic said. “And that’s the representation of threat for us. Not the statistics of risk, but the feelings of risk.”

Making Choices

All those emotions can have real consequences.

Consider the response to the partial meltdown of the nuclear plant at Three Mile Island, in Pennsylvania, in 1979. Though the incident caused no deaths, it led to public demand to turn from nuclear power to fossil fuels whose impact on air quality, alone, is thought to cause thousands of premature deaths every year.

That calculus confounded old-school economists, who saw it as irrational. One leading nuclear power expert called it “insane.”

But it also helped give rise to new psychological models for how people measure risk.

“Our feelings don’t do arithmetic very well,” Dr. Slovic said.

That can be especially true when judging low-probability, high-risk threats like nuclear war, terrorism — or dying from the coronavirus or the flu.

Our minds tend to either “round down” the probability to “basically zero” and we underreact, Dr. Slovic said. Or we focus on the worst-case outcome, he said, which “gives us a strong feeling, so we overreact.”

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                 Matrices and    Computing

              ��  Microeconomic    Principles

                 Partial    Differential Equations

                 Portfolio    Theory and Asset Pricing Models

                 Probability    and Statistics for Actuarial Science

                 Society Of    Actuaries - SOA

                 Statistical    theory and practice

[raymondsecurityadventures]

Lecture 9 - Really Long Version - WIP

The first half of this week’s lecture focused largely upon revision, whilst the second half referred to a couple new theoretical concepts (that had been covered by Jazz if you attend his classes so more revision) and a taste of Adam’s lecture next week on privacy.

Culture - Just Culture, Excellence Culture, Feedback Culture and everything in between

Just Culture

Contrasted against blame culture, just culture seeks to take a more holistic outlook upon placing fault for an incident in the event of one and tries to steer away from placing blame upon the last person to interact with the subject of the incident or ‘shooting the messenger’ and addressing the incident as the product of multiple issues. Since Australian airline Qantas’ adoption of this culture and its subsequent success, just culture has seen widespread, occasionally forced, adoption.

Many credit just culture’s success to the relative lack of aversion that individual employees have toward participating in incident and safety reporting related events, meetings and hearings as just culture places assurances to protect said participating employees from any unjust recourse, a la shooting the messenger style, and incentivises issue reporting.

Lessons To Learn from Traditional Engineering 

Security engineering is a relatively new field compared to traditional engineering disciplines, so it seem to follow that security engineering could draw from traditional principles such as:

Implementing codes and methodologies to follow in times of crisis 

Attempting to falsify everything; i.e. continually testing systems to examine potential issues 

Culture of excellence; taking pride in your profession. Deadlines are important but so is delivering quality code and the former shouldn’t come at the cost of the latter. 

Fix agile; it’s fast and agile but that’s pretty much it. Pretty awful about security 

Associations; there are medical, engineering, accounting and law related associations such as the various bar associations, accounting and actuarial practice associations, Australian Medical Association etc. etc. that enforce rules of practice. Make one for software engineering.

Closing the Loop: Feedforward Systems

Feedforward neural networks tend to struggle classifying more difficult to things to classify, as the lack of feedback from deeper layers causes learning difficulties. This is remedied in various ways, however, the simplest of these remedies is to simply create a feedback loop and allow feedback from deeper layers into previous layers.  Which is also commonsense in the real world; educational systems, security systems, government systems etc. all require methods of gauging the success of their policies in order to identify areas of improvement. Thus, apparatuses to channel feedback should exist and should probably be better than MyExperience.

System Properties and Design

Object Oriented Programming Principles 

Loose coupling good, tight coupling bad: Steven Bradbury video with one member of a group of tightly coupled falling over causing other athletes to fall over and the Australian coming last because sucked - and thus loosely coupled to the group - wins gold.

Issues and Benefits of Automated Systems 

Issues:

Predominantly their inability to cover edge scenarios. Such a system will always have to have a method of operating outside its parameters and artificial intelligence isn’t so advanced that systems are able to do so. So human interference is pretty much always necessary.  

Benefits:

Removes the human element from decision making, which is ideal because humans are bad at a lot of things as seen in every cognitive bias ever

Systems Designed by People Suck

We spend 1bn dollars every election, but democratic systems still fucking suck because non-critical infrastructure programmers are building them rather than actual critical infrastructure programmers.

End-to-End 

End-to-end security refers to security that stretches the entire length of a system, and is equally robust at all parts. Obviously, people tend to slack off and their cognitive biases may convince them or lead them to believe a particular area is more secure or less critical than is in actuality. 

This is particularly true in the case of the US electoral system and only recently have its vulnerabilities been brought to light. Such as system operates in the following manner: 

Elections:

People making up their mind about who to vote for 

The announcement of voting

Propaganda everywhere

Establishing voting infrastructure

People go to the polls

The votes are counted

The results are announced

We know that the Russians knew step 1 was particularly weak, took advantage of existing information transfer systems (social media specifically) and used them to spread misinformation and Donald Trump won lmfao. 

Really Loosely Related Section

I’m including this section for completeness’ sake but it won’t be written up properly and I doubt it will be of any relevance in the exam. 

Free Speech? The n-word? Conflicts of interest?

You want all free speech except that's critical of you. When you believe in free speech, you have to believe in free speech that disagrees with you.

Self-Driving Cars: issues with hackermanz

Google: 'no it's fine lol, we have top people working on it. Self driving planes are a thing already, why not cars'.  Proceeds to try to convince us that robots will be better than humans because humans are drunk, brash idiots. Proceeds to try and misdirect us:

Misdirection: Ethical dilemmas that computers have to make: would the car rather swerve into a young person or an old person?

Fails to address the magnitude of an incident involving systemic failure in computers v individually driven incidents such as terrorist attacks:

Terrorists are small in number.

Computers are not.

Security Analysis of that nuclear silo site in that Wargames film clip:

Features:

Random location in the middle of nowhere - obscurity

Inconspicuous location in Wisconsin - obscurity 

Single way mirror so people wouldn't accidentally find it - security by obscurity

Sign on system

Dual authentication: two people to check codes. Defence in depth? Multiple points of failure? 

Two keys required: forgot the protocol name

Large distance between keys

Case Studies to Read/Watch Up On:

3 Mile Island

Chernobyl

China Syndrome

Trust

A bit that our tutors elaborated upon but Richard himself failed to. 

Importance of trust:

Makes things work. Trust makes processes efficient as people are able to let down their paranoia and focus upon doing what they specialise in, rather than trying to build 1000 walls to protect what they do and obtaining their own food and shelter rather than relying on specialists such as farmers, builders etc to obtain necessary goods/food/shelter.

It allows society to be society.

The Trust Dilemma 

Protocols that rely on trusted third parties. Don't roll your own v allow a third party to do it? Are some things to be trusted? Everything has backdoors.

My Future

Richard tries to convince us of the holistic value of his course. Richard also justifies the strange range of topics to be presented in the portfolio:

Community is important: useful to build off each other's ideas. Something Einstein standing on shoulders of giants

Self-directed learning :- something awesome project. Helps you learn what is important, what you find interesting, constantly update knowledge because security is always changing

Exercise:- do CTFs…'noone's gonna check if you don't do it but do it anyway because you'll learn'. It’s important to stay in shape

Professionalism: plenty recent-ish security related professions growing so we need to do what's right for the profession

[calebmatthew1]

The Ultimate Mean, Medium, Mode, And Range Calculator For Data Analysis

Statistics is a major area of mathematics. It connects to Data Analysis. Some statistical equations and methods can be used on a particular data set to interpret and analyze results, predict forthcoming data, and explain various parameters in the dataset. 

With the help of allcalculator.net's Mean, median mode range calculator, you can compute data analysis along with statistical information such as the most frequent value (mode), the average value (the mean), the spin of the values (range), midpoint value in the set (median) and so on. 

The Median mode range Mean calculator plays an extensive role in Statistics, data analysis, and engineering life. It provides a glance at analyzing the collected data. Let's say an analyst or a chemical engineer wants to interpret the temperature measurements with the use of a mixing tank. 

An online statistical tool can be used to ascertain how reliable the temperature measurements are, what may be the upcoming temperature of the tank and how much the temperature differs in the dataset. Let's explore more the Mode mean median range calculator usage in data analysis. 

Understanding Data Analysis To Benefit From Mean Median Mode Range Calculator. 

'Data Analysis is said to be the process that cleans and changes the raw data and extracts them to the relevant and actionable information that assists businesses in making well-versed decisions. It helps to lessen the risk of inherent decisions and provides beneficial insights in the form of tables, images, graphs, and charts. 

allcalculator.net's Mean Median Mode Range Calculator helps in the process of data analysis to predict and analyze the future or past so that you make informed decisions based on the analysis. 

The Range median mode mean calculator in data analysis helps to process the big data into a piece of beneficial information. It helps to forecast, focusing your marketing and advertising efforts. 

As it is essential to target clients better, this online tool helps the data analyst to track the set prices, length of advertisement campaigns, and forthcoming projects to invest in. 

The median mode range Mean calculator helps to make better problem-solving decisions and make more accurate data for making the right choices and reducing the costly pitfalls. It helps to collect relevant data and organize it in the right form. 

This online tool helps the data analyst to make inferential analysis, quantitative analysis, and descriptive statistics. You can study the given data the better and right way. 

What Are Other Relevant Uses Of The median mode mean range calculator?

You can use allcalculator.net's Mean Median Mode Range Calculator in the Healthcare sector. Actuaries and insurance analysts can widely use it to get accurate estimations within seconds. 

You can use the median mode range mean calculator in the Real estate sector to estimate the price of the house, the median price of a house, and calculate the mode of a number of rooms per house. 

The range median mode calculator can be used in Human Resources Area. The individuals who work in the Department of Human Resources can estimate the salary using Mean Calculator and find out the middle salary using Median Calculator. 

allcalculator.net's Mean Median Mode Range Calculator can be used in the Marketing industry by various marketers to get a deep understanding of how we can advertise on various platforms. You can estimate revenue per advertisement, the type of ads used, and so on. 

[oracle-global]

Oracle ecological scenarios are diversified , forming an Oracle oracle machine network wealth system, bringing high returns to users

Oracle The Web is an internet of blockchains designed to provide a technological foundation that facilitates building distributed business applications. Oracle The network is part of a larger network of Oracles - all partitions in the network are able to interact with any other partition in the network of Oracles through the standard IBC protocol.

By introducing a layer of service semantics in the network, we will provide an innovative solution that supports entirely new business scenarios, thereby increasing the scale and diversity of the network of oracles.

Oracle improves transaction security and better protects consumer privacy

Oracle can provide real-time data such as the exchange rate of the stable currency itself and the anchor asset in the external world when the encrypted asset stable currency has an off-chain information interaction requirement.

And Oracle also develops data aggregation plug-ins in the service agreement. Users can use multiple oracle machines to obtain data to achieve computing redundancy; use multiple data sources to ensure data accuracy; and customize data aggregation methods (such as taking the average , remove outliers, set weights, etc.).

These functions allow users to arbitrarily set the level of decentralization and data aggregation methods, and connect smart contracts to reliable and accurate data sources.

Oracle payments increase transaction security. Oracle oracle payment avoids swiping card payment, stealing swiping and stealing swiping behaviors that are prevalent in scanning code payment , reduces password leakage and privacy theft to consumers, and protects the security of transactions. Consumers can directly become a member of the Oracle oracle payment ecosystem by scanning the Oracle oracle machine payment , obtain a digital identity to enter the Oracle oracle machine payment application scenario, and enjoy ecological dividends.

Oracle Insurance : Coexistence of Safety and High Efficiency

All the money for traditional insurance comes from a centralized organization. Its business model is to sell insurance and invest with the buyer's money, and minimize the probability of claims through careful actuarial techniques. But Oracle Insurance is different.

The money for each policy comes from a liquid pool of funds. Like Oracle loan mining, each user can act as an institution, inject liquidity funds into different insurance projects, and form a fund pool. Insurance buyers purchase insurance from the fund pool, and also obtain claims from the fund pool, providing People with liquidity are interested in the safety of the insurance, so as to obtain investment income.

Because of the close and important connection between blockchain technology and signature algorithms, the development of signature algorithms and the introduction of new paradigms will directly affect the characteristics and efficiency of blockchain networks.

In addition, the key management needs of institutions and personal accounts inspired by distributed ledgers have also spawned many wallet applications, and this change has even affected traditional enterprises.

epilogue

Oracle combines high-performance aggregated cross-chain oracle protocols and fully applies them to decentralized exchanges. The oracle machine is like an information transmitter, which can automatically transmit external credible data to the blockchain and write it into the smart contract, so that the contract can automatically execute the results according to the preset rules, and complete the verification of real data by blockchain technology .

Services for business scenarios. Through efficient data interaction, massive data storage, and reliable operating mechanism, the Oracle oracle network helps build a global leading decentralized exchange, and continuously expands the ecological boundary, eventually forming a powerful, systematic, organic, and shared digital The economic ecology has greatly promoted the historical process of the digital asset era, and explored and created revolutionary value of the times.

[crookedtreepoetry]

Top Eight On-line Data Science Courses

Learning python is a crucial ability for a lot of information science roles, and you may develop it with this Python data science course. With a blended learning method, you can learn Python for knowledge science along with concepts like knowledge wrangling, mathematical computing, and extra. Unlock your profession as a data scientist with Simplilearn’s Data Science with Python coaching.

I discovered EduSpiral on-line and they supplied detailed data & helped me with my application. They even took me across the college for a tour after I went to visit. Xavier Phang, Software Engineering Graduate from Asia Pacific University Some non-public universities in Malaysia offer knowledge science degrees, which is an apparent choice. This diploma will provide you with the mandatory skills to process and analyze a fancy set of knowledge, and will contain a lot of technical data related to statistics, computers, evaluation techniques, and more. Most knowledge science packages may even have a inventive and analytical component, allowing you to make judgment selections primarily based on your findings.

From simply beginning up a couple of years ago, Dataquest has turn into one of the most highly rated programs for knowledge science. Out of roughly 3000 offerings, these are one of the best Python courses in accordance with this analysis. Overall, the project should be the principle focus, and courses and books ought to complement that. Although this series solely runs once each several months, should you’re new to Computer Science and Python, this is a great collection to leap into if you get the possibility.

I discovered the lecturers passionate about what they teach, making it a pleasing experience taking the programs. The ML course has a number of fascinating initiatives you’ll work on, and at the end of the whole series, you’ll give attention to one exam to wrap every little thing up. Since these programs are geared in the direction of prospective Master’s students, the prerequisites are higher than many of the different programs on this list. Since the primary course in this collection doesn’t spend any time educating primary Python concepts, you need to already be snug with programming.

The programme aims to provide specialists within the field of Big Data Analytics succesful who can make information-pushed selections and apply advanced big knowledge evaluation throughout many domains. If you've completed 50% of the training, you'll not be eligible for any refund. KnowldgeHut's training session included every thing that had been promised.

There are three major streams information professionals can branch out into – knowledge scientists, knowledge analysts and information engineers. Data Science or Data Analytics is a new subject of examine in Malaysia and the job demand and salary may be very high. Top personal universities in Malaysia for information science will assist put together you properly to succeed in your career equipping you with the knowledge and skills to earn a high earnings.

To enter the Bsc Statistical Data Science diploma at Heriot-Watt University Malaysia after SPM or O-Levels, college students will enter theFoundation in Businessfirst. Pending approval, it could be potential for college kids who have accomplished the diploma programme to apply for exemptions from as much as 4 out of 7 of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Core Principles skilled examinations. What we're doing at Fractal is first to unravel a basic problem of recreating one knowledge dimension for one time period with the very best attainable accuracy.

Many employers are constructing their teams from ‘scratch’, accepting candidates with entry-degree industry expertise. The giant wage vary reported by employers for a knowledge scientist from greater than RM 15,000 per month to lower than RM 5,000 per month could replicate a lack of precision in defining the function of an information scientist. While compensation will differ by candidate experience and efficiency, it's important that this function just isn't undervalued. Data science competencies similar to statistical modelling and machine learning require a high education investment which ought to be recognised.

For hard skills, you not only must be proficient with the mathematics of information science, however you additionally want the skills and intuition to understand information. Bayesian, as a substitute of Frequentist, statistics is an important topic to learn for knowledge science. Many of us learned Frequentist statistics in faculty without even figuring out it, and this course does a great job evaluating and contrasting the 2 to make it simpler to understand the Bayesian approach to information evaluation.

JHU did an unimaginable job with the balance of breadth and depth within the curriculum. One factor that’s included on this series that’s often missing from many knowledge science programs is a whole section on statistics, which is the backbone of data science. Data Scientists are some of the sought-after jobs in Malaysia as a result of they are high in demand and likewise provide enormous pay. A Data Scientist has technological improvement which helps him to complete his work effortlessly and efficiently. The main job of a Data Scientist is to accumulate data in large quantities to check and use analytic packages to make use of this data. It is also the work of a Data Scientist to search out hidden trends and patterns for a corporation, to design algorithms to provide solutions to different problems and to speak future predictions to their management.

The first yr is filled with modules like methods evaluation and design, mathematical concepts for computing, introduction to networking and different modules. A sound grasp of mathematical methods and expertise in algorithmic thinking are necessary conditions for your second and third-yr research in this area. Computer structure, working systems, networks, databases, data analytics, behavioural science, and marketing analytics are the area of the platform or underlying analytics methods. Introduction to administration introduces the third key area, understanding personal and organisational growth, together with independent studying and teamworking skills. It is a matter of proven fact that 46% of data scientists have a PhD, with 88% of all knowledge scientists having a Master’s degree.

Every topic within the knowledge science observe is accompanied by several in-browser, interactive coding steps that guide you thru applying the exact matter you’re studying. An extremely highly rated course — four.9/5 on SwichUp and 4.eight/5 on CourseReport — which is taught reside by an information scientist from a prime company. This is a six-week-lengthy knowledge science course that covers every thing in the complete data science course of, and it’s the one live online course on this record. Furthermore, not solely will you get a certificates upon completion, however since this course is also accredited, you’ll additionally obtain continuing schooling items.

Explore more on -Data Science Training in Malaysia

INNODATATICS SDN BHD (1265527-M)

360DigiTMG - Data Science, IR 4.0, AI, Machine Learning Training in Malaysia

Level 16, 1 Sentral, Jalan Stesen Sentral 5, KL Sentral, 50740, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

info@360digitmg.com

+ 601 9383 1378 / + 603 2092 9488

Hours: Sunday - Saturday 7 AM - 11 PM

[mithrasconsultant]

Optimizing Workforce Strategy with End of Service Benefits and Actuarial Valuation

In today’s competitive employment landscape, companies are constantly seeking strategies to retain top talent while ensuring financial stability. One critical but often overlooked aspect of employee retention is the End of Service Benefit (EOSB). Coupled with Actuarial Valuation, it becomes a powerful tool not only for fulfilling legal obligations but also for effective workforce planning and financial forecasting.

In this blog, we explore the role of End of Service Benefits in employee retention, the importance of actuarial valuation in managing these liabilities, and how expert guidance from firms like Mithras Consultants can help businesses make smarter, data-driven decisions.

Understanding End of Service Benefit (EOSB)

An End of Service Benefit is a financial payout an employee receives upon the termination of their service, typically found in Gulf countries and increasingly implemented across various global organizations. It serves as a form of gratitude and recognition for an employee’s service over time.

Depending on local laws and company policies, EOSB may be calculated based on:

Duration of employment

Basic salary

Type of contract (limited or unlimited)

Reason for termination (resignation, retirement, or dismissal)

For businesses, EOSB is a long-term liability. While it’s a statutory requirement in many countries, it also doubles as a powerful employee retention strategy when managed well.

Why End of Service Benefits Matter for Employee Retention

A well-structured EOSB plan not only ensures legal compliance but also boosts employee morale. When employees know their organization values their long-term commitment with a secure financial future, it fosters loyalty and reduces attrition.

Here’s how EOSB contributes to retention:

Financial Security: Employees view EOSB as a safety net, encouraging them to stay longer.

Trust and Transparency: Regular updates and clarity about EOSB policies build trust in the employer.

Performance Motivation: Longer tenure may mean higher benefits, motivating employees to stay and perform better.

However, offering EOSB comes with its own set of challenges—primarily in calculating and managing the growing financial liability over time. This is where Actuarial Valuation steps in.

The Role of Actuarial Valuation

Actuarial Valuation is the process of using mathematical models and statistical methods to estimate the future financial obligations of an organization, especially concerning employee benefits like EOSB, gratuity, and pension schemes.

The valuation considers multiple factors such as:

Employee demographics (age, tenure, salary)

Salary escalation rate

Attrition rate

Retirement age

Discount rates

This enables companies to:

Accurately project the cost of EOSB liabilities

Prepare appropriate financial reserves

Comply with financial reporting standards like IAS 19, AS 15, and Ind AS 19

Strategize benefits in alignment with workforce planning

Without actuarial support, companies risk underestimating liabilities, leading to cash flow challenges and potential legal repercussions.

How Mithras Consultants Can Help

Mithras Consultants is a leading advisory firm specializing in End of Service Benefit strategy and Actuarial Valuation services. With extensive experience in guiding businesses across industries, they help organizations navigate complex employee benefit landscapes with ease and accuracy.

Their services include:

Actuarial valuation reports compliant with global accounting standards

EOSB liability estimation and forecasting

Employee benefit structuring and financial impact analysis

Strategy consulting for improving employee retention using benefits

Visit: 👉 End of Service Benefit Strategy for Maximizing Employee Retention 👉 Actuarial Valuation Services

Real-World Impact: Why You Need Both EOSB & Actuarial Insight

Let’s say your business is scaling rapidly. You're hiring more people, which means your EOSB liability will grow proportionally. Without actuarial valuation, this liability can go unnoticed until it becomes financially unmanageable.

Mithras Consultants can:

Identify the total present and future liability

Guide you in funding mechanisms or insurance options

Help in restructuring the EOSB plan to suit your organization’s goals

Align the benefit scheme with your HR strategy for long-term gains

Benefits of Integrating EOSB with Strategic HR and Finance

When you integrate End of Service Benefits and Actuarial Valuation with your HR and finance departments, you gain:

✅ Improved Financial Planning Forecast future liabilities and ensure reserves are sufficient.

✅ Regulatory Compliance Stay compliant with accounting standards and avoid penalties.

✅ Employee Retention and Satisfaction Transparent and well-structured EOSB enhances the employer brand.

✅ Data-Driven HR Decisions Use actuarial insights for budgeting, promotions, and benefit planning.

Final Thoughts

EOSB and Actuarial Valuation are no longer optional—they’re essential tools for modern businesses. They not only fulfill legal and financial responsibilities but also act as a cornerstone for employee retention and satisfaction.

If your organization is yet to fully integrate these strategies, now is the time. Let Mithras Consultants help you transform compliance obligations into strategic advantages.

📞 Get in touch today for a customized EOSB and Actuarial Valuation strategy tailored to your workforce and growth plan.

[healthcare-market]

Pharmacy Repackaging Systems Market Estimated to Expand at a Robust CAGR by 2026

Transparency Market Research (TMR) has published a new report titled, “Pharmacy Repackaging Systems Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2018–2026”. According to the report, the global Pharmacy Repackaging systems market was valued at US $ 1146.8 Mn in 2017. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 7.8% from 2018 to 2026. Factors such as increasing number of medication errors that fuel the need to improve patient safety and rising focus on reducing cost and wastage of inventory are driving the global market. North America is projected to dominate the global pharmacy repackaging systems market, owing to stringent healthcare regulations to improve patient safety in the region. Asia Pacific and Latin America are highly lucrative markets. The pharmacy repackaging systems market in Asia Pacific is projected to expand at a CAGR of 8.3% during the forecast period. Rapid expansion of healthcare industry in major countries and aging population are key factors that drive the pharmacy repackaging systems market in the region.

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Increasing number of medication errors with need to improve patient safety and growing focus on reducing cost and wastage of inventory to drive the global market

Increasing incidence of medication error-related deaths and government regulations are putting pressure on health care institutes and pharmacists to deploy advanced technologies to reduce medication errors. Medication errors affect one in 10 patients, globally, and lead to death or mental illness. Medication errors increase the medical cost for both health care providers and pharmacists. According to a survey conducted by the Society of Actuaries, measurable medication errors cost US$ 20 Bn to the U.S economy, while majority of these errors are easily avoidable. Hence, the U.S. Government is taking considerable initiatives to reduce these medication errors. According to the U.S. FDA, on average, one person dies daily as a result of pharmacy mistakes. Increasing pressure for patient safety requirements and government regulations are expected to prompt health care providers to deploy advanced technologies to avoid medication errors in the near future. This is likely to boost the U.S. pharmacy repackaging systems market. Hospitals and pharmacists are facing significant challenges when it comes to maintaining an inventory. Traditional and manual methods used in hospitals and pharmacies make it difficult to track their inventory. Automated packaging systems, such as automatic tablet packager, automated vial filling pump, and compliance packaging systems along with automated dispensing systems, provide pharmacists and health care providers real-time access to their stock, which in turn, helps them to maintain adequate level of inventory. The global pharmacy repackaging systems market is expected to expand at a considerable pace in the near future due to several factors including technological advancements, such as barcoding, and the rising need for healthcare providers and pharmacists to get more time for patient care.

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Automated blister card/Compliance packaging systems to be highly lucrative segment

In terms of product type, the pharmacy repackaging systems market has been classified into blister card/compliance packaging systems, pouch packaging automation systems, bottle filling/ pill counting automation systems, liquid medication packaging systems, and others. Automated blister card/compliance packaging systems was the dominant segment and was valued at US $ 145.7 Mn in 2017. The segment is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.8% during the forecast period, owing to increasing awareness about benefits and advancements in technologies, which have prompted small and mid-sized hospitals to invest in affordable small-sized automated unit dose packaging systems. Single-dose blister packaging is the most dominant sub segment, as it helps reduce dose wastage and increase compliance. Furthermore, medicines are pre-measured into precise doses to reduce the risk of a dose being measured incorrectly. Moreover, the patient is charged for only the medication that is actually required, thereby reducing the cost, as the patient is not charged for an entire bulk bottle. Pouch packaging automation systems offer multi-dose adherence/compliance packaging in which the tablets are packaged into easy to tear, clear pouches marked with patient information containing drug name, dosage, date, time, explanations, and clear instructions on mode of drug administration.

Retail/community pharmacy to be promising segment

In terms of end-user, the global pharmacy repackaging systems market has been segregated into retail/community pharmacy, hospital pharmacy, long-term care (LTC) pharmacies and mail order pharmacies. The retail/community pharmacy segment is expected to maintain its dominant position in the market, and account for 52.0% share, in terms of revenue, by the end of 2026. The segment was valued at US$ 591.9 in 2017. It is projected to expand at a CAGR of 7.9% during the forecast period, owing to better inventory management and reduced cost per employee through automated repackaging. Mail order pharmacies are a major end-user of repackaging systems in North America. The segment is expected to expand at a significant growth rate during the forecast period.

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North America expected to dominate global market

In terms of region, the global pharmacy repackaging systems market has been divided into five major regions: North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Latin America and Middle East & Africa. North America dominated the global market in 2017. The pharmacy repackaging systems market in the North America is driven by high investments made in cutting-edge drug research, resulting in new sophisticated treatments with specific packaging requirements. Major demand for pharmacy repackaging systems was from large chain pharmacies and hospitals. Demand for pharmacy repackaging systems from long-term care centers and mail order pharmacies remained at a low level of automation, restricted to storage cabinets, inventory controlling dispensers, and pill counters. The market in Asia Pacific is anticipated to expand at a notable CAGR during the forecast period, due to the rapid expansion of the health care industry in major countries such as China, Japan, and Australia. Japan is a highly mature market in the region due to considerable automation. Asia Pacific is a price sensitive market and pharmacists invest only in light, affordable, and durable automated devices such as counting pill machines and tablet printing machines.

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Omnicell, Inc. anticipated to lead global market

The global pharmacy repackaging systems market is semi-consolidated in terms of number of players. Some companies operating in this market include Omnicell, Inc., Talyst, Inc., Becton Dickinson & Company, Kirby Lester (Capsa Solutions LLC), Swisslog Holding Ltd., Yuyama Co., Ltd., TCGRx, Euclid Medical Products, ARxIUM, and Takazono Corporation.

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[scentedbeardgarden]

Data Analytics courses

Data Analytics courses

This Micro Masters program is a series of graduate level courses in data science, designed by professors of University of California, San Diego and delivered online via edX. It is a very immersive program that can help to gain critical skills needed to advance as a data scientist. It aims to develop an in-depth understanding of the mathematical and computational tools that form the basis of data science and usage of those tools to make data-driven business decisions. Courses on the Approved List under Interdisciplinary Data Science include subject matter courses and courses that require substantial interpretation of data and report writing. Students completing the Certificate will be presented with an official certificate document and will be free to use this credential on a CV, resume or application for advanced study. The program is designed for data scientists who can manipulate data and gain insights to detect patterns.

Many of these certifications require quite a bit of studying and memorization. However, if you’ve already dedicated yourself to a data scientist career, chances are good that you’ve already learned many of the underlying concepts, and/or worked with software that operates on similar principles. That means companies are paying top dollar for data scientists, and having certifications helps when negotiating for higher compensation.

Finally, to understand statements about the probability of a candidate winning, you will learn about Bayesian modeling. At the end of the course, we will put it all together to recreate a simplified version of an election forecast model and apply it to 2016 election. This course will show you how inference and modeling can be applied to develop the statistical approaches that make polls an effective tool and we'll show you how to do this using R.

A PGP in Business Analytics, however, has courses on basics of statistical modeling, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and text mining related to relevant business problems and used by business managers across different industries. There are different elements to data science courses that vary based on how the individual wishes to apply the knowledge and the career path they would like to go on. We currently have 14 collaborative master’s, and doctoral data science courses that students can choose to attend after successfully completing their PGP data science certification with INSOFE in India.

Data Analytics courses

This course focuses on graphical techniques for data visualization that assist in the extraction of meaning from datasets. This involves the design and development of efficient tools for the exploration of large and often complex information domains. Applications of visualization are broad, including computer science, geography, the social sciences, mathematics, science and medicine, as well as architecture and design. The course will cover all aspects of visualization including fundamental concepts, algorithms, data structures, and the role of human perception. This course gives a basic exposition of the goals and methods of data mining and data warehouses, including concepts, principles, architectures, algorithms, implementations, and applications.

Our industry's real case scenarios based and expert’s led training don’t just expose you with the skills, they expose you to the fundamentals that are required for pursuing a fulfilling professional IT career. The purpose of this certificate is to provide an introduction to the concepts, tools and techniques used in data science, and their relevance within an actuarial context. With increased digital access to data and the development of powerful, but inexpensive, computing, in the 21st century the formulation and evaluation of public policy is more and more reliant on the analysis of data. This certificate seeks to prepare students for careers where data analysis plays a central role. This course is designed to help you learn how deep learning really works and how it can be used on anything.

The Certificate in Data Science provides you with the knowledge to draw conclusions on data reliably and robustly. This course will help you learn how Reinforcement Learning solutions help solve real-world problems through trial-and-error interaction by implementing a complete RL solution from beginning to end. The USP of this course is that throughout the certification, you will analyze a research question of your choice and summarize your insights. Overall, an excellent project-based course to learn something useful in just 2 hours. The is a great Coursera course to learn how to use Excel to prepare and analyze your data which is a great skill to have for any Data Scientist or Data Analyst in the world. In this project, you will work with the COVID19 dataset, published by John Hopkins University, which consists of the data related to the cumulative number of confirmed cases, per day, in each Country.

A certification might be used to train on some of the latest tools or techniques of data management, or might be used to gain the specific expertise required to advance careers or increase earning potential. This is one of the courses that will probably stay with me for a significant amount of time. The platform provides a unique opportunity to try hands-on simultaneously with the coursework in an almost real-life coding example. Besides, learning to use algebra, tech

system and Git is a good refresher for anyone planning to start or stay in technology. I specifically like the MNIST example and the depth to which it goes in explaining each and every line of code. As demand for data science developer soars, individuals can grasp this excellent opportunity to get certified in data sciences.

A working professional with 3-4 years of work experience or an engineer with good credentials can opt to pursue an executive program in data science such as our PGP programs in data science, business analytics or computational data science. However, if an individual is applying to pursue a more advanced degree in data science, then the academic qualifications would need to match the program level. For instance, a doctoral degree requires that an individual have a master's degree prior to working on a PhD research thesis. Similarly, a program like the DBA also accounts for the professional experience in addition to a master's degree. You can reach us at: ExcelR- Data Science, Data Analytics, Business Analytics Course Training Bangalore Address:49, 1st Cross, 27th Main, Behind Tata Motors, 1st Stage, BTM Layout, Bengaluru, Karnataka 560068 Phone: 096321 56744 Directions: Data Analytics courses Email:enquiry@excelr.com

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Understanding Actuarial Valuation and End of Service Benefits

Introduction

In today’s corporate landscape, financial planning plays a crucial role in ensuring stability and compliance with regulatory standards. One of the key aspects of financial management for organizations is actuarial valuation, particularly for end of service benefits. These calculations help businesses determine their future liabilities, ensuring they set aside adequate funds to meet employee benefits obligations.

In this blog, we will explore the significance of actuarial valuation, its role in managing end of service benefits, and why businesses should prioritize accurate financial planning.

What is Actuarial Valuation?

Actuarial valuation is a statistical and mathematical method used to assess an organization's financial liabilities related to employee benefits. It is primarily used to estimate the present and future obligations of employee benefits such as gratuity, pensions, leave encashment, and other long-term benefits.

Key Objectives of Actuarial Valuation:

Determine Liabilities – Helps organizations understand their financial commitment to employees.

Compliance with Accounting Standards – Ensures businesses comply with IAS 19 (International Accounting Standard 19), AS 15 (Accounting Standard 15), and Ind AS 19 (Indian Accounting Standard 19).

Financial Planning – Assists in long-term financial stability and resource allocation.

Regulatory Compliance – Essential for companies operating in countries with mandatory gratuity or pension laws.

Actuarial valuation is conducted by professional actuaries who use complex statistical models and risk assessment tools to estimate future payouts.

Understanding End of Service Benefits (EOSB)

End of service benefits (EOSB) are financial compensations that employees receive upon completing their tenure in an organization. These benefits vary depending on the country’s labor laws and company policies.

Types of End of Service Benefits:

Gratuity – A lump sum payment made to employees upon resignation, retirement, or termination.

Pension Funds – Monthly payments provided to retired employees.

Severance Pay – Compensation given to employees in case of layoffs or termination.

Leave Encashment – Unused paid leaves converted into cash benefits.

Provident Fund Contributions – Accumulated savings from employee and employer contributions.

Many companies in regions like the Middle East, India, and other parts of Asia have mandatory end-of-service benefits, making actuarial valuation essential.

Why is Actuarial Valuation Essential for End of Service Benefits?

Organizations that provide gratuity, pension, or long-term benefits must conduct actuarial valuation to determine their financial liability. Without proper planning, companies risk financial strain when these benefits become due.

Benefits of Actuarial Valuation for EOSB:

✔️ Accurate Liability Estimation – Ensures businesses allocate the right amount of funds. ✔️ Regulatory Compliance – Helps in fulfilling labor law requirements. ✔️ Risk Management – Prevents financial crises by forecasting future payouts. ✔️ Transparency in Financial Statements – Builds investor and employee confidence.

How is Actuarial Valuation for End of Service Benefits Conducted?

Data Collection – Employee demographics, salary details, and tenure information are gathered.

Assumption Setting – Factors like mortality rates, salary growth, and attrition rates are considered.

Calculations Using Actuarial Methods – The Projected Unit Credit (PUC) Method is commonly used.

Report Generation – Findings are documented in compliance with accounting standards.

Actuarial Valuation & End of Service Benefits in Compliance with Accounting Standards

To ensure global acceptance and financial accuracy, companies follow these accounting standards when performing actuarial valuation:

IAS 19 – International Accounting Standard for Employee Benefits.

Ind AS 19 – Indian Accounting Standard for Employee Benefits.

AS 15 – Indian GAAP Standard for Employee Benefits.

IFRS – International Financial Reporting Standards for financial statements.

Non-compliance with these standards can lead to financial penalties, incorrect reporting, and legal complications.

How Mithras Consultants Can Help?

Mithras Consultants specializes in actuarial valuation and end-of-service benefits calculation, ensuring compliance with global accounting standards. Their services include:

✅ Actuarial Valuation for Gratuity, Pension, and Leave Encashment ✅ Comprehensive EOSB Calculation & Forecasting ✅ IFRS & IAS 19 Compliant Reporting ✅ Expert Advisory for Financial Risk Management

For accurate actuarial valuation and expert guidance on end of service benefits, visit: 🔗 Mithras Consultants - Actuarial Valuation 🔗 Mithras Consultants - End of Service Benefit

Conclusion

Actuarial valuation is a critical financial process for companies providing end of service benefits like gratuity, pension, and severance pay. It ensures financial stability, compliance, and accurate forecasting of liabilities. Organizations that conduct regular actuarial valuations can efficiently plan their employee benefits strategy and avoid financial risks.

If your company needs professional actuarial valuation services, trust Mithras Consultants for accurate calculations and compliance solutions.