Infrastructure Gap Research Articles

Territorial Infrastructure Support Index (ISIT)

Through a review of the literature on infrastructure, a study of international experiences, expert knowledge, and the elaboration of a Territorial Infrastructure Support Index (ISIT), this paper provides a comparative analysis of the development conditions -- regarding infrastructure and services -- for the location of productive economic activities, at the regional and provincial level in Chile. The results show contrasts between regions and within them, revealing the state of the current situation for each of the six dimensions: Water, Energy, Telecommunications, Roads, Logistics, and Resilience, as well as for their synthetic indicator ISIT. The results of the ISIT have been contrasted with the recent definitions made by the Government of Chile regarding the definition of lag zones, finding important coincidences at the provincial level that allow validating the ISIT as a tool for the analysis of gaps in infrastructure and equipment for development of economic and productive activities in Chile.

Financing Sustainable Agriculture in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Review of the Role of Financial Technologies

African agriculture needs to adapt to climate change and shift from unsustainable production practices to sustainable ones. This requires innovative, substantial, and long-term agricultural investments that can allow all agricultural actors to adopt sustainable agricultural practices. Better and more inclusive options to leapfrog Africa’s sustainable agricultural development lie in financial technologies (FinTech). FinTech uses digital technology innovations to ease the provision of financial services to users and thus enhance financial inclusion. The aim of this study is to clarify the important role that FinTech can play in financing sustainability in agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). To examine this role, the study shortlisted 17 SSA countries. The literature on FinTech-enhanced agricultural initiatives in these countries was reviewed. The results confirm that FinTech has the opportunity to become the much needed ‘support system’ for sustainable agriculture in SSA. Most of the financial products accessed by smallholder farmers in the selected countries helped the farmers in addressing production and marketing challenges in agriculture. The technologies can also help to improve efficiency in financing smallholder agriculture, enabling wider adoption of sustainable agricultural practices. To promote the financing of sustainable agriculture at scale, there is a need to train the farmers about the functionality of digital platforms, and policymakers need to address challenges such as gaps in infrastructure between the urban and rural areas.

Role of AMRUT Project in Urban Governance of West Bengal: A Review of Barddhaman Municipality (2015-2020)

The term "urban governance" refers to the effective planning, financing, and reforms in the delivery of urban services to people. Deficits in India's urban basic infrastructure pose a threat to inclusive governance. As a result, schemes such as AMRUT have been developed to fill infrastructure gaps and improve service delivery through effective planning, financing, decentralized-digital reforms, and people's participation. This paper will critically investigate the underlying process that projects like AMRUT use to develop urban planning, financing, reforms, and services more accountable, effective, transparent, and inclusive.

POTRAIT OF PUBLIC PRIVATE PARTNERSHIP POLICY SUBSTANCES IN REGIONAL HOSPITALS IN INDONESIA

Public Private Partnership (PPP) is a strategy of the Indonesian Government to deal with budget constraints and overcome gaps in infrastructure, access, and quality of health services. PPP on the operational cooperation (KSO) model is the oldest and most widely applied practice by regional hospitals in Indonesia. The implementation of KSO must refer to government policies in the form of laws and regulations. Since its initial implementation until today, the Ministry of Home Affairs, as the body that oversees the local government, has not carried out a comprehensive evaluation of the KSO policy. This study was carried out by conducting document analysis related to the operational cooperation policies of regional hospitals and reviewing the substance of operational cooperation policies at the national and regional levels. Study found that there are no articles governing service level agreements; no performance indicators of cooperation in monitoring and evaluation, limited autonomy; several regional head regulations are not accompanied by technical guidelines; and there are variations in the substance of the regional head regulations. This study concludes that the KSO policy framework for regional hospitals is inadequate, incomplete, and limits the autonomy of regional hospitals.

A novel approach to interrogating the effects of chemical warfare agent exposure using organ-on-a-chip technology and multiomic analysis.

Organ-on-a-chip platforms are utilized in global bioanalytical and toxicological studies as a way to reduce materials and increase throughput as compared to in vivo based experiments. These platforms bridge the infrastructure and regulatory gaps between in vivo animal work and human systems, with models that exemplify active biological pathways. In conjunction with the advent of increased capabilities associated with next generation sequencing and mass spectrometry based '-omic' technologies, organ-on-a-chip platforms provide an excellent opportunity to investigate the global changes at multiple biological levels, including the transcriptome, proteome and metabolome. When investigated concurrently, a complete profile of cellular and regulatory perturbations can be characterized following treatment with specific agonists. In this study, global effects were observed and analyzed following liver chip exposure to the chemical warfare agent, VX. Even though the primary mechanism of action of VX (i.e. acetylcholinesterase inhibition) is well characterized, recent in vivo studies suggest additional protein binding partners that are implicated in metabolism and cellular energetic pathways. In addition, secondary toxicity associated with peripheral organ systems, especially in human tissues, is not well defined. Our results demonstrate the potential of utilizing an organ-on-a-chip platform as a surrogate system to traditional in vivo studies. This is realized by specifically indicating significant dysregulation of several cellular processes in response to VX exposure including but not limited to amino acid synthesis, drug metabolism, and energetics pathways.

Blockchain-Driven Real-Time Incentive Approach for Energy Management System

In the current era, the skyrocketing demand for energy necessitates a powerful mechanism to mitigate the supply–demand gap in intelligent energy infrastructure, i.e., the smart grid. To handle this issue, an intelligent and secure energy management system (EMS) could benefit end-consumers participating in the Demand–Response (DR) program. Therefore, in this paper, we proposed a real-time and secure incentive-based EMS for smart grid, i.e., RI-EMS approach using Reinforcement Learning (RL) and blockchain technology. In the RI-EMS approach, we proposed a novel reward mechanism for better convergence of the RL-based model using a Q-learning approach based on the greedy policy that guides the RL-agent for faster convergence. Then, the proposed RI-EMS approach designed a real-time incentive mechanism to minimize energy consumption in peak hours and reduce end-consumers’ energy bills to provide incentives to the end-consumers. Experimental results show that the proposed RI-EMS approach induces end-consumer participation and increases customer profitabilities compared to existing approaches considering the different performance evaluation metrics such as energy consumption for end-consumers, energy consumption reduction, and total cost comparison to end-consumers. Furthermore, blockchain-based results are simulated and analyzed with the help of deployed smart contracts in a Remix Integrated Development Environment (IDE) with the parameters such as transaction efficiency and data storage cost.

Bond market development and infrastructure-gap reduction: The case of Sub-saharan Africa

Infrastructure development and it's financing have featured jointly in the economic development discourse. We consider the linkages between the two in the African context by examining the potential role of the region's fledgling bond markets in mobilizing resources to bridge its notorious infrastructure gap (IG). Applying a battery of econometric tests on 40 countries covering 2003–2018, we document robustly negative and nonlinear relationships between bond market development and IG (and, by extension, infrastructure financing deficit). Furthermore, these fledgling government and corporate bond markets play a complimentary role in financing vital infrastructures; with corporate bond markets interestingly eliciting greater reduction in IGs than government bond markets. In the future, African governments should implement policies that promote the development of both sovereign and corporate bond markets, with a strategic emphasis on quickly deepening corporate bond markets to facilitate more impactful financing of infrastructures.

Challenges and strategies among family care partners of community-dwelling persons with dementia nearing end of life.

A growing number of persons living with dementia (PLwD) die at home with hospice care. However, there is limited information describing the needs of dying, community-dwelling persons with dementia and their family care partners (FCPs). Understanding the range of challenges faced by these FCPs is requisite to developing resources and refining support infrastructure. The current study identifies caregiving challenges unique to this population and strategies FCPs use to address those challenges. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 40 current or recently bereaved FCPs of home hospice patients living with dementia, recruited from geriatrics clinics and a hospice agency in the New York metropolitan area. A thematic analysis guided by deductive and inductive approaches was used to code interview transcripts, identify broader conceptual categories, and search for themes. Three themes were identified related to challenges faced by FCPs: (1) managing emotions and reacting to behaviors associated with advanced dementia; (2) lack of knowledge and adequate information related to dementia: disease progression and caregiving skills; and (3) maintaining FCP well-being: self-care and caregiver burden. Three themes were identified that describe strategies FCPs of PLwD employ to cope with end-of-life caregiving demands: (1) accepting help from professional caregivers and hospice support services; (2) getting knowledge and information about dementia; and (3) pragmatic approaches and acceptance of signs and symptoms of disease progression. FCPs of PLwD near the end of life (EOL) face caregiving challenges unique to dementia and dying. While FCPs are resourceful in identifying novel strategies for managing burden and caregiving responsibilities, our results point to gaps in the current support infrastructure for this population at the EOL. Findings also identify areas of need for care partners navigating end-of-life issues.

Does political risk matter for infrastructure investments? Empirical evidence

ABSTRACT Infrastructure assets are vital for economic development and integration, but they also encompass political risks. In Africa, infrastructure assets have remained a paradox where there is great potential for opportunities but very few projects get to the final phases. Adequate infrastructure can propagate the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals whilst supporting recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic. Drawing from a longitudinal data set from 2000 to 2021 for 35 African countries, the paper empirically examined the nexus between infrastructure and political risk. Several techniques were employed to determine the dynamic effect, cointegration and causality between infrastructure and political risk. Controlling for the potential endogeneity in infrastructure the system Generalized Method of Moments, the relationship between political risk and infrastructure was ascertained. Furthermore, the ARDL-PMG was employed to determine the cointegration and causal relationship between infrastructure and political risk. The results suggest a cointegration between infrastructure assets and political risk. Infrastructure adjusts to changes in political risk to its long-run equilibrium at a speed of adjustment of 16.9 per cent. Bridging infrastructure gaps in Africa requires an extensive set of actions. Thus, the policy derivatives of our findings, suggest controlling the proliferation of political risk to support infrastructure investment.

Improving service delivery at primary healthcare facilities for achieving Universal Health Coverage: Examining the effects of insecurity in such facilities in Enugu State, Nigeria

Background: Availability of health services at the primary healthcare (PHC) level is crucial to the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). However, insecurity of PHC facilities inspires unavailability of health services. From perspectives of primary health service providers, we examined the effects of insecurity at rural and urban PHC facilities in Enugu, Nigeria. Methodology: The study adopts a qualitative method using in-depth interviews and non-participant observation. The study sites were eight (8) PHC facilities (rural/urban) that were purposively selected. The first author interacted with the health workers and made extensive observations on infrastructure, policing, and other security gaps affecting the facilities. Findings: While health workers wish to provide services as stipulated, the fear of getting hurt or losing their properties to hoodlums scares them, especially during the dusk hours. Owing to infrastructure deficits and lack of security personnel, incidents of losing phones, stolen babies and facility items/consumables, and patients being attacked were said to be recurring. The absence of power supply during the dusk hours tend to heighten their fears, hence health workers close before it gets dark, not minding the consequences on health service users. Conclusion: The issue of insecurity of lives of both the health workers and their clients is paramount to the optimal use of services in the PHC facilities. Insecurity is a priority concern for the health workers, and if not addressed could cause them to completely shun working in certain areas, or shun their jobs completely, with dire consequences for the achievement of UHC.

The Role of Circular Economy in Achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): An Integrative Framework

Circular Economy (CE) offers a comprehensive approach to address the growing environmental, economic and social challenges posed by traditional linear economic systems, especially in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). about the ho. This study aims to examine the role of the circular economy in advancing specific SDGs, including SDG 12 (Responsible Management and Action), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation), there is SDG 7 (Affordable and Clean) Energy) , SDG 8 (Decent Infrastructure and Economic Growth), and SDG 9 (Infrastructure, Innovation and Infrastructure Effective). By applying CE principles to these goals, the study identifies key areas where circular practices can contribute to global sustainability efforts. Findings suggest that, despite substantial benefits, several barriers—such as policy and regulatory barriers, financial and market challenges, and technological infrastructure gaps—impede the realization of circular economic potential completely The study concludes that structural changes, innovations to address these challenges , and emphasize the importance of intersectoral collaboration to facilitate the transition to a more sustainable and circular economy plant.

Fostering Financial Inclusion and Education Access in the Global South: Collaborative Stratagem

This investigation delves into the intricate challenges surrounding financial inclusion and convenient access to high-quality education within the Global South, encompassing regions such as Latin America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania. The study underscores the pressing imperative for concerted action to ameliorate the dire state of the education system. A considerable segment of the populace grapples with limited access to superior education due to financial constraints, inadequately trained educators, substandard learning environments, and the exclusion of children with varying abilities. These barriers impede not only individual advancement but also stymie collective socio-economic progress, perpetuating disparities in society. The study accentuates the pivotal role played by partnerships, advocacy initiatives, and innovative financial paradigms in surmounting these challenges, drawing upon an extensive corpus of research and empirical data. Emphasizing the necessity of forging collaborations among commercial enterprises, non-profit entities, and educational institutions, it aims to bridge the resource and infrastructure gaps in education. Propelled by advocacy campaigns, policymakers, communities, and diverse stakeholders can be effectively convinced of the profound value of financial education and literacy. A significant obstruction scrutinized in this study is the financial aspect, constituting a formidable barrier to accessing high-caliber education across the Global South. Financial constraints manifest in elevated dropout rates and diminished educational attainments, exacerbating extant societal disparities. Innovative financial strategies, such as grants, scholarships, microloans, and digital payment alternatives, serve as potent instruments for bolstering accessibility and affordability of higher education. Concluding this study is an exhaustive compendium of recommendations to redress these pressing challenges. These recommendations encompass fortifying partnerships, advocating for enhanced financial literacy, implementing cost-effective measures, augmenting the availability of scholarships and grants, and underscore the vital importance of international cooperation. The research underscores the criticality of funding teacher training programs and bolstering educational infrastructure as indispensable components within a holistic strategy aimed at enhancing education within the Global South.

Pancreatic Islet Biobanking Facilities in India: The Need of the Hour to Deal with Diabetes?

Endocrine pancreas regulates glucose homeostasis and prevents diabetes. Type-1 diabetes is characterized by destruction of the insulin secreting β-cells within the endocrine pancreatic islets, resulting in lower insulin release. People with type-1 diabetes can be transplanted with pancreatic islets obtained from deceased donors which restores the β-cell function. There are around 70 human islet isolation centers around the world which mostly collect endocrine pancreas from deceased donors. They assess the islet yield, functionality, viability, secretory capacity, and purity for transplantation and distribute this to donors. They also distribute a part of the pancreatic tissue for research, so that the cellular mechanisms in the human pancreatic tissue can be understood. This is crucial since human islet tissue has a unique cytoarchitecture compared to murine counterparts and therefore islet research with murine islets does not give complete picture of diabetes in humans. India is poised to take the mantle of the diabetes capital of the world in the near future. Despite this, there are no human islet isolation centers which can facilitate islet transplantation and diabetes research in India. This article highlights the glaring gap in the current infrastructure for diabetes care and provides critical insights into the role and potential of setting up islet tissue banks in the most populous country of the world.

Pattern of referral rate to secondary health care in University Medical Center : a cross-sectional study

Primary health care acts as the initial point of contact between individuals, families, and the healthcare system, making healthcare easily accessible in the areas where people live and work. Many healthcare systems emphasize the relationship between primary and secondary care, with primary care physicians delivering primary health care (PHC) and identifying patients in need of secondary healthcare. Consequently, strengthening the primary healthcare sector is essential for enhancing both the accessibility and quality of healthcare.to fill the gaps in health infrastructure, a sound referral system is essential. The provision of care services to patients by general practitioners in outpatient university clinics is associated with several challenges, necessitating the referral of patients to specialty clinics for secondary and expert care. The reasons and rates of referral to the specialty clinics differ depending on the patient\'s condition and general practitioners\' competencyTypes of healthcare settings, such as residential care, influenced the patterns of referral to secondary care. Family and resident general practitioners displayed different patterns and rates of referral of their clients.

The effect of road types on severe road accidents in Peru

It is not a secret that road accidents cause significant suffering. Those accidents can last from wounded to dead people, negatively impacting a country. A bunch of recent investigations tried to tie road accidents with the quality of roads. Therefore, in a country with a significant infrastructure gap, it is necessary to analyze the relationship between the different kinds of roads and the severity of car accidents. The current research examined such a relationship by employing the Multi logit regression. It was found that the significance of different car accidents will vary among the road types. Moreover, with the help of probability analysis, it was discovered that speeding, emergency services availability, and road security seemed to have a crucial impact on road accidents.

International project finance deals as indicators of productive cross-border investment: UNCTAD’s approach

International project finance (IPF) can channel private cross-border capital toward productive investments in (mostly) infrastructure sectors, especially where government budget constraints are tight. Moreover, it has recently gained importance as a tool to finance the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) and bridge the large infrastructure gap for climate megaprojects. In such contexts, projects often require international capital along with expertise and credibility; they also require a project-specific risk allocation that IPF accommodates. This research note assesses project finance in the context of international productive investments, its link with other forms of international investment (mergers and acquisitions, and cross-border greenfield investments) in the data used, and its use in UNCTAD’s publications. Data is a lynchpin for analysis but is not unproblematic. The note explores incongruences and their impact. It also outlines UNCTAD’s conceptual choice to capture ongoing productive investments in infrastructure through project finance in the world economy.

The Tyranny of Time and Distance: Impediments for Remote Agritourism Operators Accessing Support in the Northern Territory, Australia

ABSTRACT This study investigated the perceived impediments that prevent remote agritourism operators in the Northern Territory (NT) Australia from expanding and accessing support from governmental and industry organisations. Five primary themes emerged from 11 in-depth interviews with remote agritourism operators across the NT. These included distance from urban centres, limited human resources, infrastructure gaps, high capital requirements, and difficulties navigating and accessing support organisations. In addition, all businesses acknowledged they required support, the vast distance from urban centres often prevented participation in relevant programs due to a lack of time (for both travel and participation), seasonality and the patchwork range of support resources. A key recommendation is for government and other support organisations, as well as policymakers to improve their engagement with the sector in order to develop appropriate supports.

Spillover Effects of Digital Infrastructure and Financing

This article proposes a tax sharing scheme between governments and private sector investors of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) infrastructure. The current COVID-19 pandemic has not only emphasized the crucial need of ICT infrastructure development, but has also expanded government budget deficits in many countries. Therefore, participation from the private sectors is necessary to close the widening investment gap in ICT infrastructure. One of the measures to attract private sectors’ involvement in ICT infrastructure is by creating a steady stream of income for the investors. To ensure the success of the proposed financing scheme, this article also recommends the development of supporting hard and soft infrastructure as well as the digitalization of tax reporting systems.

Trends in the Prioritization and Implementation of Substance Use Programs by Nonprofit Hospitals: 2015-2021.

Hospitalizations are an important opportunity to address substance use through inpatient services, outpatient care, and community partnerships, yet the extent to which nonprofit hospitals prioritize such services across time remains unknown. The objective of this study is to examine trends in nonprofit hospitals' prioritization and implementation of substance use disorder (SUD) programs. We assessed trends in hospital prioritization of substance use as a top five community need and hospital implementation of SUD programing at nonprofit hospitals between 2015 and 2021 using two waves (wave 1: 2015-2018; wave 2: 2019-2021) by examining hospital community benefit reports. We utilized t or χ 2 tests to understand whether there were significant differences in the prioritization and implementation of SUD programs across waves. We used multilevel logistic regression to evaluate the relation between prioritization and implementation of SUD programs, hospital and community characteristics, and wave. Hospitals were less likely to have prioritized SUD but more likely to have implemented SUD programs in the most recent 3 years compared, even after adjusting for the local overdose rate and hospital- and community-level variables. Although most hospitals consistently prioritized and implemented SUD programs during the 2015-2021 period, a 11% removed and 15% never adopted SUD programs at all, despite an overall increase in overdose rates. Our study identified gaps in hospital SUD infrastructure during a time of elevated need. Failing to address this gap reflects missed opportunities to engage vulnerable populations, provide linkages to treatment, and prevent complications of substance use.

Waiting for Europe: Utopia, Narratives of the Imaginary West and the Materiality of Police Culture in Ukraine

Abstract Despite the long-held interest of researchers in the police culture(s), police imaginaries have barely received attention. This article is concerned with the imaginaries of the West produced by Ukrainian police officers. Based on the 5-month ethnography in two Ukrainian cities, I argue that Ukrainian police officers construct the idealized non-place of the Imaginary West to cope with the pressures of their work and criticize their working conditions, perceived lack of support from the state, gaps in infrastructure and lack of authority in encounters with the public. I discuss the implications of research on imaginary non-places for the field of police studies, arguing for the need to account for the materiality of culture.