Initial Impact Research Articles

Cross-border impacts of climate change affect the energy transition: Insights from the Finnish energy sector

The world is currently in the midst of an energy transition, in which renewable and low-carbon energy is replacing the use of fossil fuels. Along the way, however, planning for and adapting to impacts of climate change is urgently needed, as these are projected to intensify in the future, despite ambitious mitigation efforts. Since the low-carbon energy transition is likely to involve many international interdependencies and connections between countries and regions, assessments of cross-border impacts of climate change, i.e., consequences of climate change that occur remotely from the location of their initial impact, are of utmost importance to ensure the decarbonisation of society is safe and sustainable. This paper utilises expert interviews and a general morphological analysis with the shared socioeconomic pathways to situate national decarbonisation efforts within a global context and identify cross-border impacts of climate change that may affect the energy transition, using the Finnish energy sector as a case study. Interestingly, many of the global development trends that were found to have a boosting effect on the Finnish energy transition, also increased the risk from cross-border climate change impacts, stressing the importance of rigorous adaptation planning. The findings affirm the need for studying national energy transitions from a global perspective and highlight the tendency of climate change impacts to be transmitted across borders via complex pathways. The study offers valuable insights into the importance of cross-border impacts for adaptation planning pertinent to any country or region currently engaged, or planning to engage, in the global low-carbon transition.

Exploring the influence of initial design domain dependencies in concurrent multiscale topology optimization for heat conductivity maximization

Advancements in additive manufacturing have led to the widespread adoption of topology and shape optimization in the design process across various industrial applications. Topology optimization has emerged as a promising approach for creating ultra-lightweight structures with exceptional functionality. By designing porous structures and addressing the layout of pores, concurrent multiscale topology optimization schemes offer a means to achieve such outcomes. This paper focuses on the development of a multiscale topology optimization tool and presents a numerical investigation of the initial design domain's impact on maximizing heat conductivity through concurrent multiscale topology optimization. The study highlights the significant influence of the initial design domain in the microscale on the final microscale design. Moreover, modifying the initial micro design domain has a direct impact on the macro design domain. The findings underscore the importance of considering the initial design domain when aiming to maximize heat conductivity through concurrent multiscale topology optimization. To facilitate the replication of the results presented in this paper, comprehensive details regarding parameter settings and implementation aspects are provided.

A narrative review of the effects of dexamethasone on traumatic brain injury in clinical and animal studies: focusing on inflammation.

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a type of brain injury resulting from a sudden physical force to the head. TBI can range from mild, such as a concussion, to severe, which might result in long-term complications or even death. The initial impact or primary injury to the brain is followed by neuroinflammation, excitotoxicity, and oxidative stress, which are the hallmarks of the secondary injury phase, that can further damage the brain tissue. Dexamethasone (DXM) has neuroprotective effects. It reduces neuroinflammation, a critical factor in secondary injury-associated neuronal damage. DXM can also suppress the microglia activation and infiltrated macrophages, which are responsible for producing pro-inflammatory cytokines that contribute to neuroinflammation. Considering the outcomes of this research, some of the effects of DXM on TBI include: (1) DXM-loaded hydrogels reduce apoptosis, neuroinflammation, and lesion volume and improves neuronal cell survival and motor performance, (2) DXM treatment elevates the levels of Ndufs2, Gria3, MAOB, and Ndufv2 in the hippocampus following TBI, (3) DXM decreases the quantity of circulating endothelial progenitor cells, (4) DXM reduces the expression of IL1, (5) DXM suppresses the infiltration of RhoA + cells into primary lesions of TBI and (6) DXM treatment led to an increase in fractional anisotropy values and a decrease in apparent diffusion coefficient values, indicating improved white matter integrity. According to the study, the findings show that DXM treatment has neuroprotective effects in TBI. This indicates that DXM is a promising therapeutic approach to treating TBI.

A prospective, observational study of frailty, quality of life and dialysis in older people with advanced chronic kidney disease

BackgroundFrailty is prevalent in older people with chronic kidney disease (CKD) and robust evidence supporting the benefit of dialysis in this setting is lacking. We aimed to measure frailty and quality of life (QOL) longitudinally in older people with advanced CKD and assess the impact of dialysis initiation on frailty, QOL and mortality.MethodsOutpatients aged ≥65 with an eGFR ≤ 20ml/minute/1.73m2 were enrolled in a prospective observational study and followed up four years later. Frailty status was measured using a Frailty Index (FI), and QOL was evaluated using the EuroQol 5D-5L instrument. Mortality and dialysis status were determined through inspection of electronic records.ResultsNinety-eight participants were enrolled. Between enrolment and follow-up, 36% of participants commenced dialysis and 59% died. Frailty prevalence increased from 47% at baseline to 86% at follow-up (change in median FI = 0.22, p < 0.001). Initiating dialysis was not significantly associated with change in FI. QOL declined from baseline to follow-up (mean EQ-5D-5L visual analogue score of 70 vs 63, p = 0.034), though commencing dialysis was associated with less decline in QOL. Each 0.1 increment in baseline FI was associated with 59% increased mortality hazard (HR = 1.59, 95%CI = 1.20 to 2.12, p = 0.001), and commencing dialysis was associated with 59% reduction in mortality hazard (HR = 0.41, 95%CI = 0.20 to 0.87, p = 0.020) irrespective of baseline FI.ConclusionsFrailty increased substantially over four years, and higher baseline frailty was associated with greater mortality. Commencing dialysis did not affect the trajectory of FI but positively influenced the trajectory of QOL from baseline to follow-up. Within the limitations of small sample size, our data suggests that frail participants received similar survival benefit from dialysis as non-frail participants.

The Role of Economic and Innovation Initiatives in Planning a Smart City Strategy in Greece

As digital technology has become an integral part of urban life’s daily operations, the urban landscape is constantly evolving with the needs of its society. This new reality has allowed municipalities to invest in technologies related to smart cities and to exert a greater influence on the national and local economy. In line with this, the paper aims to understand the mechanisms of planning and implementing a municipality’s strategy in Greece to exploit the smart city benefits and to foster economic development. It is important to identify the role of different factors including strategy during the planning and implementing phases of initiatives concerning the economy and innovation in a smart city. To achieve this, data were collected via a questionnaire and processed using the advanced statistical technique PLS-SEM. The main findings highlight the importance of planning initiatives aligned with the needs of the municipality and the business ecosystem. The existence of a smart city strategy has a catalytic effect on the final impact of the implemented initiatives on the urban ecosystem. A systematic analysis of the smart cities’ dynamics and the new state of the urban ecosystem can help the local actors focus on value creation and public service provision, fostering innovation and profitability.

What drives organizational agility in energy sector companies? The role of strategic CSR initiatives and the dimensions of proactive CSR

The speed of global changes, which are forcing energy companies to take proactive initiatives so as to take advantage of market opportunities, increase the importance of organizational agility as a key strategic alignment mechanism. The second most important mechanism determining the development of companies in the energy sector is social responsibility, which by nature should be proactive and embedded in the development strategy. Drawing on research linking organizational agility to social responsibility, this article aims to explain how strategic CSR initiatives and a proactive approach to CSR affect organizational agility in energy sector companies. Data collected from 197 Central European energy firms using CAWI and CATI methods was analyzed using SEM modeling. The results confirm the direct impact of strategic CSR initiatives on organizational agility, through the mediating variable – social dimension of proactive CSR. The study also suggests a direct impact of strategic CSR initiatives on particular types of proactive CSR.

Extra-curricular support for entrepreneurship among engineering students: development of entrepreneurial self-efficacy and intentions

This study seeks to understand the impact of extra-curricular entrepreneurship support within a University Based Entrepreneurial Ecosystem (UBEE) on the entrepreneurial self-efficacy and entrepreneurial intentions of engineering students in India. A UBEE can directly affect the likelihood that students identify and exploit entrepreneurial opportunities, which, affects their entrepreneurial intentions. However, there is a dearth of research investigating the impact of university entrepreneurial support initiatives on engineering students’ entrepreneurial intentions and entrepreneurial self-efficacy. This is especially true in the Indian context despite its start-up friendly policies. This study aims to address this gap and contribute to advance knowledge in the area of UBEE research. Grounded in Social Cognitive Theory, this study takes an ecosystem approach that considers the interactions and inter-dependencies among different elements of UBEE, such as entrepreneurial support initiatives and students’ beliefs and intentions to start up. This study adopts a quantitative research design. Survey data was collected from 314 undergraduate engineering students from five engineering colleges in South India and data was analysed using structural equation modelling. Results suggest that the extracurricular support programs within a UBEE significantly influences beliefs of entrepreneurial self-efficacy in students, which in turn predicts the intentions of students to startup new ventures. This study found that entrepreneurial self-efficacy has a mediating effect between the extracurricular support programs and entrepreneurial intentions of engineering students. Findings of this study have several practical and policy implications for government, university management and entrepreneurship educators. This study contributes to the emerging literature on engineering entrepreneurship education.

Dynamic Prediction Model for Initial Apple Damage.

Prediction models of damage severity are crucial for the damage expression of fruit. In light of issues such as the mismatch of existing models in actual damage scenarios and the failure of static models to meet research needs, this article proposes a dynamic prediction model for damage severity throughout the entire process of apple damage and studies the relationship between the initial bruise form and impact energy distribution of apple damage. From the experiments, it was found that after impact a "cell death zone" appeared in the internal pulp of the damaged part of Red Delicious apples. The reason for the appearance of the cell death zone was that the impact force propagated in the direction of the fruit kernel in the form of stress waves; the continuous action of which continuously compressed the pulp's cell tissue. When the energy absorbed via elastic deformation reached the limit value, intercellular disadhesion of parenchyma cells at the location of the stress wave peak occurred to form cell rupture. The increase in intercellular space for the parenchyma cells near the rupture site caused a large amount of necrocytosis and, ultimately, formed the cell death zone. The depth of the cell death zone was closely related to the impact energy. The correlation coefficient r between the depth of the cell death zone and the distribution of impact energy was slightly lower at the impact height of 50 mm. As the impact height increased, the correlation coefficient r increased, approaching of value of 1. When the impact height was lower (50 mm), the correlation coefficient r had a large distribution range (from 0.421 to 0.983). As the impact height increased, the distribution range significantly decreased. The width of the cell death zone had a poor correlation with the pressure distribution on the impact surface of the apples that was not related to the impact height. In this article, the corresponding relationship between the form and impact energy distribution of the internal damaged tissues in the initial damage of Red Delicious apples was analyzed. This analysis aimed to provide a research concept and theoretical basis for more reliable research on the morphological changes in the damaged tissues of apples in the future, further improving the prediction accuracy of damage severity.

Dynamic behavior of multilayered skin structure: A preliminary numerical and analytical microscopic analysis

High-velocity micro-particle impact on multilayered skin structure is of interest in the framework of transdermal drug delivery system. The understanding of the physical impact process in this phenomenon is complex and lack of experimental investigations in the literature. This work aims to investigate the impact responses of multilayered skin structure impacted by high-velocity micro-scale particle utilizing numerical and analytical analysis. Numerical and analytical analysis were conducted based on Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) method and Poncelet model, respectively. A good agreement exits between analytical and numerical penetration trajectories and velocity-penetration relationships with an initial impact velocity of 200 m/s, while the discrepancies increase with a higher velocity of 600 m/s. The comparison between analytical and numerical results reveals that the developed numerical model is able to reasonably predict the impact responses of different skin layers under micro-particle impact. The present work is a first step to study high-velocity micro-particle impact responses applying real multilayered skin structures and mechanical properties, which could be further investigated to interpret and guide the design of transdermal drug delivery equipment.

Impact and Equity of New York City's Tobacco Retail Reduction Initiative

High levels of tobacco retailer density in communities is associated with a range of tobacco use behaviors and is a key structural driver of tobacco-related disparities. This study evaluates the impacts of New York City's (NYC) novel policy intervention to cap tobacco retail licenses on tobacco retailer density levels and neighborhood inequities in tobacco access. Using geocoded tobacco retail licensing data from 2010 to 2022, Bayesian conditional autoregressive Poisson panel models estimated the association between policy implementation in 2018 and retailer density per 1,000 population, controlling for neighborhood-level sociodemographic factors. Data were analyzed in 2023. The number of tobacco retail licenses decreased from 9,304 in 2010 to 5,107 in 2022, with the rate of decline significantly accelerating post-policy (-14·2% versus -34·2%). Policy effects were stronger in districts with lower income and greater proportions of non-Hispanic Black residents. NYC's policy substantially reduced tobacco retailer density and appeared to close longstanding patterns of inequity in tobacco access, serving as a rare example of a tobacco control policy that may effectively reduce tobacco-related disparities. This emergent approach to restructure tobacco retail in communities may reach populations that have not benefitted from traditional tobacco control policies and should be considered by other localities.

Estimating the savings of a national project to prevent healthcare-associated infections in intensive care units

Healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) significantly impact patients' morbidity and mortality and have a detrimental financial impact on the health care system. Various strategies exist to prevent HAIs, but economic evaluations are needed to choose which are most appropriate. To present the financial impact of a nationwide project on HAI prevention in intensive care units (ICUs) using a quality improvement (QI) approach. A health economic evaluation assessed the financial results of the QI initiative "Saúde em Nossas Mãos" (SNM), implemented in Brazil between January 2018 and December 2020. Among 116 participating institutions, 13 (11.2%) correctly reported the aggregate cost and stratified patients (with vs. without HAI) in the pre-intervention and post-intervention periods. Average cost (AC) was calculated for each analysed HAI, central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI), ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP), and catheter-associated urinary tract infection (CAUTI). The absorption model and time-driven activity-based costing were used for cost estimations. Infections the project could have prevented during its implementation were estimated to demonstrate the financial impact of the SNM initiative. The aggregated AC calculated for each HAI from these 13 ICUs - US$8,480 for CLABSI, US$10,039 for VAP, and US$7,464 for CAUTI - were extrapolated to the total number of HAIs prevented by the project (1,727 CLABSI, 3,797 VAP, and 2,150 CAUTI). The overall savings of the SNM as of December 2020 were estimated at US$68.8 million, with an estimated return on investment (ROI) of 765%. Reporting accurate financial data on HAI prevention strategies is still challenging in Brazil. Our results suggest that a national QI initiative to prevent HAI in critical care settings is a feasible and value-based approach, reducing financial waste and yielding a significant ROI for the health care system.

Efficacy of TNF-Alpha Inhibitors to Control Inflammation and Prevent Secondary Complications in Non-Infectious Uveitis: A Real-Life Experience from Switzerland

ABSTRACT Purpose To evaluate the efficacy of systemic tumor necrosis factor-alpha inhibitors (TNFi) in the treatment of non-infectious uveitis (NIU). Methods This Swiss multicenter retrospective cohort study included patients with NIU requiring TNFi during the period from 2001 to 2018. Risk factors for the occurrence of new complications were identified using Cox regression analysis and hazard ratios (HR). Results Seventy-one patients (126 eyes; mean age 40.6 ± 14.4 years, mean duration of uveitis 46.0 ± 61.8 months) were followed for 40.2 ± 17.3 months after addition of TNFi. Under TNFi, visual acuity improved from 0.2 ± 0.3 to 0.1 ± 0.3 logMAR (p < 0.001). The portion of patients under systemic corticosteroids decreased from 81.7% to 25.4% (p < 0.001), while that for conventional synthetic disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs insignificantly decreased from 63.4% to 50.7% (p > 0.05). In 80.2% of eyes, complications were present at baseline with epiretinal gliosis (39.7%), cataract (41.3%) and macular edema (ME; 27.8%) being the most common. New complications under TNFi were encountered in 49.2% of eyes, also including recurrence (5 eyes) or new onset of ME (14 eyes). The need for switching of TNFi was associated with further complications (HR 3.78, p = 0.012). Conclusion Although the efficacy and tolerability of TNFi in a real-life setting are favorable, treatment is often initiated late, i.e., after many eyes have already developed complications. Even with TNFi, new complications, particularly ME, cannot be completely avoided. Further research is needed to assess the impact of earlier initiation of TNFi therapy.

Damage behavior and assessment of aeronautical PMMA subjected to high-velocity water-jet impact

Rain erosion of forward-facing aircraft components such as windshields can lead to a significant reduction in performance, hence a potential hazard to air safety, especially for supersonic fighters exposed to precipitation. To understand such threats, the damage behavior of two types of most commonly used aeronautical PMMA, i.e., oriented and non-oriented, under water droplet impact is investigated. A single-impact jet apparatus based on the one-stage gas gun was established to simulate the rain droplet impact. Two critical variables were evaluated, including water-jet velocities and incident angles. Typical damage characteristic features including annular depression and circumferential cracks were observed on non-oriented PMMA targets. In contrast, on oriented PMMA targets, massive subsurface craze delamination was observed without any sign of surface cracks. The distinct damage features are determined by the different damage behavior of the oriented and non-oriented PMMA targets during the initial stage of the impingement and the shearing effect of the lateral jet. Increasing impact velocity leads to surface peeling and bulk removal, escalating the damage severity. The damage mechanism of subsurface failure was revealed by observing stress wave interaction and the FEM simulation. An impulse method was developed to quantify each impact event and assess the damaged area. A linear relationship between the damaged area and the initial impact stage impulse was established, which can be applied for preliminary evaluation and prediction of the damage caused by high-velocity water droplet impact on aeronautical PMMA.

Expanding Psychiatric Treatment in Primary Care Settings: Improved Care Through the Wisconsin Child Psychiatry Consultation Program.

The national shortage of child psychiatrists has resulted in the necessity of primary care providers (PCPs) managing increased mental health concerns of youth. The Wisconsin Child Psychiatry Consultation Program (WI CPCP) is one of several programs throughout the United States which provide PCPs with education, consultation, and resource support related to pediatric mental health. To evaluate initial impact of the program, data from 190 pediatricians and family practitioners from the Wisconsin Health Information Organization (WHIO) were analyzed. Enrollment in the WI CPCP was associated with a significant increase in rates of mental health diagnoses within primary care visits. In addition, the number of providers who made any mental health diagnosis increased from 56% of PCPs pre-enrollment to over 99% post-enrollment. These data provide additional support for pediatric psychiatry consultation programs within primary care.

Green-Smart University Campuses: The Mediating Role of Student Engagement in Enhancing Corporate Image

This study investigates the motivating factors influencing university students’ participation in the Green-Smart Campus initiative. The model examines variables from the student’s perspective, with a green-smart campus as the exogenous variable, encompassing energy efficiency sustainable buildings, sustainable transportation, waste management, and water management. Data was collected via an online questionnaire from 1,000 participants, undergraduate and graduate students at the University of Jordan, using random sampling. After excluding 56 incomplete responses, regression analysis was conducted on 745 valid responses to explore the relationships between variables. The research reveals a significant positive impact of the Green-Smart Campus initiative on student engagement and the university’s corporate image. Institutions promoting green practices, like recycling programs and eco-friendly transportation options, experienced higher student engagement levels. Engaged students felt connected to the institution and actively participated in sustainability-related activities, enhancing the university’s corporate image. Student engagement was found to mediate the relationship between the Green-Smart Campus initiative and the university’s corporate image. Engaged students played a crucial role in translating sustainability initiatives into an enhanced institutional reputation by sharing positive experiences and advocating for the institution.

Sustainable mining: Examining the direct and configuration path of legitimacy pressure, dual embeddedness resource dependency and green mining towards resource management

The mining industries' contribution to economies has been limited to the boomtown's impact of short-term initiatives. However, the bane of mining on resource management has been a recurring theme. This study recognizes the need to investigate the interrelationship among legitimate pressure, resource dependence, and green practices in the quest for sustainable resource management. The study categorized legitimate pressure into three distinct groups (coercive, normative, and mimetic pressure) and resource dependence into intra and inter-organizational resource dependence to assess the interrelationship among these constructs. We use both the structural model and the fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) approach and 320 respondents from the Ghanaian mining industry.According to our findings, normative pressure does not influence the implementation of green mining policies without the two groups of resource dependencies acting as mediators.The findings from the fSQCA have shown that the combination of coercive pressure, normative pressure, inter-organizational resource dependencies, and intra-organizational resource dependencies is the best path toward sustainable resource management. The study contributes to the global efforts toward sustainable resource management. Policy and managerial implications are discussed.

Molecular dynamics simulations of droplet coalescence and impact dynamics on the modified surfaces: A review

The effective control of droplet coalescence and impact behaviors on solid surfaces plays a crucial role in various fields, such as material science, environmental science, energy, biomedicine, agriculture, and aerospace. This review aims to summarize recent advancements in the understanding of coalescence and impact dynamics of droplets under different conditions using molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. We highlight diverse approaches that enable the achievement of controllable coalescence and impact behaviors through the manipulation of surface properties, droplet properties, and coalescence and impact conditions. These approaches encompass adjustments in surface structures, surface morphology, and surface wettability, as well as the manipulation of droplet size, viscosity, and components, and the control of initial shape setting and impact velocity. Furthermore, we also introduce the dynamics associated with the coexistence of these two behaviors. Importantly, this review is expected to provide valuable insights for both industrial and technological applications, particularly in the areas of self-cleaning surfaces and microfluidics.

Influence of avalanche transistor switching mode on waveform characteristics of solid-state pulse source.

The design of the Marx circuit based on avalanche transistors (ATs) is one of the effective techniques for developing solid-state pulse sources to generate nanosecond pulses. However, the influence of the avalanche transistor as a switching device on the output pulse characteristics is still unclear. In this study, investigating the switching mechanism of the AT with a mixed-mode simulation of the semiconductor device has been accomplished. An experiment has checked the simulation model's transient switching characteristics. The switching mechanisms of ATs in the Marx circuit were divided into base triggering mode (BTM) and voltage ramp mode (VRM). This paper proposes a modified circuit for adjusting the output pulse parameters of solid-state pulse sources. The results show that to satisfy the simulation accuracy, the width parameter of the AT model in the BTM must be 100μm, much less than the actual physical size. Because of the higher electric field when the initial impact ionization occurs, the AT operates at a higher switching speed in the VRM than in the BTM. In addition, since the carriers of initial impact ionization locate at the p-n0 interface or the n0-n+ interface, the AT switching process will oscillate in the VRM. All ATs in the modified Marx circuit switch to operate in the BTM. The leading edge of the output pulse increases from 275 to 1125ps, and the pulse trailing oscillation has disappeared. The research results provide an important technical means for optimizing the output waveform of solid-state pulse sources.

The impact of digital education initiatives

The article summarizes the arguments and counterarguments of the scientific debate regarding the impact of digital education initiatives on human capital development in Ukraine. The study’s primary goal is to determine the effect of digital educational initiatives on human capital development. The systematization of literary sources and approaches to solving the problem indicates that the debate about the advantages and disadvantages of digital education in Ukraine continues until now. The urgency of solving this scientific problem lies in the fact that digital education is essential for the state’s educational policy and the country’s general development of human capital. The study of the topic in the article is carried out in the following logical sequence: a review of the literature to determine the advantages and disadvantages of digital education in Ukraine and an assessment of the impact of digital education on the development of skills and abilities of education seekers. An in-depth retrospective analysis of scientific works was carried out to obtain a comprehensive understanding of the subject of research. To solve the set goal, the methods of statistical analysis and questionnaires were used in the work. The object of the study is digital education initiatives in Ukraine. The effectiveness of initiatives in improving students’ knowledge, abilities, and employment prospects is analyzed. The study empirically confirms and theoretically proves that digital education initiatives positively affect the development of human capital in Ukraine. Educators who have mastered the skills of working on digital platforms demonstrate improved critical thinking and teamwork skills. The results show that these initiatives improve students’ skills, knowledge and employability. The development of digital education also requires establishing fair access to digital educational materials, especially in rural areas, and improving pedagogical workers’ qualifications in using digital products. The findings contribute to the broader academic discourse on the relationship between digital education and human capital growth, providing ideas for future research.

Early Childhood Education and its Impact on Enrolment Enhancement at Primary Level, Rural Areas

This research study aimed to determine the impact of pre-primary education in rural government schools on enhancing enrolment. Twenty schools were drawn from three remote areas of Sindh province of District Malir, Gudap. The enrolment data of katchi, class I, current class II, previous class- II and current class III was collected from schools to evaluate the enrolment rate of children who get pre-primary education and who do not and are directly enrolled in class I. The results of overall investigations postulate that there is no major impact of government initiatives to improve the quality of education. The results also negate the assumption that children admitted to the katchi class have a greater chance of continuing further education and a lesser chance of dropping out of school. The results postulate that other factors lead to the lower enrolment enhancement rate from the primary classes in Sind generally and in the selected Gadap town specifically, which need to be further investigated. The study recommends a focus on community engagement, school-based leadership, improved infrastructure, teacher training, improved curriculum and participation of parents.