Infrastructure Systems Research Articles

Surgery and the first 8000 days of life: a review

Abstract The first 8000 days of life, from birth to adulthood, encompasses critical phases that shape a child's health and development. While global health efforts have focused on the first 1000 days, the next 7000 days (ages 2–21) are equally vital, especially concerning the unmet burden of surgical conditions in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Approximately 1.7 billion children globally lack access to essential surgical care, with LMICs accounting for 85% of these unmet needs. Common surgical conditions, including congenital anomalies, injuries, infections, and pediatric cancers, often go untreated, contributing to significant mortality and disability. Despite the substantial need, LMICs face severe workforce and infrastructure shortages, with most pediatric surgical conditions requiring specialized skills, equipment, and tailored healthcare systems. Economic analyses have shown that pediatric surgical interventions are cost-effective, with substantial societal benefits. Expanding surgical care for children in LMICs demands investments in workforce training, infrastructure, and health systems integration, complemented by innovative funding and equitable global partnerships. Prioritizing surgical care within national health policies and scaling up children's surgery through initiatives like the Optimal Resources for Children's Surgical Care can improve health outcomes, align with Sustainable Development Goals, and foster equity in global health. Addressing the surgical care gap in LMICs will reduce preventable mortality, enhance quality of life, and drive sustainable growth, emphasizing surgery as an essential component of universal health coverage for children.

Robustness Analysis of Multilayer Infrastructure Networks Based on Incomplete Information Stackelberg Game: Considering Cascading Failures

The growing importance of critical infrastructure systems (CIS) makes maintaining their normal operation against deliberate attacks such as terrorism a significant challenge. Combining game theory and complex network theory provides a framework for analyzing CIS robustness in adversarial scenarios. Most existing studies focus on single-layer networks, while CIS are better modeled as multilayer networks. Research on multilayer network games is limited, lacking methods for constructing incomplete information through link hiding and neglecting the impact of cascading failures. We propose a multilayer network Stackelberg game model with incomplete information considering cascading failures (MSGM-IICF). First, we describe the multilayer network model and define the multilayer node-weighted degree. Then, we present link hiding rules and a cascading failure model. Finally, we construct MSGM-IICF, providing methods for calculating payoff functions from the different perspectives of attackers and defenders. Experiments on synthetic and real-world networks demonstrate that link hiding improves network robustness without considering cascading failures. However, when cascading failures are considered, they become the primary factor determining network robustness. Dynamic capacity allocation enhances network robustness, while changes in dynamic costs make the network more vulnerable. The proposed method provides a new way of analyzing the robustness of diverse CIS, supporting resilient CIS design.

REGENERATIVE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT: A PRELIMINARY STUDY OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN PHUKET

The concept of sustainable tourism has long been a focal point in tourism literature. However, the increasing complexity of global challenges, such as climate change and over-tourism, suggests that sustainability alone may no longer be sufficient. This is where regenerative tourism emerges, shifting the focus from merely minimizing harm to actively restoring and enhancing ecosystems, communities, and economies through tourism activities. This preliminary research aims to investigate the current state of regenerative tourism development in the context of Phuket, Thailand. A qualitative research approach was employed, utilizing semi-structured in-depth interviews with six key informants, including local community members, public and business representatives in tourism organizations, and local government officials. The iterative analysis of the interviews revealed several critical themes: waste management issues, insufficient enforcement of laws and regulations, the need for improved stakeholder collaboration, and growing environmental concerns. Additionally, the study highlighted various regenerative tourism practices currently being implemented. This preliminary study reveals four critical challenges in Phuket's regenerative tourism development: systemic waste management failures, insufficient law enforcement and regulations, lack of stakeholder collaboration, and escalating environmental concerns. The findings indicate that transitioning to regenerative tourism requires enhanced infrastructure and waste management systems, strengthened regulatory frameworks and enforcement mechanisms, improved stakeholder engagement processes, and comprehensive environmental monitoring systems. This research supports the need for a balanced approach to tourism development that considers environmental and social impacts alongside economic benefits. The implications of this research are significant, emphasizing the need for increased awareness and the optimization of collaboration among relevant tourism stakeholders to foster regenerative tourism in Phuket.

The Role of Middleware in Integrating Legacy Systems with Modern Policy Administration

This comprehensive article examines the critical role of middleware integration in modernizing insurance industry legacy systems. The article reveals that approximately 75% of insurers rely on systems that are 20-40 years old, consuming up to 70% of IT budgets in maintenance. Through a detailed examination of implementation strategies, benefits, and challenges, the research demonstrates how middleware solutions serve as a crucial bridge between legacy infrastructure and modern Policy Administration Systems (PAS). The article covers key aspects, including protocol translation capabilities, service orchestration frameworks, and data transformation excellence, while providing quantitative metrics on cost reduction (20-30%), operational efficiency improvements (40-50%), and system performance enhancements (99.9% reliability). The article also presents a structured framework for implementing best practices, incorporating assessment, architecture design, security considerations, and testing strategies validated through industry case studies and expert analysis.

THE ROLE OF INFORMATION FLOWS IN THE OPERATIONAL MANAGEMENT OF TRANSPORT

The management of transport flows is based on transmitting, receiving and processing the information related to them by applying the principles of the system approach. In a theoretical-applied aspect, it manifests itself as an economic activity for the development and implementation of methods for collecting, storing, processing and distributing information for specific functions and operations in transport infrastructure systems.

Examining healthcare access with physical vs. telehealth options: Promise and peril for socially vulnerable older adults

IntroductionThis paper seeks to understand barriers to healthcare access faced by socially vulnerable older adults in Chicago using qualitative analysis. As the U.S. population ages, ease of healthcare access by older adults grows in importance. Yet, current literature lacks an examination of pain points and coping strategies in accessing healthcare, specifically by socially vulnerable older adults. This is especially relevant as virtual telehealth access and transportation options that shape healthcare access evolve rapidly. MethodsIn this work, we conduct three listening sessions with 40 total participants to understand the lived experiences of Black and Latino older adults living in low-income areas of Chicago. Transcript data was analyzed using qualitative concept and emotion coding to identify vulnerabilities that older patients face in accessing care. ResultsThis work highlights five key takeaways from the qualitative analysis: 1) technology struggles and prospects in accessing healthcare, 2) social resources for coping give rise to tension between dependence and autonomy, 3) system disconnects (medical-pharmacy-transportation) represent key pain points, 4) different means of accessing healthcare (traditional transportation vs. telehealth) are value and emotion ladened, 5) different means of observing lead to new methodological insights. ConclusionOvercoming healthcare access barriers for older adults ultimately requires analysis of specific interfaces between infrastructure, healthcare, and communications systems. Solutions should prioritize the autonomy of older adults by offering physical accessibility and customized technology. The three intervention policies recommended in this paper include: health kiosks implementation, digital access classes, and specialized training for transit drivers and medical staff.

An Autotuning Hybrid Method with Bayesian Optimization for Road Edge Extraction in Highway Systems from Point Clouds

In transportation infrastructure systems, feature images and spatial characteristics are generally utilized as complementary elements derived from point clouds for road edge extraction, but the involvement of one or more hyperparameters in each makes the extraction complicated. This study proposes an autotuning hybrid method with Bayesian optimization for road edge extraction in highway systems. The hybrid method combines the strengths of 2D feature images and 3D spatial characteristics while also automatically tuning the hyperparameter combination using Bayesian optimization. The hyperparameters encompass high and low pixel gradient thresholds, neighborhood radius, and normal vector threshold. Later, the point cloud dataset of national highways in Henan Province, China, is taken as the case study to evaluate the performance of the proposed method against three benchmark methods in two typical road scenarios: straight and curved edges. Experimental results show that the proposed method outperforms the benchmarks in detection quality and accuracy. It can serve as a decision-making tool to complement traditional manual road surveying, enabling efficient and automated road edge extraction in highway systems.

Case Study: Impact Analysis of Roof-Top Green Infrastructure on Urban System Sustainability in San José, CA

This paper presents results from a case study focusing on analyzing impacts of Green Infrastructure (GI) on sensible and latent heat fluxes, urban microclimate and the subsequent water–energy nexus components of an urban infrastructure system. The case study, focusing on the campus of a public university in San José, CA, aimed to quantify the pre- and post-conditions for a hypothetical GI implementation, which is in support of San José State University’s (SJSU) robust sustainability initiatives, which are also aligned with Silicon Valley’s broader strategic goals. The results revealed that a reduction of 0.3 °C in the average daily peak maximum temperature on campus could be achieved by the GI implementation. Air-conditioning related energy use was projected to decrease by 1.28%, monthly water use by 7052 m3, and it would result in an estimated reduction of approximately 2800 kWh in the water–energy nexus. In addition to lowering the campus’s carbon footprint, GI therefore offers significant economic and environmental benefits in terms of reductions in the urban air temperature, energy usage and water demand. This study provides valuable information for policy makers and low impact development water infrastructure managers considering GI implementation.

The physical and virtual presence of the local state and citizens’ life satisfaction in urbanising China

China’s rapid and ongoing urbanisation has led to the expansion of the local state. The state, traditionally exhibited as physical institutions of government, has emerged virtually in recent years based on intricate network infrastructure systems, such as social media platforms. Scholars contend that a strong physical state infrastructure enhances government function and can increase citizens’ life satisfaction; in contrast, the state’s virtual presence is unlikely to exert a substantial independent impact because of its reliance on the state’s physical infrastructure. In this research, we calibrated innovative measures of the state’s physical and virtual presence. Combined with data from the 2018 Urbanisation and Quality of Life Survey conducted in 40 sampling sites undergoing rural–urban transition, we further assessed how the local state’s physical and virtual presence is associated with citizens’ self-reported life satisfaction in the context of China’s national new-type urbanisation. Our results, based on three-level mixed-effects regressions, indicate that the local state’s bricks-and-mortar institutions do not correlate with citizens’ life satisfaction; rather, the establishment of a web-based, cost-effective, transparent, and coordinated virtual presence is associated with a higher level of life satisfaction among citizens. At a time when the Chinese central government emphasises its commitment to ‘people-centred’ urbanisation, the findings offer insight into the strategies that local governments could employ to improve governance quality and enhance citizens’ well-being.

Reimagining public water: an intergenerational exploration of paradigms for future system design

ABSTRACT Due to the life-span of infrastructure, the complexity of components and the tendency of institutional structures to reproduce themselves, infrastructural systems as a whole are seldom reimagined. In addition, strategic thinking about possible system innovations is mainly done by the generations with extensive work experience. This whilst challenges such as climate change trigger the need for system innovation and are inherently intergenerational. This paper examines a method for “intergenerational reimagination”, facilitating reflexive learning within a generationally diverse subgroup of actors. This was done to explore paradigms for future system design. Building on the Advocacy Coalition Framework, descriptive, normative and explorative steps are developed. These steps include an intergenerational dialogue and carefully designed workshops, involving both young and senior professionals. The methodology was applied to reimagine the Dutch public water system, a design process which involved over 50 young professionals and resulted in three reimaginations. This process shows the potential for intergenerational development of possible paradigms for future system design. Moreover, throughout the process, policy-oriented learning was given substance. Finally, the study provided young professionals with a means to join strategic thinking at the semi-public level of water companies; a potential source of inspiration for other sectors and issues.

Navigating the legal uncertainty around the governance of an integrated energy system using the values of the energy transition and energy justice

AbstractIn order to realise the European Union's (EU) transition to clean and carbon‐neutral energy systems, various individual infrastructure systems and energy networks will have to coordinate and operate as an integrated energy system. Traditionally, these different infrastructure systems operate within their own sectors and are governed by separate legal regimes. The intersection of these different legal rules and interests creates regulatory uncertainty and risk for infrastructure operators and can dissuade operators from participating in system integration. This paper explores how infrastructure operators can overcome the legal uncertainty and regulatory risks of operating as an integrated system, whilst also ensuring that the policy objectives of the energy transition are realised. This paper argues that, by pursuing public values and energy justice principles, infrastructure operators will overcome the legal uncertainty surrounding system integration. By doing so, infrastructure operators will facilitate the realisation of an energy transition that is just, inclusive and in the public interest.

Higher and Middle Management Perspectives on Patient-Centered Care in an Oncology Setting: A Qualitative Study

Background: Patient center care (PCC) plays a crucial role in achieving the organizational and patient outcomes. Literature suggests that PCC enhance patient’s adherence to treatment, lower the cost of health care organization. This study aimed explore the higher and middle managers’ perceptions of patient-centered care (PCC) in an oncology setting, identify the PCC implementation challenges in the oncology setting, and understand the role of managers in facilitating PCC within the oncology context. Methods: Sampling involved the use of the purposive sampling technique on 17 middle managers and 6 upper managers who had been working in an oncology setting. The six-step thematic analysis method was used for data analysis. Results: The interviews identified six main themes and seventeen subthemes: “comprehensive care, partnership, and informed decision-making”, “infrastructure and support systems”, “leadership influence on patient-centered care”, “cultural and operational barriers”, “perceived outcomes”, and “strategies to enhance PCC in oncology”. The subthemes of comprehensive care included fostering partnerships and enabling informed decisions. The infrastructure and support systems encompassed educational empowerment and service integration. Leadership influence highlighted the role of elevating awareness, providing organizational support, and promoting comprehensive care. The cultural and operational barriers addressed the challenges faced in implementation. The perceived outcomes focused on the results of patient-centered care, while strategies to enhance PCC in oncology provided actionable insights for improvement. This provides a comprehensive understanding of the perceptions of middle and higher managers on patient-centered care (PCC) in oncology settings. It identifies key challenges in PCC implementation, highlights the critical role of managers in facilitating PCC, and offers actionable strategies for enhancing PCC.

A Comprehensive Survey on Cyber-Physical System Security in the Internet of Things (IoT): Addressing and Solutions

Background: Cyber-Physical Systems (CPSs) integrate computing, control, and communication technologies, bridging cyberspace and the physical world to enhance critical infrastructure and safety-critical systems. Existing surveys often address CPS security from a single perspective, necessitating a more comprehensive approach. Methods: This paper presents a thorough review of CPS security from three perspectives: the physical domain, the cyber domain, and the cyber-physical domain. We examine attacks on physical components like sensors, cyber-attacks targeting CPSs, and integrated cyber-physical attacks. For each domain, we analyse corresponding detection and defence mechanisms. Results: Our review reveals that CPSs face significant security threats across all domains. In the physical domain, attacks on sensors can disrupt system operations, but various defences are available. In the cyber domain, CPSs are vulnerable to malware, hacking, and denial-of-service attacks, with several detection and defence strategies in place. The cyber-physical domain highlights complex threats where cyber-attacks cause physical damage, requiring comprehensive security approaches. Conclusion: By examining CPS security from multiple perspectives, this review provides a holistic understanding of current threats and defence mechanisms. It identifies future research directions to enhance CPS security, aiming to better protect critical infrastructure against evolving cyber threats.

Artificial Intelligence and the Development of “Specialized, Refined, Unique, and Innovative” Small‐ and Medium‐Sized Enterprises

ABSTRACT“Specialized, Refined, Unique, and Innovative” (SRUI) enterprises are a crucial part of the national innovation system and play a significant role in enhancing national core competitiveness by leveraging strengths and addressing weaknesses. Given the limited quantitative analysis on the productivity of SRUI enterprises in the academic field, this paper constructs an enterprise‐level artificial intelligence index based on text analysis and machine learning. Using panel data from 2018 to 2022, we investigate the impact of artificial intelligence on the productivity of SRUI small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs). The research findings indicate that (1) artificial intelligence significantly enhances the productivity of SRUI SMEs, and for each one standard deviation increase in artificial intelligence, the productivity level of SRUI enterprises will increase by 6.82%. (2) Mechanism tests reveal that artificial intelligence improves productivity by optimizing labor structure, improving labor resource allocation, stimulating endogenous motivation and innovation vitality within enterprises, and enhancing management level and investment efficiency. (3) Heterogeneity analysis indicates that at the regional level, artificial intelligence significantly boosts the productivity of enterprises with well‐developed network infrastructure and robust intellectual property protection systems. At the industry level, AI has a more pronounced effect on the productivity of technology‐intensive and competitive industries. Additionally, we also find that the impact of AI on productivity is more significant in enterprises with younger executive teams and executives with digital and intelligent education backgrounds. This study expands the research scope of productivity and provides valuable insights for the government to optimize digital economy policies and for enterprises to formulate digital innovation strategies.

Energy Poverty Alleviation in the Era of Energy Transition—Case Study of Poland and Sweden

The energy transition, aimed at significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions to combat climate change, presents both opportunities and challenges in addressing energy poverty. This article explores the differing approaches of Poland and Sweden in energy poverty alleviation within the context of this transition. Poland, with its historical dependence on coal, faces considerable obstacles as it seeks to shift towards cleaner energy sources while minimizing the impact on vulnerable populations. Conversely, Sweden, supported by its advanced energy infrastructure and strong welfare systems, has implemented effective strategies that have largely mitigated energy poverty, though challenges persist for low-income households, especially in rural areas. The article delves into the definitions, drivers, and alleviation strategies of energy poverty in both countries. Through a comprehensive literature review and the analysis of key initiatives such as Poland’s Clean Air Program and Sweden’s Warm Rent scheme, the study underscores the potential for policy interventions to address energy poverty. It concludes with recommendations on how both countries can further reduce energy poverty, highlighting the critical role of energy efficiency, social support systems, and the integration of renewable energy in achieving a fair and equitable energy transition.

Penerapan Metode Ward and Peppard dalam Analisis Infrastruktur TI pada Global Youth Action

Global Youth Action is a company engaged in youth empowerment with a focus on supporting the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) through the collaboration of various youth movements in Indonesia and internationally. However, the company still faces challenges in terms of infrastructure and information system (IS) applications that are not fully capable of supporting business processes optimally. One of the main obstacles is the limited human resources who have expertise in managing SI and information technology (IT) effectively. In preparing the SI strategic planning framework, this research uses the Ward and Peppard approach to analyze company needs. The analysis process includes mapping the company's internal and external environment through Value Chain Analysis and SWOT Analysis, as well as grouping the application portfolio using McFarlan Strategic Grid. The results of this research recommend the development of various applications such as the Global Youth Action Website application, SAP application, customer service information system, asset information system, and executive information system. These recommendations are expected to provide strategic direction for the global youth action company, as well as improve IT HR competencies and strengthen the application portfolio to support the sustainability of business processes at Global Youth Action.

Facility location and restoration games

Effective recovery of interdependent infrastructure systems after natural disasters requires coordination between multiple infrastructure owners, such as power and telecommunications utilities. If infrastructure owners make restoration decisions in isolation from one another, then recovery may be piecemeal. A fundamental understanding of these interdependencies can provide insights to incentivize shared restoration that benefit all infrastructure users, with the goal to maximize the social welfare even in a non-cooperative setting. We introduce a non-cooperative facility location and restoration game on a layered network, where each layer belongs to a player, to model the recovery of interdependent infrastructure systems after disasters. The goal of the model is to plan short term post-disaster recovery. The players want to minimize the cost to satisfy their own demand by restoring network components, and each player can serve the other players’ demands if they are paid a fee to do so. We propose exact and approximate algorithms to set incentives (fees) so that the players’ actions at equilibrium are aligned with a social optimum of the system, which minimizes the total cost. We present a case study in which we consider the recovery efforts of telecommunication infrastructure companies and provide results for the facility location and restoration games. The models and proposed algorithms can be used to set policy, inform the structure of inter-agency mutual aid partnerships to support disaster recovery, and negotiate inter-agency usage fees prior to a disaster to ease shared recovery efforts.

Updates to NOAA’s Unified Forecast System’s Cumulus Convection Parameterization Scheme between GFSv16 and GFSv17

Abstract This study outlines the updates made to cumulus convection parameterizations between Global Forecast System, version 16 (GFSv16), and the forthcoming GFSv17 which will be the first global forecast application to become operational under the Unified Forecast System infrastructure. The updates, addressing known systematic errors and biases, incorporate innovations such as stochasticity, three-dimensional subgrid organizational effects, and a prognostic closure evolution. The changes are shown to improve tropical temperature/humidity biases, convective available potential energy (CAPE) forecasts, CONUS precipitation, and tropical variability. By examining individual updates’ impact on temperature, humidity profiles, and precipitation power spectra, we find that the new prognostic closure and stricter precipitation evaporation criteria alleviate a dry and cold bias in the tropical boundary layer and enhance precipitation variability in the tropics. Stricter triggering criteria also allow for more CAPE buildup, particularly over the tropics. The cumulus convection updates have a modest impact on precipitation skill scores over CONUS, but overall, there is an improvement when comparing GFSv16 and the latest GFSv17 prototype configurations, in particularly for larger thresholds. The study also highlights the challenges in developing convection parameterizations suitable for both coupled and uncoupled model configurations. Evaluation of the MJO shows varying responses to cumulus convection changes depending on whether the model is coupled with a dynamic ocean model.

Overview of High-Performance Computing And It’s Current Trend in India

This is an era of High-Performance Computing abbreviated as HPC. HPC evolved due to increase in demand of Processing speed. It is a hybrid technology that continuously changes its colors, so it is hard to define it in static words. However, if we still persist to define it the effort leads to a definition as below – “HPC is a branch of computer science that concentrates on combining the power of computing devices, networking infrastructure and storage systems using parallel hardware, networking and software technology that utilizes human expertise to gain optimized and sustained performance for solving scientific, engineering, big data and research problems including grand challenges like computer modeling, simulations and analysis of data.

Bridging The Infrastructure Gap: Assessing The Impact Of Critical Infrastructure Investments On Economic Growth In The United States And Emerging Markets

Infrastructure is an important driver in economic development, promoting trade, increasing access to basic services, and enabling productivity, however, the infrastructure gap that many nations are facing has become detrimental, threatening their long-term economic growth and competitiveness. While emerging markets contend with deficient infrastructure systems that impede industrialization and social development, industrialized economies such as the United States suffer from inefficiencies triggered by deteriorating infrastructure and periods of underinvestment. The purpose of this review is to assess the impact of critical infrastructure investments on economic growth in the United States and emerging markets. The study revealed that infrastructure investment significantly boosts economic development. Modernizing infrastructure in the United States enhances productivity and competitiveness globally, especially across sectors. Therefore, bridging the infrastructure gap is essential for promoting economic development and sustaining long-term growth.