This study aims to investigate the relationship between internal and information integration within the supply chain (SCI-INTI and SCI-INFI), supply chain management (SCM) practices, and port operational performance (POP) in Oman’s container ports. Additionally, it explores the mediating role of SCM practices in the relationship between SCI-INTI, SCI-INFI, and POP in Oman. To meet the study’s objectives, a quantitative cross-sectional survey method was used. A total of 377 questionnaires were distributed to managers responsible for supply chain operations in the main departments at Sohar and Salalah ports, yielding 331 usable responses, with a response rate of 88 percent. The data collected were analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM). The results show that both internal and information integration within the supply chain have positive and statistically significant effects on the operational performance of Oman’s container ports (POP). Specifically, Supply Chain Integration with Internal Integration (SCI-INTI) significantly impacts POP (β = 0.249, t = 5.039, p < 0.001), and Supply Chain Integration with Information Integration (SCI-INFI) also significantly affects POP (β = 0.259, t = 4.966, p < 0.001). Additionally, SCI-INTI positively influences Supply Chain Management Practices (SCMP) (β = 0.381, t = 7.674, p < 0.001), as does SCI-INFI (β = 0.484, t = 9.878, p < 0.001). Furthermore, SCMP positively and significantly influences the operational performance of Oman’s container ports (β = 0.424, t = 7.643, p < 0.001). These findings contribute to the literature by emphasizing the significance of internal and information integration within the supply chain and SCM practices as strategic internal resources and capabilities that enhance operational performance in container ports. Understanding these elements enables decision-makers and policymakers within government port authorities and port operating companies to optimize internal resources and capabilities to improve port operational performance.

On the basis of the enlightenment of international engineering education accreditation for the reform and development of higher education in China, combined with the important measures of the national “double first-class” construction, new challenges have been proposed for innovative talent cultivation among engineering majors in the context of promoting national development. These challenges also promote the reform of science-oriented courses among engineering majors. As a core mandatory course for engineering majors, biochemistry plays a crucial role in the entire educational process at universities, serving as a bridge between basic and specialized courses. To address challenges such as limited course resources, insufficient development of students’ advanced thinking and innovation skills, and overly standardized assessment methods, the bioengineering major from Guilin University of Technology restructured the biochemistry course content. A blended teaching model termed “three integrations, three stages, one sharing”, was implemented. This effort has yielded significant results, providing a research foundation for constructing an innovative talent cultivation system that is oriented toward industry needs within modern industrial colleges. It also offers valuable insights into and reference points for the cultivation of engineering talents and curriculum reform in local universities.

Learning from experience to improve future infrastructure public-private partnerships is a focal issue for policy makers, financiers, implementers, and private sector stakeholders. An extensive body of case studies and “lessons learned” aims to improve the likelihood of success and attempts to avoid future contract failures across sectors and geographies. This paper examines whether countries do, indeed, learn from experience to improve the probability of success of public-private partnerships at the national level. The purview of the paper is not to diagnose learning across all aspects of public-private partnerships globally, but rather to focus on whether experience has an effect on the most extreme cases of public-private partnership contract failure, premature contract cancellation. The analysis utilizes mixed-effects probit regression combined with spline models to test empirically whether general public-private partnership experience has an impact on reducing the chances of contract cancellation for future projects. The results confirm what the market intuitively knows, that is, that public-private partnership experience reduces the likelihood of contract cancellation. But the results also provide a perhaps less intuitive finding: the benefits of learning are typically concentrated in the first few public-private partnership deals. Moreover, the results show that the probability of cancellation varies across sectors and suggests the relative complexity of water public-private partnerships compared with energy and transport projects. An estimated $1.5 billion per year could have been saved with interventions and support to reduce cancellations in less experienced countries (those with fewer than 23 prior public-private partnerships).