How are telecommunications infrastructure, institutions and poverty related in a war-torn economy such as Afghanistan? Afghanistan has been plagued by poor governance, low usage of telecommunications, and extreme poverty levels which can be termed triple-challenges. High levels of political instability affected telecommunications investment and adversely affected the adoption and diffusion of modern technology. This study examines the asymmetric effect of telecommunications and governance (institutions) on poverty reduction over the period 1989–2019 using a nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. In the short run, we establish that information and communication technology, private domestic credit, governance, and educational access for males and females are essential tools that can be used for poverty reduction. In the long run, we also establish that Afghanistan can reduce poverty levels through the use of information and communication technology, governance, and educational access for both males and females. The following policy recommendations were suggested: research and development, robust policy formulation on governance and ICT, development of the ICT sector, and improved governance. These are critical in reducing the high poverty levels as well as solving the institutional challenges faced by Afghanistan.

The use of porous media to simplify the thermohydraulic of a nuclear reactor is the topic of recent research. As a case study, the rector of 200 kW installed at Missouri University of Science and Technology is modeled in this paper. To help this objective, a fundamental CFD examination was completed to supplement the neutronics investigation on the present reactor. Characteristics of thermal energy removal from a typical research reactor are modeled by numerical thermal transport in porous media. The neutron flux is modeled by the nodal expansion method. For the thermo-hydraulic part, a three-dimensional governing equation is solved by an iterative method to find the steady-state solution of fluid flow and temperature in loss of coolant condition where the heat produced in the reactor core is removed by free convection. The profiles of heat flux for various power levels are benchmarked. Pressure, temperature, and velocity contours in the power passage were assessed at 300 kW and 500 kW power levels. To reduce the computational cost, a porous media approach for the whole geometry was utilized. The numerical results agree with the experimental results. The developed model can be used for safety and reliability analysis for various loss of coolant accidents.

In the realm of modern education, the integration of technology has emerged as a powerful catalyst for transforming traditional classrooms into dynamic and engaging learning environments. This paper provides a concise overview of the multifaceted ways in which technology contributes to enhanced classroom engagement.

Starting from the ‘90s, there has been a significant increase in PPP use in the public sector in Europe, benefiting the implementation of infrastructure projects. In Italy, PPP is still much more limited than in such countries as the UK and France: the projects funded are smaller and the sectors involved are less appropriate. Based on the economic literature, European initiatives and international comparisons, the paper examines aspects of regulations that could encourage the appropriate use of PPP and considers the problems with the Italian regulations, while proposing some corrective measures. The main limitations involve: i) the absence of adequate preliminary assessments about the advantages of using PPP rather than the traditional procurement, ii) the relative lack of attention to the contract terms, iii) inadequate safeguards to ensure the bankability of the projects, and iv) limited information transparency and accessibility.

This multiple case study qualitative research examined the impact of adoption and diffusion of innovation on Small and Medium Enterprises (SME’s) growth in the hostile business landscape of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. This research is intended to investigate research data and consequent findings based on an interview protocol that was purposefully developed from extant literature, complemented by an initial pilot study of two pharmaceutical SMEs. The researcher conducted 20 interviews, guided by the semi-structured interview protocol offered to the respondents beforehand after sorting their informed consent. The 20 participants represented the different hierarchal levels of the 08 case study of pharmaceutical from the two industrial clusters of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan, located at the Hayatabad Industrial Estate, Peshawar, and the Rashkai Industrial Estate, Nowshera. The analysis of the data presented findings and corroborated the research propositions that those SMEs that are structurally entrepreneurial and adopt innovation amenably, are open to mobility and tourism, yield satisfactory results in terms of their growth as compared to those that are inertial and unentrepreneurial. Similarly, the results offer confirmation that the effectiveness of government agencies that are explicitly formed to address the problems of small businesses is insufficient. They rather create hindrances than assistance due to the excessive delays in approving innovative ideas and conceptions by these related organizations and ministries. Moreover, the proposed framework offers pragmatic recommendations to contextualize entrepreneurial culture and innovative structures in SMEs and their essential factors in critical environmental circumstances.