This financial modelling case study describes the development of the 3-statement financial model for a large-scale transportation infrastructure business dealing with truck (and some rail) modalities. The financial modelling challenges in this area, especially for large-scale transport infrastructure operators, lie in automatically linking the operating activity volumes with the investment volumes. The aim of the paper is to address these challenges: The proposed model has an innovative retirement/reinvestment schedule that automates the estimation of the investment needs for the Business based on the designated age-cohort matrix analysis and controlling for the maximum service ceiling for trucks as well as the possibility of truck retirements due to the reduced scope of tracking operations in the future. The investment schedule thus automated has a few calibrating parameters that help match it to the current stock of trucks/rolling stock in the fleet, making it to be a flexible tool in financial modelling for diverse transport infrastructure enterprises employing truck, bus and/or rail fleets for the carriage of bulk cargo quantifiable by weight (or fare-paying passengers) on a network of set, but modifiable, routes.

This study constructs and empirically validates a Creative Activity Chain (CCA) structure model tailored for innovation in sustainable infrastructure development. In today’s competitive environment, fostering innovation is crucial for maintaining the relevance and effectiveness of infrastructure projects. The research underscores that a significant portion of a project’s long-term value is established during its initial concept and planning stages, highlighting the critical role of creativity in infrastructure development. The CCA model is developed through theoretical frameworks and empirical data, encompassing three key dimensions: creative subject chain, creative action chain, and creative operation chain. The model’s validity is tested with data from five large infrastructure development firms in China, involving 768 R&D staff as respondents. Rigorous statistical methods, including exploratory factor analysis (EFA), confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), structural equation modeling (SEM), and regression analysis, confirm the model’s robustness. The findings reveal significant positive correlations between the creative activity chain’s dimensions and the successful development of sustainable infrastructure projects. Additionally, the study examines the mediating effect of link strength within the creative activity chain, demonstrating its substantial impact on project outcomes. Implications for management include promoting diverse creative teams, systematic process management, and leveraging varied operational tools to enhance creativity in infrastructure development. This research contributes to the literature by introducing an integrated model for managing creative activities in sustainable infrastructure development, offering practical insights for improving innovation processes.

Adolescent childbearing is a crucial problem challenging policymakers in sub-Saharan African countries. The objective of this study is to show how teenage pregnancy and motherhood is related to social determinants like place of residence, education level and wealth quintiles, and consequently to suggest pragmatic actions susceptible to control the burden of teenage pregnancy. Disaggregated data were analyzed using data covering the decade 2012–2022 and provided by Demographic Health Surveys. In each country considered, the index of dissimilarity (ID) was computed to illustrate the variation of teenage pregnancy and motherhood according to the level of education, the rural-urban residence and the income quintiles. Recent statistics were also used for a comparison between countries. This study showed that childbearing affected 22.7% of African adolescents (15–19 years). However, the rate of adolescent childbearing varied from 40.4% in Nigeria to 5.2% in Ruanda. Moreover, huge differences were found in each country. Teenage girls living in rural areas, illiterate or with low level of education and suffering from poverty are more likely to be early married and to be exposed to pregnancy. The rate of adolescent childbearing is higher in Sub-Saharan African countries compared with countries from Latin America and World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean. Most of the 31 countries considered in this study suffer from high rate of adolescent childbearing and large iniquities by place of residence and/or education level and/or wealth quintiles. Consequently, policymakers should adopt urgent and efficient strategies to reduce (and ideally to end) early marriage and teenage pregnancy by developing a policy that targets disadvantaged girls living in remote areas, having low or no decent income and suffering from illiteracy or low level of education.

Political representation is responsible for choices regarding the supply and the management of transport infrastructure, but its decisions are sometimes in conflict with the will and the general interest expressed by citizens. This situation has progressively prompted the use of specific corrective measures in order to obtain socially sustainable decisions, such as the deliberative procedures for the appraisal of public goods. The standard Stated Choice Modelling Technique (SCMT) can be used to estimate the community appreciation for public goods such as transport infrastructure; but the application of the SCMT in its standard form would be inadequate to provide an estimation that expresses the general interest of the affected community. Hence the need to adapt the standard SCMT on the basis of the operational conditions imposed by deliberative appraisal procedures. Therefore, the general aim of the paper is to outline the basic conditions on which a modified SCMT with deliberative procedure can be set up. Firstly, the elements of the standard SCMT on which to make the necessary adjustments are identified; subsequently, modifications and additions to make to the standard technique are indicated; finally, the contents of an extensive program of experimentation are outlined.

Nanomaterials are a recently discovered type of material that is gaining importance and receiving a lot of attention from researchers. Due to their numerous advantages, scholars are studying nanoparticles extensively. The articles in this issue that discuss the various applications of nanoparticles are very interesting. The majority of these articles focus on the use of nanoparticles in the medical sector and their contributions to environmental protection.