South Sudan's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Newly independent South Sudan faces a challenge in making its own way in infrastructure development. Despite earning $6 billion in oil revenues since 2005, South Sudan's spending has not been proportional to its income, but rather has lagged behind North Sudan's development of infrastructure and social support. South Sudan benefitted from strong donor support during 2004-10, the interim period defined by the Comprehensive Peace Agreement. It focused on reestablishing regional transport links and access to seaports as well as rehabilitating its ports, airstrips, and single rail line. South Sudan also successfully liberalized the ICT sector. Nonetheless, the new country's infrastructure remains in such a dismal state that it is difficult to pinpoint a single most pressing challenge. The transport sector accounts for half of the country's spending needs, and water and sanitation account for a further quarter of the total. But so many improvements are needed that the nation cannot realistically catch up with its neighbors within 10 years, or even longer. South Sudan's annual infrastructure funding gap is$879 million per year. Given that the country's total needs are beyond its reach in the medium term, it must adopt firm priorities for its infrastructure spending. It also must attract international and private-sector investment and look to lower-cost technologies to begin to close its funding gap. Although South Sudan loses relatively little to inefficiencies, redressing those inefficiencies will be vital to creating solid institutions to attract new investors and get the most out of their investments.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,E-Business,Infrastructure Economics,Energy Production and Transportation,Roads&Highways

Sudan's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Improvements in infrastructure across Sudan in recent years have contributed 1.7 percentage points to the country's per capita growth. Consistent with trends in other countries, the ICT revolution that swept Africa contributed more than any other sector to growth in Sudan. Raising the infrastructure endowment of all parts of Sudan to that of the region's best performer -- Mauritius -- could boost annual growth by about 3.5 percentage points. Sudan has heavily invested in infrastructure in recent years. Notable achievements include tripling power-generation capacity, liberalizing the ICT sector, and connecting to an undersea fiber-optic cable. Looking ahead, Sudan's most pressing infrastructure challenges lie in the water and transport sectors. In the water sector, the country needs to dramatically improve access to safe sources of water and sanitation while improving utility efficiency. In the transport sector the country needs to vastly expand rural and international connectivity and improve quality across the network. Sudan presently spends about $1.5 billion per year on infrastructure, with$580 million a year lost to inefficiencies. Even if the inefficiencies were eliminated, however, Sudan would face an infrastructure funding gap of $2.9 billion per year. This gap could be reduced by half by choosing lower-cost water, sanitation, and road-surfacing technologies, and could be bridged by continuing to capture financing from the private sector and abroad.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Energy Production and Transportation,E-Business,Banks&Banking Reform

Zimbabwe's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Despite general economic decline and power-supply deficiencies, infrastructure made a modest net contribution of just less than half a percentage point to Zimbabwe's improved per capita growth performance in recent years. Raising the country's infrastructure endowment to that of the region's middle-income countries could boost annual growth by about 2.4 percentage points. Zimbabwe made significant progress in infrastructure in its early period as an independent state, building a national electricity network with regional interconnections, an extensive and internationally connected road network, and a water and sewer system. But the country has been unable to maintain its existing infrastructure since it became immersed in economic and political turmoil in the late 1990s. Zimbabwe now faces a number of important infrastructure challenges, the most pressing of which lie in the power and water sectors, where deteriorating conditions pose risks to the economy and public health. Zimbabwe currently spends about $0.8 billion per year on infrastructure, though$0.7 billion of this is lost to inefficiencies of various kinds. Even if these inefficiencies were fully captured, Zimbabwe would still face an infrastructure funding gap of $0.6 billion per year. That staggering figure can be reduced, however, to$0.4 billion if the country adopts a more modest spending scenario, or even to $0.1 billion under a minimalist, maintenance-only scenario. To close the gap, Zimbabwe needs to raise additional public, private-sector, and international funding, which, when coupled with the prospect of economic rebound and prudent policies, would allow the country to regain its historic infrastructure advantages.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Energy Production and Transportation,Town Water Supply and Sanitation,Water Supply and Systems

The republic of Congo's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Infrastructure contributed half a percentage point to the Republic of Congo's annual per capita GDP growth from 2001 to 2006. If the country's infrastructure were improved to the level seen in Mauritius, the regional leader, it could contribute more than 3 percentage points to annual per capita growth. The Republic of Congo's existing infrastructure is concentrated in the developed south, reflecting the country's urbanization patterns. Links spread from there to the less-developed north, where there are vast areas of underexploited dense forest. The Republic of Congo's power sector offers the greatest potential for infrastructure-based economic growth, but major inefficiencies need to be addressed. Transit improvements would also make significant contributions to growth by improving connections to the north and to neighboring countries. Additional opportunities include rehabilitating the fixed-line telephone operator to spread Internet access. The country's water and sanitation infrastructure is in relatively good shape. Spending on infrastructure was $460 million per year in the Republic of Congo during the mid-2000s. Based on these spending levels, if all inefficiencies were eliminated, the country would face an infrastructure funding gap of$270 million a year and would not meet infrastructure targets for 31 years. Spending rose to $550 million per year in 2008-09. If the Republic of Congo could maintain these higher spending levels, the funding gap would essentially disappear. The nation could further reduce the funding gap by adopting lower-cost technologies to meet infrastructure targets.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Public Sector Economics,Banks&Banking Reform,Energy Production and Transportation

Cape Verde's infrastructure : a continental perspective

Cape Verde stands out in West Africa as a country whose economic geography poses major and unique challenges for infrastructure development. Its small population of half a million people is spread across a nine-island archipelago. The islands need complementary infrastructure in terms of roads, water, transport, ports, power, and ICT. Cape Verde already has well-developed infrastructure networks. Road density is relatively high, and most of the national network is paved. Almost all islands have port and airport facilities. Around 70 percent of the population has power and utility water. Indicators for ICT coverage -- penetration, bandwidth, submarine cable, private sector participation -- are relatively good. Nevertheless, prices for all services are exceptionally high. The quality of services is often deficient. At least half of the national road network is in poor condition; power supply is unreliable; and half of the population receives water from standposts. Cape Verde devotes around $147 million per year to infrastructure (almost 15 percent of GDP), among the highest levels of infrastructure spending on the continent. Some$50 million of that is lost each year to operations inefficiencies and underpricing. The country's main challenges are to improve infrastructure management and reduce high costs of services.Transport Economics Policy&Planning,Infrastructure Economics,Energy Production and Transportation,E-Business,Banks&Banking Reform

Hurst Coefficient in long time series of population size: Model for two plant populations with different reproductive strategies

Can the fractal dimension of fluctuations in population size be used to estimate extinction risk? The problem with estimating this fractal dimension is that the lengths of the time series are usually too short for conclusive results. This study answered this question with long time series data obtained from an iterative competition model. This model produces competitive extinction at different perturbation intensities for two different germination strategies: germination of all seeds vs. dormancy in half the seeds. This provided long time series of 900 years and different extinction risks. The results support the hypothesis for the effectiveness of the Hurst coefficient for estimating extinction risk

Age of plant influences the effect of salinity in yield and mineral content of ice plant

The use of salinity-tolerant plants represents a response to the problem of the expansion of salinized soils, making coastal and salt-affected areas productive. Furthermore, limited fresh water resources may increasingly constrain the use of low-quality irrigation water. Therefore, intensified use of halotolerant crop plants will be necessary. Mesembryanthemum crystallinum is a salinity-tolerant plant widely distributed and currently with a great gastronomic interest because is considered a functional food. The objective of this work was to evaluate the differential effect of a moderate salinity treatment imposed in ice plants of 40 or 55 days after transplanting. Thus, M. crystallinum of 40 and 55 days were grown under 0 and 100 mM NaCl during two weeks. The results showed that the effect of salinity depended of the age of plants. Growth parameters as shoot biomass or shoot height decreased in plants of 40 days after transplanting (DAT) subjected to salinity while no differences were found in 55 DAT plants. Also, salinity improved important yield parameters as leaf fresh mass and area when the treatment was applied in 55 DAT plants and caused higher SLA and chlorophylls content in both groups of plants. Ice plant can be intentionally cultivated 55 DAT under moderate salinity conditions to enhance crop yield which could contribute to a more extensive use of its edible leaves as functional and alternative food

Methodology for Part Visualization Problem Solving - the Importance of the Process

Part visualization is a fundamental skill in engineering. It comprises the reading, interpretation and creation of industrial technical drawings, understanding the different views (multi-view) of an object/piece represented in any technical drawing. The ability to mentally visualize and manipulate objects and situations is an essential need in many jobs and careers. It is estimated that at least 84 majors consider visualization a fundamental need, and in technical jobs, many of them related to the different types of engineering, the ability to visualize has a crucial importance. Educators have often pointed out the difficulties of most students in graphic courses when trying to visualize an object using multi-view drawings. This is mainly due to the inexistence of a systematic process to analyze complex forms. A thorough review of the literature in technical drawing textbooks has not been successful in finding a clear, concise, and properly developed method of solving visualization problems by means of procedural contents. In collaboration with several experts and for the first time, a problem solving model for visualization has been designed and developed for all kind of industrial objects (Methodology for Part Visualization Problem Solving) within a constructivist didactic framework. This Problem Solving model is the key to all technical knowledge and is an application of the scientific method. In order to solve visualization problems in any kind of industrial object, comprehension indicators have been defined and a Teaching Unit has been developed with the help of dynamic images (power point and CAD files) as well as physical models. They may be applied by drawing up a programme of specific tasks which takes into account the theoretical contents and procedures involved in part visualization as well as the students\\u27 main difficulties and deficiencies when faced with this kind of problem. This teaching strategy has been applied over the last two years in the first year of Industrial Engineering at the Department of Engineering in Bilbao at the University of the Basque Country with good results

Las escuelas de los Hermanos de La Salle en Gipuzkoa. Evolución y tendencias en el alumnado y profesorado (1904-2006)

En esta colaboración presentamos un análisis de la presencia de los Hermanos de las Escuelas Cristianas en Gipuzkoa desde 1904 a 2006. Se trata de un estudio de tipo cuantitativo en el que se presenta una división en cuatro etapas: 1904-1937; 1938-1968; 1969-1981 y 1982-2006, con una evolución diferente en lo relativo al alumnado y profesorado en los diferentes centros.Lan honetan Kristau Eskoletako Anaiek Gipuzkoan 1904tik 2006ra bitartean izandako presentzia aztertzen da. Azterlan kuantitatiboa da, lau alditan banatua: 1904-1937; 1938-1968; 1969-1981 eta 1982-2006, eta ikastetxeen arabera ikasleeen eta irakasleen bilakabide desberdina azaltzen duena.Nous présentons ici une analyse de la présence des Frères des Écoles Chrétiennes au Gipuzkoa, de 1904 a 2006. Il s'agit d'une étude quantitative divisée en quatre étapes : 1904-1937 ; 1938-1968 ; 1969-1981 et 1982-2006, avec un évolution différente pour ce qui est des élèves et des enseignants, dans les différents établissements scolaires.In this collaboration we present an analysis of the presence of the Brothersof the Christian Schools in Gipuzkoa between 1904 and 2006. This is a quantitativetype of study divided into four periods: 1904-1937; 1938-1968; 1969-1981 and1982-2006, with different kinds of evolution with respect to pupils and teachers in the different schools