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In this paper, we analyze the extent to which low-income countries integrate into the global knowledge production network. We develop an (undirected) research collaboration model based on which we identify the drivers of global research collaboration using publication data of the field Business and Economics from the Web of Science and macroeconomic data from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Institute for Statistics. Network and dynamic panel regression techniques are employed. Our results show that (i) reciprocal preferential attachment and the homophily between countries reinforce scientific collaboration, (ii) there is no evidence that low-income countries are becoming better integrated into the global knowledge production over the years, despite their active participation in international reserach collaboration, while (iii) high-income countries show a basic willingness to cooperate with them, which, in turn, promotes the integration of low-income countries, although this willingness seems to decline; and (iv) as to low-income countries, they have little choice but to invest more in education and R&D in order to advance in the global knowledge production network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program can potentially help expand access to neighborhoods with low poverty and economic opportunities for low-income households. Prior studies described that LIHTC units are in neighborhoods with relatively high poverty, but with improvements in recent years. Beyond cross-sectional analyses, scholars have not extensively looked at the movements of tenants. It remains unclear whether the program creates opportunities for low-income households to move into better neighborhoods than they previously lived in or reinforces segregation by encouraging moves to similarly or more disadvantaged neighborhoods. Using an extensive consumer database, I am tracking the movements of households who move into new LIHTC properties in California. The experimental findings show that residents experience, on average, increases in poverty exposure by up to six percentage points over other moved low-income renters. Tenants see lower levels of neighborhood amenities than at their previous addresses. The construction of LIHTC housing can increase the chance of households moving into minority-concentrated areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study aimed to provide an understanding of the roles of community-based financial service organizations (i.e. rotating savings and credit associations [ROSCAs] as institutional pillars in facilitating low-income, unbanked consumers' access to informal financial services). Design/methodology/approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 low-income, unbanked consumers participating in ROSCAs in Pakistan, where only 21% of adults have a bank account and almost four out of five individuals live on a low income. The obtained data were analyzed using the thematic analysis technique. Findings: ROSCAs' regulatory, sociocultural and cognitive aspects facilitate low-income, unbanked consumers' utilization of informal financial services owing to their approachability by, suitability for, and fairness to such consumers. Thus, they promote such consumers' financial inclusion. Practical implications: Low-income consumers are mostly unable to access formal financial services due to the existing supply- and demand-side impediments. Understanding ROSCAs' institutional functioning can help formal financial service providers create more transformative financial services based on the positive institutional aspects of ROSCAs to enhance poor consumers' financial inclusion and well-being. Social implications: The inclusion of low-income, unbanked consumers in formal banking services will help them better control their finances. Originality/value: Many low-income, unbanked consumers in developing countries utilize informal financial services to meet their basic financial needs, but service researchers have rarely investigated how informal financial institutions function. The present study showed that ROSCAs, as informal institutions, meet low-income, unbanked consumers' personal, social and financial needs in a befitting manner, which encourages such consumers to use the financial services offered by ROSCAs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Environmental & Social Management Journal / Revista de Gestão Social e Ambiental is the property of Environmental & Social Management Journal and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Energy-inefficient buildings are a major driver of climate change. The aging, energy inefficient housing occupied by low-income households in the US and other high-income countries is a driver of notable environmental and health disparities as well. Public policies for alleviating the financial and health burdens of energy inefficient housing have existed for decades, but fallen short of reaching most households in need. This paper proposes a promising new approach to filling gaps left by public programs -- one that relies on mobilizing the tools of private governance, carbon offsetting and the voluntary carbon market (VCM) to finance energy upgrades for low-income households. We develop a new and readily applicable methodology for calculating energy and carbon savings from efficiency upgrades based on readily accessible publicly available data. Tailored to the needs of estimating energy and carbon savings from efficiency upgrades to low-income units, rentals in particular, this methodology can be fruitfully deployed in monetizing the carbon savings from efficiency driven reductions in household energy use. Specifically, we propose packaging the emission reductions generated through energy savings as carbon offsets, then selling these offsets on the voluntary carbon market to generate financing for energy upgrades to low-income homes not served by public energy efficiency programs. Given the multiple economic and health co-benefits from low-income energy upgrades, we expect that carbon offsets generated through such upgrades will be attractive to many corporate and institutional offset buyers, particularly those who seek to fulfill climate commitments while also advancing economic and human development in their host communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Urban Studies (Sage Publications, Ltd.) is the property of Sage Publications, Ltd. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Due to some social, economic, and environmental factors, the under-5 mortality rates in low-income countries (LICs) are usually high. The primary purpose of this study is to determine the impact of health expenditures, electricity consumption, economic growth, renewable energy, urbanization, and fertility rates on the under-5 mortality rates in low-income countries. For the theoretical framework, the Grossman health production theory is conducted. Due to the existence of the cross-sectional dependency problem and the unit-roots problem, the static and dynamic models are employed to evaluate the long-run estimation findings. The static and dynamic models of the fixed effect, random effect, system generalized method of moments, and dynamic generalized method of moments illustrated that health expenditure, electricity, GDP, and urbanization significantly alleviated the infants' mortality rates under-5 in the low-income countries, by contrast, renewable energy, and fertility rates contributed to the increase of the mortality rates under -5. The quantile regression evaluates the validity and robustness of the results. The robust outcomes narrated that health expenditure, electricity, GDP, and urbanization declined the mortality rates whenever the fertility rate increased the mortality rates. The research suggests important policy recommendations for low-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Consolidation in the U.S. banking industry has led to larger banks. I find that low-income households face reduced access to credit when local banks are large. This result appears to stem from large banks' comparative disadvantage using soft information, which is particularly important for lending to low-income households. In contrast, the size of local banks has little or no effect on high-income households. Consistent with low-income parents' credit constraints limiting investment in their children's human capital, areas with larger banks exhibit a greater sensitivity of educational attainment to parental income, and less intergenerational economic mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Socioeconomic differences among low-income and racially minoritized students may be consequential for understanding the dynamics of school choice—especially in high-poverty and racially segregated urban contexts that are often targeted by school choice policies. Yet school choice research largely focuses on differences between groups and relies on measures that broadly categorize students as low-income or not. Drawing on parent interviews in Detroit, this study describes socioeconomic differences among low-income and racially minoritized families and examines how those differences relate to their engagement in the school choice process. While families faced a similar landscape of choice, relied on similar types of resources, and did not have drastically different preferences, relative socioeconomic disadvantages translated to more constrained access and engagement in school choice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Early intervention and parental education for preemies are limited in some low-income countries. Thus, this study aimed to assess whether daily tummy time (TT) associated with usual care (UC) enhances motor and cognitive development in preemies from low-income countries. The main and secondary aim was to assess prone head elevation (PHE) and motor and cognitive functions, respectively. Methods: Thirty-one preemies with a mean gestational age at birth of 33.3 ± 1.6 weeks and weighing <2,500 g were included and 18 completed all assessments. Parents from the TT group were asked to perform TT with their preemies for at least 20 min during daily activities and playtime. Motor and cognitive functions were assessed by a blinded examiner using the motor and cognitive composite scores of Bayley-III after two and four months of corrected age. PHE was given by the angle from the tragus of the ear to the supporting surface of the infant; measurements were obtained using the Kinovea® software at baseline, after two, three, and four months of corrected age. Results: The Bayley-III motor composite score of the TT group was higher than the UC group after two and four months of corrected age. The PHE angle increased over time but did not differ between groups. Discussion: Nevertheless, TT expanded the perspective of preemies to explore their bodies and environment, favoring the stimuli for motor and cognitive patterns. The loss of participants (31%) was one of the limitations of the study, illustrating the challenge of providing continued early interventions to preemies from low-income countries. In this sense, TT practice is a home intervention that may improve motor and cognitive function of preemies immediately after hospital discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is recognised that migrants' access to housing in destination cities is shaped by a number of factors. This paper takes as its focus the processes of housing allocation for low-income West African migrants in the Bronx, New York City. Drawing on 37 semi-structured interviews with housing providers and intermediary organisations that perform housing-related functions, the paper builds upon literature on migration industries and informal housing solutions among migrant communities, and reveals the formal and informal systems which migrants must navigate in order to secure housing. The specific roles which housing providers and intermediary organisations – including housing advocacies NGOs, public institutions, and religious groups – play are highlighted. The paper shows that informal processes operating in the low-income housing market in the Bronx mirror the operations of formal institutional structures, but instead of financial and legal grounds for housing allocation, informal migration industries are centred on social ties within the established migrant community. Such arrangements provide much-needed access to affordable housing for low-income tenants and facilitate further migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of achieving the secondary prevention targets recommended in the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines for cardiovascular disease (CVD) in 38 low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs). Methods: We pooled nationally representative cross-sectional surveys from 38 LMICs between 2013 and 2020. Treatment, metabolic and lifestyle targets were assessed for individuals with a self-reported history of CVD according to WHO's recommendations. Associations between the prevalence of guideline adherence and sociodemographic characteristics were assessed using multivariate Poisson regression models. Results: The pooled sample included 126 106 participants, of whom 9821 (6.8% [95% CI 6.4–7.2]) reported a history of CVD. Overall, the prevalence of achieving treatment targets in patients with CVD was 22.7% (95% CI, 21.0-24.5%) for antihypertensive drugs, 19.6% (17.9-21.4%) for aspirin, and 13.6% (12.0-15.44%) for statins. The prevalence of achieving metabolic targets was 54.9% (52.5-57.3%) for BMI, 39.9% (37.7-42.2%) for blood pressure, 46.1% (43.6-48.6%) for total cholesterol, and 84.9% (83.1-86.5%) for fasting blood glucose. The prevalence of achieving lifestyle targets was 83.2% (81.5-84.7%) for not smoking, 83.1% (81.2-84.9%) for not drinking, 65.5% (63.1-67.7%) for sufficient physical activity and 16.2% (14.5-18.0%) for healthy diet. Only 6.1% (5.1-7.4%) achieved three treatment targets, 16.0% (14.3-17.9%) achieved four metabolic targets, and 6.9% (5.8-8.0%) achieved four lifestyle targets. Upper-middle income countries were better than low-income countries at achieving the treatment, non-drinking and dietary targets. Being younger and female were associated with poorer achievement of metabolic targets. Conclusion: In LMICs, achieving the targets recommended in the guideline for treatment, metabolism and healthy lifestyles for patients with CVD is notably low. This highlights an urgent need for effective, systematic secondary prevention strategies to improve CVD management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Childhood blindness remains a neglected issue in eye care within low-income countries, with congenital and juvenile cataracts being the most common treatable causes. This study aims to investigate the factors influencing the management of congenital and juvenile bilateral cataracts, provide data on general outcomes and postoperative findings, and discuss treatment in a low-income country context. Methods: In this prospective study, data from clinical care were continuously entered into a database, and one follow-up examination of a cohort of 91 patients with congenital and juvenile bilateral cataracts in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, was conducted. Multiple factors that affect the first clinical presentation, the clinical management, and outcome were investigated. Results: Most patients (88.5%) who received medical treatment were identified by cataract finders. A patient's presentation time was independent of the parent's education, social status, income, and sex of the child. The median age at first presentation was 5.8 years (ranging from 0 days to 17.3 years). The best visual acuity outcomes were achieved by patients who underwent surgery during early childhood. According to WHO grades and on an eye level basis, 51.1% (93 out of 182 eyes) showed improvement, while 34.6% (63 eyes) had unchanged results post-surgery. Among the cases without improvement, 76.2% were blind prior to surgery. Postoperative findings were observed in 56% of the patients, with secondary cataracts being the most common, affecting 26.37% of the operated eyes. Conclusions: Optimal management of childhood cataracts involves early identification, efficient hospital infrastructure, high-quality medical care, and long-term follow up. In sub-Saharan Africa, this approach must be adapted to the context of available resources, which differs significantly from those in high- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Despite Africa's significant infectious disease burden, it is underrepresented in global vaccine clinical trials. While this trend is slowly reversing, it is important to recognize and mitigate the challenges that arise when conducting vaccine clinical trials in this environment. These challenges stem from a variety of factors peculiar to the population and may negatively impact adverse event collection and reporting if not properly addressed. Methods: As a team of clinical researchers working within the MRCG (Medical Research Council Unit The Gambia), we have conducted 12 phase 1 to 3 vaccine trials over the past 10 years. In this article, we discuss the challenges we face and the strategies we have developed to improve the collection and reporting of adverse events in low-income settings. Outcome. Healthcare-seeking behaviors in the Gambia are influenced by spiritual and cultural beliefs as well as barriers to accessing orthodox healthcare; participants in trials may resort to non-orthodox care, reducing the accuracy of reported adverse events. To address this, trial eligibility criteria prohibit self-treatment and herbal product use during trials. Instead, round-the-clock care is provided to trial participants, facilitating safety follow-up. Constraints in the healthcare system in the Gambia such as limitations in diagnostic tools limit the specificity of diagnosis when reporting adverse events. To overcome these challenges, the Medical Research Council Unit maintains a Clinical Services Department, offering medical care and diagnostic services to study participants. Sociocultural factors, including low literacy rates and social influences, impact adverse event collection. Solicited adverse events are collected during home visits on paper-based or electronic report forms. Community engagement meetings are held before each study starts to inform community stakeholders about the study and answer any questions they may have. These meetings ensure that influential members of the community understand the purpose of the study and the risks and benefits of participating in the trial. This understanding makes them more likely to support participation within their communities. Conclusion: Conducting ethical vaccine clinical trials in resource-limited settings requires strategies to accurately collect and report adverse events. Our experiences from the Gambia offer insights into adverse event collection in these settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study sought to examine the relationship between financial development and economic growth in low-income nations in the SADC region. Motivated by the observation that numerous states in the SADC region lack adequately developed financial systems, this investigation was undertaken. Many SADC states are low-income countries, and they remain financially underdeveloped, which could compromise their growth prospects. The analysis was quantitative in nature, and used panel data to achieve its objectives. The data period spanned from 2000 to 2022. The dynamic common correlated effects (DCCE) technique was used for estimation purposes. Results showed that there is a positive relationship between financial development and economic growth. The relationship was also found to be causal: financial development is not only a result of economic growth; it also influences growth. The evidence from the findings supports the notion that financial development is needed to increase the effectiveness of resource allocation and consequently promote growth. This calls on the governments in the countries under investigation to create environments that foster financial development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Holistic mentoring ecosystems are a comprehensive approach to addressing the diverse needs of students through interconnected support networks. While mentoring has been well-documented in existing literature, more research is needed to determine the effectiveness of mentoring ecosystems in mitigating the impact of critical junctures for vulnerable, high-attrition student populations. Guided by Tinto's model of retention, this qualitative case study investigated the role of holistic mentoring ecosystems in mitigating the impacts of the two combined critical junctures--the COVID-19 pandemic and the first year of college--on low-income STEM undergraduates. Our findings suggest that holistic mentoring ecosystems were essential in helping students adjust to the academic environment and fostering a sense of belonging in the STEM community amid the severe limitations imposed by the pandemic. This study adds to the growing body of literature investigating the approaches and strategies effective in supporting vulnerable student populations through critical junctures in their educational journey. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A deeper understanding of low-income and first-generation college student experiences is essential to advancing diversity and equity in higher education. Due to a significant gap in college enrollment and graduation rates for low-income and first-generation college students, specifically after COVID-19, it is important to identify factors affecting their success. The Upward Bound Math and Science (UBMS) Program at New Mexico Tech (NMT) supports high school students who are either first-generation college students and/or from low-income families to prepare them with the skills and motivation necessary to complete high school and enter and succeed in a program of postsecondary education. These students face unique challenges during their time at college. To identify the factors that affect the success of these students, we surveyed several of our UBMS program participants who chose to attend NMT after completing high school. All participants said support from UBMS staff was critical when starting college at NMT. Participants also mention building a support system with their fellow UBMS alumni to deal with the struggles that being at STEM-focused institutions brings. This study also resulted in several suggestions for faculty and staff members to improve academic outcomes for all students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The industrial policy literature has made important contributions to understanding how to catalyze industrialization, but it tends to focus more on the industrial policies required to incentivize learning than on studying firm-level learning dynamics and investments in technological capabilities. Furthermore, global value chain studies on export sectors in low-income countries rarely consider whether local firms are part of broader business groups and if so, how that position within business groups affects local firms' business strategies regarding the global supply chain in question as well as investments outside it. This article examines local firms' investments in a new export industry, and they are shaped by dynamics linked to their family business groups, industrial policies, and the wider national economic and political contexts of low-income countries. It does so through a case study of Ethiopia and the emergence of its floriculture export industry. The article explains firm-level motivations in acquiring knowledge and building capabilities as well as their export trajectories and firm growth paths and how they are shaped by owners' decisions related to the overall business group. It argues that industrial policies need to consider not only the existing capabilities, organizations, and networks of local firms but also tailor industrial policies to the potential of the family business groups to drive capability building in new industries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, parents of young children need postsecondary credentials to compete in the labor market and meet basic family needs. This study uses a quasi-experimental design to examine the effects of CareerAdvance, a two-generation education intervention that offers postsecondary career training in healthcare for parents paired with Head Start for children. Overall, we find that CareerAdvance promotes low-income parents' educational advancement during the first three years after program entry, with weaker evidence of benefits to career progress and psychological wellbeing, and no evidence of economic gains. The two-generation program promotes greater educational and career advancement among parents without postsecondary credentials at baseline, than for parents who began the program with postsecondary credentials. In contrast, exploratory analyses suggest that parents entering the program with postsecondary credentials experienced benefits to some individual markers of economic and psychological wellbeing within three years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In Nigeria, since 2002, Imatinib mesylate (glivec®) has been available freely to chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) patients but only at a tertiary health care centre in the southwestern part of the country. Despite this, it is not readily accessible to many patients due to the distance and other challenges including low socioeconomic status and political problems, preventing timely access to specialist care. This study evaluated the effect of the baseline characteristics on the prognostic implication and treatment outcome of CML patients in Nigeria. Method: This study retrospectively evaluated the baseline characteristics, clinical presentations and treatment outcomes of 889 CML patients over 18 years (2002–2020). Of these, 576 (65%) patients had complete information with up-to-date BCR::ABL1 records. These 576 patients were categorized based on their responses to Imatinib therapy into three groups viz.; Optimal response (OR) defined as BCR::ABL1 ratio of < 0.1% or major molecular remission (≥ 3-log reduction of BCR::ABL1 mRNA or BCR::ABL1 ratio of < 0.1% on the International Scale), Suboptimal response (SR) with BCR::ABL ratio of 0.1–1%, and Treatment failure (TF) when MMR has not been achieved at 12 months. The variables were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics and a p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: The result revealed a median age of 37 years at diagnosis with a male-to-female ratio of 1.5:1. The majority (96.8%) of the patients presented with one or more symptoms at diagnosis with a mean symptom duration of 12 ± 10.6 months. The mean Sokal and EUTOS scores were 1.3 ± 0.8 and 73.90 ± 49.09 respectively. About half of the patients presented with high-risk Sokal (49%) and EUTOS (47%) scores. Interestingly, both the Sokal (r = 0.733, p = 0.011) and EUTOS (r = 0.102, p = 0.003) scores correlated positively and significantly with the duration of symptoms at presentation. Based on response categorization, 40.3% had OR while 27.1% and 32.6% had SR and TF respectively. Conclusion: This study observed a low optimal response rate of 40.3% and treatment failure rate of 32.6% in our CML cohort while on first-line Imatinib therapy. This treatment response is strongly attributable to the long duration of symptoms of 12 months or more and high Sokal and EUTOS scores at presentation. We advocate prompt and improved access to specialist care with optimization of tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy in Nigeria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exposure to respirable crystalline silica dust is one of the most common and severe risks due to the associated health outcomes among workers and results in many occupational-related lung diseases, such as silicosis and lung cancer. The study aimed to determine knowledge, attitudes, and practices on occupation health and safety among mine workers exposed to crystalline silica dust in Lesotho. A descriptive retrospective cross-sectional study design was used in the study. A record review guide was used to retrieve secondary data from the Southern Africa Tuberculosis and Health Systems Support (SATBHSS) project, which were thereafter entered into STATA software, version 17 for descriptive and inferential analysis. The study participants were purposively selected. Most participants were between the ages of 31 to 40 years of age and there was a significant difference between the genders with 35 (9%) females and 350 (91%) males. The majority of the participants had a high school level of education (305, 79%). The knowledge was generally positive in the study with a knowledge score mean of 13.43 (standard deviation: 2.99). The miners agreed with most attitude statements except for A1 (25%), A2 (35%), A3 (18%), and A4 (31%). The practice of exposed mine workers in the study was influenced by working in a dolerite mine (p = 0.003), knowledge score (p ˂ 0.001), and having an attitude about health and safety rules at the mine (p ˂ 0.001; 95% CI: 0.92 to 0.79), while age was a protective factor in the study. The findings of this study highlighted positive knowledge, attitudes, and practices toward occupational health and safety among mine workers. However, more educational programs can be implemented to ensure all mine workers understand the importance of good knowledge, positive attitude, and appropriate practices towards occupational health and safety in their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India is the most populous country in the world, having a population of 1.42 billion in 2022. It is urbanizing rapidly, with the present urbanization level at about 35%, which is expected to reach about 40% by 2030. There was an estimated demand of 11.22 million homes in urban India in 2017, of which 95% was in the affordable housing sector. This demand is expected to increase with the current urbanization trends. The Indian government is promoting the construction of millions of affordable houses under its ambitious Prime Minister's Housing Program. These houses are planned, designed, and constructed using local materials and techniques, considering local climatic, geological, hazard, and socio-economic conditions. We examined the 30 most commonly applied housing typologies to determine which typologies and materials have minimum embodied energy and construction costs. The results indicate that load-bearing housing construction of up to three stories, with a plinth–carpet area ratio of 1.31, constructed with any of the blocks-based masonry techniques, has the lowest embodied energy and construction cost, and houses with a plinth–carpet area ratio of 1.51 have the highest. Further, houses constructed with Hollow CC block masonry have the lowest embodied energy, and HF Fly Ash block-based masonry has the lowest construction cost. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to assess the environmental impacts of different construction systems employed in a single-story low-income housing development utilizing Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The LCA was applied to the roof, wall, coating, and floor systems, considering the initial and recurring impacts from extraction to material replacement. Data were quantified using the CML 2001 method with OpenLCA 1.9 software. The analyzed impact categories are the potential for the depletion of abiotic resources—non-fossil (ADP); potential for the depletion of abiotic resources—fossil (ADP f); soil and water acidification potential (AP); eutrophication potential (EP); global warming potential—100 (GWP); stratospheric ozone layer depletion potential (ODP); and photochemical oxidation potential (POCP). The results highlight the impacts related to the maintenance and replacement of materials as the most significant, with walls being the system with the highest concentration of impacts, presenting the highest results among five of the seven categories. In the GWP category, the wall system resulted in 42% of total impacts (initial + recurring impacts). These findings show that the selection and definition of construction materials in the design phase can either mitigate or exacerbate environmental burdens. Therefore, this research contribution lies in pinpointing the environmental impacts of each construction system of low-income housing to support architects and engineers in addressing environmental impacts when making project decisions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-income students' preferences for higher education might depend on the uncertainty of financial aid. Using a time discontinuity design, this paper exploits the unanticipated cancellation of a nationwide Colombian merit and need-based scholarship, called Ser Pilo Paga, to study its consequences on students' preferences for higher education. Preferences are measured using a discrete choice experiment administrated to 949 low-income high school students in 2018. The findings reveal that the scholarship's cancellation reduced higher education ambitions among low-income students due to the decreased interest in both financial aid and high-quality universities. The effects were particularly concentrated on income-eligible individuals who were more likely to obtain the scholarship, as their choices for financial aid and high-quality institutions declined by 15 to 50% of the baseline preference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Limited understanding exists regarding the methodologies behind designing interfaces for low-income contexts, despite acknowledging their potential value. The ERSA (Engineering design Research meta-model based Systematic Analysis) process, defined as a dynamic interactive multi-process system, proposes a new approach to constructing learnings to succeed in designing interfaces for low-income countries. ERSA is developed by integrating database searches, snowballing, thematic similarity searches for corpus of literature creation, multilayer networks, clustering algorithms, and data processing. ERSA employs an engineering design meta-model to analyze the corpus of literature, facilitating the identification of diverse methodological approaches. The insights from ERSA empower researchers, designers, and engineers to tailor design methodologies to their specific low-income contexts. Our findings show the importance of adopting more versatile and holistic approaches. They suggest that user-based design methodologies and computational design can be defined and theorized together. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rooftop solar adoption has increased considerably in recent years thanks to a combination of lower panel costs and generous incentive programs. This paper estimates the increase in residential rooftop solar adoption associated with three types of solar incentive programs and isolates the effect of these programs in both high and low-income census tracts. We utilize a dataset of census tract-level rooftop solar adoption compiled using a machine learning-based image classification tool that identifies solar photovoltaic panels from satellite images. This allows us to study areas of the country that have lower solar adoption rates and incomes than areas previously studied. We find evidence that programs designed specifically to encourage adoption in low-income areas are associated with a smaller gap between low- and high-income solar adoption. However, property-tax benefits and net metering, which are more prevalent across the U.S., are associated with an increase in the gap between low- and high-income solar adoption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prevailing housing situation in Pakistan is alarming, as more than 47% of urban households are estimated to be living in squatters. Housing stakeholders require an enabling environment to collaborate to reduce the drastic inequity with too many housing options for the high-income and too few for the low-income groups. Existing literature reveals that Pakistan lacks stakeholder studies with a collaborative focus on providing low-income housing in urban areas. This study explores the barriers and impediments to stakeholder collaborations in the low-income housing sector through in-depth interviews within the urban setting of Lahore, the capital and the most populous city of the biggest province, Punjab, Pakistan. The findings identify the emergence of five cross-cutting collaboration challenges (GLIPP), placing government capacity, institutional complexity, and political willpower & intervention as dominant ones. This study stresses revising the organizational hierarchy of government institutions to develop a collaborative culture in the Pakistani housing sector. As part of practical implications, this paper would agitate policymakers to develop housing policies and programs for low-income groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cessation of breastfeeding by low-income mothers returning to work is a feminist concern. Our research advances knowledge from the Global South to extend understanding of breastfeeding at work as a form of foodwork in organizational settings. A major reason for breastfeeding cessation is the conflict between this foodwork labor and the physical labor of paid employment. In-depth interview data from 33 black low-income working mothers in South Africa were analyzed through an intersectional lens of race, gender, and social class. The findings yield both struggles and innovations in the mothers' attempts to combine nourishing their children with paid employment. The paper explores three themes: (1) the labor of breastfeeding within contexts of low-income earning, (2) gender and social class norms shaping childcare and foodwork, and (3) local knowledge about foodwork and employment. We present recommendations for improving workplace support for low-income mothers' breastfeeding efforts, and for advancing gender equity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Obstetric fistula is incident and prevalent in low-income countries. Globally, about 100,000 women develop fistula annually. In Mozambique, more than 2,000 fistulas are reported annually. A national strategy to combat obstetric fistula has been implemented in Mozambique from 2012–2020. This strategy is under review, making it opportune to generate evidence that reflects the course of the strategy implemented to subsidize/optimize the definition of priorities of the new strategy to achieve universal health coverage. In Mozambique, information on the costs incurred to treat fistula is scarce. This study aims to estimate the mean unit cost of repair/treatment of simple and complex obstetric fistula in Mozambique. Methods: We carried out a retrospective evaluation, from the provider's perspective, using the Ingredient and Stepdown approaches. The mean unit cost was obtained by the sum of individual and shared ingredients to treat fistula. Cost dimensions included Direct Medical Costs (personnel, drugs, and supplies), Overhead and Capital Costs (administration and capital assets' costs, respectively). The average exchange rate was USD 1 = MZN 61.47. Data were collected in secondary, tertiary, and quaternary hospitals of Zambézia and Nampula provinces in 2021. Costs borne by patients and their families and loss of productivity were not included. Results: The mean cost for Simple Obstetric Fistula repair was MZN 14,937.21 (USD 243) and Complex Obstetric Fistula was MZN 21,145.68 (USD 344) per person operated. Regardless of the type of fistula, the repair cost was MZN 18,072.18 (USD 294). Conclusion: Without neglecting that prevention is better than plasty, the results show feasible levels of fistula repair costs for mobilization of funds. For the estimated 2,000 fistulas reported annually, the government needs an average MZN 36,144,360 (USD 588,000). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing literature suggests many victims of housing loss due to disaster need emergency shelter, and low-income individuals are at risk of becoming chronically homeless without assistance in the transition to conventional housing. In response, FEMA provides Transitional Sheltering Assistance (TSA) to victims of housing loss. However, the extent to which sheltering needs are met by TSA has not been investigated, especially among low-income households. Analyzing FEMA's administrative data including all damaged housing units in Harris and Galveston counties (N = 283,085), we found that low-income victims of housing loss not only had greater sheltering needs but also were less likely to access TSA than their counterparts not of low-income status. When both groups were in need of shelter, the chance of obtaining TSA for low-income victims of housing loss was much lower than that for their counterparts. Our study highlights the critical sheltering needs of low-income households in a natural disaster, and advocates for a broader and more equitable distribution of TSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Policy & Internet is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Based on interviews with low-income, Israeli mothers about their experience supporting children's remote-learning during COVID, this study offers theoretical insights about the accomplishment of natural-growth. The accomplishment of natural-growth is a theoretical concept coined by Lareau to describe the logics of low-income childrearing. Though concerted cultivation, which describes the logics of middle-class childrearing has garnered theoretical elaboration, little research has elaborated on practices for accomplishment of natural-growth. This study elaborates on these practices as they were revealed in mothers' narratives of adjustment to difficulties placed by remote-learning. The women described practices by which they sought to bind themselves and their children into a social network and to bridge out and utilize resources within and beyond this network. The analysis reveals that these practices work through social as opposed to cultural capital, revealing a childrearing logic based in a different type of capital than that of concerted cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of neoliberalism, community leisure practitioners have access to fewer resources, which requires adopting the business-like practices of private sector organizations. To ensure access for low-income families, practitioners incorporate economic-based access policies. Despite these efforts, many low-income families are still unable to access community-based leisure provisions. Drawing on data from a case study of a nonprofit organization that supports low-income families' access to leisure activities, we found that community leisure provisions had rigid program structures, subsidy programs, registration processes, and volunteer obligations that hindered rather than helped parents' ability to enroll, facilitate, and maintain their children's leisure participation. Our findings indicate that top-down programming resulted in not meeting families' needs due to program options, despite being designed for low-income families, the leisure access provisions prevented rather than cultivated participation in leisure activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic halted progress in global vaccine coverage and disrupted routine childhood vaccination practices worldwide. While there is ample evidence of the vaccination decline experienced during the pandemic, it is less clear how low-income countries were affected. We executed a systematic review to synthesize the current literature on the impacts of routine childhood vaccinations in low-income countries from 1 January 2020 to 8 February 2023. We collected data using an extraction form on Covidence and assessed the quality of studies included in the review using the Risk of Bias in Non-Randomized Studies of Interventions (ROBINS-I) tool. Effect estimates for changes in vaccination during the pandemic were reported and summarized. Factors that influenced changes were grouped into descriptive themes. Thirteen studies, encompassing 18 low-income countries and evaluating 15 vaccines at varying doses, were included in the final review. We found that routine childhood vaccinations during the COVID-19 pandemic varied considerably by vaccine type, location, and phase of the pandemic. Nine different themes were identified as factors that influenced changes in vaccination. Documenting past experiences and lessons learned is crucial for informing preparedness efforts in anticipation of future public health emergencies. Failure to effectively address these things in the next public health emergency could result in a recurrence of declining routine childhood vaccinations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Historically, many Western nations have subsidized public and affordable housing with public grants and government-backed loans. However, in response to declining housing affordability and high land and development costs, various national governments are now introducing tax-based housing incentives to promote affordable housing production by private actors. Understanding the broader implications of this shift to tax subsidy and private investment, this review reflects on the market outcomes of arguably the most documented tax-based housing program in the Western world: the low-income housing tax credit program (LIHTC) in the United States. Although LIHTC remains a unique and distinctive instrument, some valuable lessons can be learned from it. In comparative terms, the program offers stricter affordability requirements than its counterparts introduced in countries like Australia, Chile, Colombia, France and Germany. Furthermore, it is accompanied by stronger regulations to commit investors and developers to the housing cause on a more long-term basis. However, despite potential benefits, tax-incentivized housing production does not necessarily result in efficient or equitable housing solutions. In non-American contexts, its increased importance coincides with the emergence of market-oriented social welfare systems where affordable rents are set higher and where tenure is more flexible and heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) is defined as "urban mines" due to the various recoverable minerals they contain. However, current WEEE classification methods are mostly limited to their physical characteristics, focusing on collection, transport, and treatment purposes rather than on valorization. In the present study, our aim is to propose an alternative classification approach adapted for low-income countries for WEEE recovery that highlights their content of precious and valuable metals. A typology of WEEE was created based on WEEE generated in Ouagadougou (Burkina Faso). Principal component analysis (PCA) and the moving center technique (K-means) were used for the classification method. Ultimately, we have found that to improve the recovery of WEEE, they can be classified into three main groups: (i) a group of WEEE-containing batteries, (ii) a group of WEEE-containing valuable and precious metals, and finally, (iii) a group of WEEE made up of cathode ray tube televisions (CRT-TV) waste. The WEEE belonging to the second group are the ones that could generate higher economical values. This alternative classification approach will help investors and operators to better orient their valorization activities towards WEEE types that present the best precious metals recovery potential, maximizing their profits. On the other hand, decision-makers will find this classification useful for reorganizing the WEEE value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Given the importance of ICT diffusion in the development of the financial sector, this analysis is an effort to analyze the transmission channels between the two in high-income and middle and low-income economies over 2001–2019. We have used three variables, including the ICT index, individuals using the internet, and mobile subscribers, to represent ICT and three indices, including the financial development index, financial institution index, and financial market index, to make our results reliable and robust. We utilized a GMM method for conducting the empirical analysis. Generally, our results imply that ICT diffusion positively impacts financial development in high-income economies and negatively impacts middle and low-income economies. Our findings suggest that middle- and low-income-economy policymakers should follow the footprint of the high-income economies and increase the role of ICT in the financial sector for its development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: During periods of civil strife, the need for trauma care and lack of sufficient cleft surgeons causes an increase in children left untreated with cleft lip and palate deformities. During the Syrian war, some cleft care was provided through visiting charities, with surgeries performed both in Syria and neighboring countries. There is a need to increase the number of adequately trained cleft surgeons available in such regions so that care can be achieved beyond mission trips. Methodology: Cleft lip and palate repair workshops were delivered to 50 doctors in Syria. Pre-workshop, trainees received supplementary learning material. During the workshop, attendees received didactic teaching followed by 2 simulation sessions. Pre- and post-workshop, attendees completed questionnaires regarding their confidence and ability to perform cleft lip and palate repair. Results: Pre-workshop, 96% of workshop attendees had never independently performed cleft lip repair while 100% of attendees had not previously performed cleft palate repair. The mean pre-workshop confidence score was 2.452. Post-workshop, the mean confidence score was 3.503. Confidence rating scores significantly improved (P <.001). Conclusion: The workshop delivered in Syria, together with this cleft lip and palate simulator provides an effective training tool that may support surgical training globally, particularly those in low-income countries. Further support is needed by charity organizations to ensure the continued delivery of such training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate the mediating effect of self-esteem in the path from the burden of debt to job-search behavior among South-Korean low-income youths under a economic recession. Using data from the Second Panel Study on the Participants of the Youth Hope Growing Account (YHGA) program in Korea, this study tested a theoretical model using structural equation modeling (SEM) with maximum likelihood (ML) estimation. The mediation effect was estimated using bootstrapping. The results revealed a significant effect of debt burden on job-search behavior, which was fully mediated by self-esteem. These findings suggest the necessity of providing financial and psychological support for economically disadvantaged youth to facilitate successful entry into the labor market in South Korea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the last decades, several countries introduced new income-tested child benefits and targeted in-work tax credits to boost the income of low-income families. Inspired by the power resource theory, I postulate that left-wing governments tend to increase benefits to low-income families because their ideology favours redistribution and to consolidate the vote of low-income families, but that both right- and left-wing governments increase benefits for middle-income families. The impact of left-wing governments should be stronger in countries with a weak bargaining system as social partners are unable to reduce inequalities between families. To demonstrate this argument, I use statistical analyses based on OECD data to measure the effect of government ideology and corporatism on the level of benefits received by low- and middle-income families in OECD countries from 1982 to 2019. The results indicate that left-wing parties have a significant impact on benefits received by low-income families, but not on benefits received by middle-income families. Also, even though corporatism is associated with different types of child benefits, it does not influence the relationship between left-wing governments and benefits received by low-income families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enhancing the efficiency of windows is important for improving the energy efficiency of buildings. The Korean government has performed numerous building renovation projects to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and mitigate energy poverty. To reduce the costs and manpower requirements of conventional field surveys, this study presents a deep-learning model to examine the insulation performance of windows using photographs taken in low-income housing. A smartphone application using crowdsourcing was developed for data collection. The insulation performance of windows was determined based on U-value, derived considering the frame-material type, number of panes, and area of windows. An image-labeling tool was designed to identify and annotate window components within photographs. Furthermore, software utilizing open-source computer vision was developed to estimate the window area. After training on a dataset with ResNet and EfficientNet, an accuracy of approximately 80% was achieved. Thus, this study introduces a novel workflow to evaluate the insulation performance of windows, which can support the energy-efficient renovation of low-income housing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Maternal influenza immunisation (MII) is recommended for protecting pregnant women and infants under six months of age from severe disease related to influenza. However, few low-income countries have introduced this vaccine. Existing cost-effectiveness studies do not consider potential vaccine non-specific effects (NSE) observed in some settings, such as reductions in preterm birth. A decision tree model was built to examine the potential cost-effectiveness of MII in a hypothetical low-income country compared to no vaccination, considering possible values for NSE on preterm birth in addition to vaccine-specific effects on influenza. We synthesized epidemiological and cost data from low-income countries. All costs were adjusted to 2021 United States dollars (USD). We considered cost-effectiveness thresholds that reflect opportunity costs (USD 188 per disability-adjusted life year averted; range: USD 28–538). Results suggest that even a small (5%) NSE on preterm birth may make MII a cost-effective strategy in these settings. A value of information analysis indicated that acquiring more information on the presence and possible size of NSE of MII could greatly reduce the uncertainty in decision-making on MII. Further clinical research investigating NSE in low-income countries may be of high value to optimise immunisation policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]