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Every year, the province of South Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is burdened by recurrent outbreaks of Cholera especially in the Fizi and Uvira regions. Although the root causes of the epidemic are the scarcity of clean water and quality hygienic latrines, human-induced malpractices are also contributing factors. Hence, providing clean water and hygienic latrines must be accompanied...
In many developing countries, a large percentage of the population lacks access to adequate healthcare. This is especially true in India where close to 70% of the population lives in rural areas and has little to no access to hospitals or clinics. People living in rural India often times cannot afford to pay to see a doctor should they need to make their visits to a hospital. Telemedicine, a breakthrough...
This project has designed a material treatment process to extend the lifespan of extrusion augers used by the social enterprise Appropriate Energy Saving Technologies (AEST) in Uganda. AEST uses an extruder machine to recycle agricultural waste into charcoal briquettes that they sell to low-income families. The auger components wore down quickly and needed a hardening process to remain useful for...
Developing regions like Pakistan have been facing various challenges to ensure the quality of education. Poor governance and ignorance of merit in different decisions have emerged as key hurdles for Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) towards promoting quality education. In this context, Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Pakistan has established Quality Assurance Agency (QAA), to safeguard the...
This paper proposes an enhanced three step design framework for microgrids designed with fixed capacity shortages (CS) that optimizes cost using load prioritization, battery thresholds and predicted solar data in the design phase instead of operational phase to reduce capital expenditure. This is achieved through reduction in battery size. The framework uses HOMER to model microgrids that are cost...
Over 25% of the global disease burden requires surgical therapy, which could prevent over 18 million deaths per year. Yet two billion people have no meaningful access to safe surgical care, and two to three billion more have access only to unsterile surgeries, leading to disproportionate rates of surgical infections. At the same time, over 85,000 medical providers are infected by patient bodily fluids...
Over the past 20 years, off-grid solar home systems (SHS), comprised of solar panels, batteries, a charge controller and loads, have proved the most popular and immediate solution increasing energy access, mainly through rural electrification, across the Global South. Although deployed in significant numbers, issues remain with SHS cost, reliability, utilization and sustainability. Interconnection...
Response time of the emergency services is vital in drastically improving the chances of survival and of meaningful recovery for the affected individuals in emergency situations. Often precious time is often lost for emergency services due to traffic, especially at traffic intersections. What we propose is a dynamic solution to the aforementioned problem using an intelligent network of smart traffic...
Biochar is a solid residue produced from pyrolysis, which is the heating of biomass in the absence (or near absence) of oxygen. The use of biochar can potentially aid in mitigating climate change through carbon sequestration and improve soil quality by the addition of nutrients, increased water holding capacity and providing a liming effect in soils. The physical and chemical properties of biochars...
Sub-Saharan Africa is home to millions of children who face challenges in achieving their cognitive potential due to chronic poverty and other factors such as malaria and HIV infection. Scarcity of resources during early developmental stages may contribute to developmental delay in various domains, including motor, language and social-emotional, that may affect quality of life into adulthood. However,...
The Raspberry Pi Single Board Computer (SBC) family has gained popularity in diverse areas, while education remains to be the fundamental driver behind the design. Low cost kits are provided, specifically for education, by the Raspberry Pi Foundation in conjunction with Google. These kits and modifications for optimal educational outcomes, and an enriched experience will be briefly discussed. The...
The European Union (EU) Member States and the European Commission (EC) are investing substantial funds in research and development (R&D) on technologies and innovative solutions for European and international disaster management, risk reduction as well as general crisis preparedness and response. The German Aerospace Center (DLR) has intensively been working in these R&D programs for many...
Agriculture is one of the main needs for human to survive. Agriculture has to tackle many problems like changing climate, water shortage, changing soil quality, etc. Due to the increasing demand for cereals and other crops for daily usage by the consumers there is a need for smarter implementation of irrigation and also develop farming methods that alter the basic eco systems and is less harmful to...
Malawi Children's Village (MCV) operates a secondary school of approximately 560 students in Mangochi, Malawi, and its strategic goal is to add computer studies into its curriculum. The first step to achieving this goal is for MCV to establish and sustain a teachers-only computer lab. This case study examines the process by which a team of volunteers identified this as the first step, the team's recommendations...
Increasing dependence on groundwater as a reliable source of water in the rural areas has resulted in its indiscriminate extraction without considering the recharging capabilities of the aquifers as well as other environmental factors. As the availability of groundwater is highly inconsistent and exhibits substantial variations across the country, management of groundwater resources in the Indian...
Disaster Management (DM) is the management of resources and responsibilities for dealing with all humanitarian aspects of emergencies, in terms of rescue, relief and rehabilitation. The development in the field of Natural Disaster Management (NDM) in India has been ongoing since almost three decades, but the one formulated a decade ago has been more diligently active and enterprising in carrying out...
This study investigates use of acoustic signals to detect cracks in polyvinyl chloride (PVC) sewer pipes. Cracked sewer pipes can result in release of untreated human and industrial waste, toxic materials and debris affecting human health and the environment. The released toxic effluents can pollute water reservoirs and damage public and private property. Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipes have been extensively...
Across the globe nearly 1.6 billion people lack access to electricity, of which many live in rural or remote areas of the developing countries. The extension of central grid for rural electrification is not economically viable due to the geographical placement and low initial power demand. However, for rural villages, systems that are less reliable than grid standards may be acceptable, and allow...
Farmers in Anuradhapura, a rural area of Sri Lanka, are experiencing rising rates of Chronic Kidney Disease from uncertain Etiology (CKDu). Within Sri Lanka alone, CKDu infections have led to the deaths of over 20,000 rural inhabitants over the last decade, and have caused a serious public health crisis. A likely cause of CKDu is water that is polluted with contaminants such as Arsenic, Cadmium and...
Locally Manufactured Small Wind Turbines (LM-SWTs) are growing in recognition as a means for rural electrification, and for meeting sustainability and poverty reduction targets set by the UN. This assessment is intended to inform governments and supranational entities where best to invest in order to meet these UN targets and improve the quality of life for millions of people in rural areas. This...
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