Low-tech Solution Research Articles

Co-producing a live fieldwork broadcast in the biosciences

Most live broadcast work in education operates with an expert to novice delivery mode, and in indoor settings such as surgical teaching environments. Those few examples of live broadcasts from outdoor locations have heavy resource requirements, limiting their uptake within Higher Education. Working with undergraduates in a students as partners approach, this research aims to test the feasibility of a low-cost and low-tech solution to co-produce a live fieldwork broadcast within the biosciences. The co-production partnership successfully produced a live broadcast from conception to delivery in 2022–2023 with three placement students and in 2023–2024 with two placement students and three mentors. The students were involved in all aspects of design, development, and delivery of the live fieldwork broadcast. A pocket wireless modem creates an outdoor wireless network with a mobile device and wireless microphones used to deliver the broadcast. Semi-structured interviews, student self-assessments, and a reflective researcher diary explored the impact of this approach to co-produce a live fieldwork broadcast. Enjoyable aspects of the placement identified were the opportunity for new experiences and a sense of achievement. The live fieldwork broadcast placement enabled the placement students to develop 28 skills, with 73% of skills identified by at least two of the placement students. Most skills developed were transferable (54% of student identified skills), including teamwork and project planning. The simple and low-cost technology used provides a solution to address the barriers of technology integration within fieldwork and offers insight into the experience of working in partnership during a live fieldwork broadcast.

GazeLink: A multi-language low-cost mobile eye-gesture communication system with large language models for people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) patients who have severe motor and speech impairments mostly rely on their eyes and assistive technology to communicate. However, existing high-tech products are expensive and hard to access, while low-tech products are inefficient and restrictive. To mitigate the limitations, this research proposes GazeLink, a multi-language low-cost mobile application for ALS patients to communicate efficiently with only eye movements. First, the system recognizes user eye gestures like left or up with machine learning and a template-matching algorithm. Then, it converts the eye gestures to words through a keyboard that supports English, Spanish, and Chinese. For efficiency, the system employs Large Language Models (LLMs) to generate a suitable sentence with words typed by the user and the context. Finally, the system provides text-to-speech and social media post services for both verbal and digital eye-gesture communication. Simulations conclude that sentence generation with LLMs can reduce user keystrokes by 81% while maintaining 90% of semantic similarity. Usability studies with 30 participants show that GazeLink can recognize eye gestures with 94.1% accuracy in varying lighting. After rapidly learning the user interface in under 10 attempts, first-time participants typed sentences of various lengths with their eyes at 15.1 words per minute, which is 7.2x faster than the common low-tech solution E-Tran. Experiments demonstrate GazeLinks efficiency, learnability, and accuracy in eye-gesture text entry. The system is extremely affordable (less than $0.1 a month), portable, and easily accessible online. It also supports different users, lighting, smartphones, and languages. Product testing with ALS patients and personalized LLM models will be the next step.

Delivering Remote Learning Using a Low-Tech Solution: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Bangladesh

Delivering Remote Learning Using a Low-Tech Solution: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Bangladesh

Incidence of Suboptimal Fluoroscopic Outlet Imaging of the Sacrum and Pelvic Retroversion Necessary for Optimal Views.

To estimate the prevalence of suboptimal fluoroscopy of sacral outlet images due to anatomic and equipment dimensions. Pelvic retroversion is hypothesized to mitigate this issue. In silico simulations using retrospectively collected computed tomography (CT) data from human patients. Level I trauma center. Adults with OTA/AO 61 pelvic ring disruptions treated with posterior pelvic fixation between July and December 2021. C-arm tilt angles required to obtain 3 optimal fluoroscopic sacral outlet images, defined as vectors from pubic symphysis to S2 and parallel to the first and second sacral neural foramina, were calculated from sagittal CT images. A suboptimal view was defined as collision of the C-arm radiation source or image intensifier with the patient/operating table at the required tilt angle simulated using the dimensions of 5 commercial C-arm models and trigonometric calculations. Incidence of suboptimal outlet views and pelvic retroversion necessary to obtain optimal views without collision, which may be obtained by placement of a sacral bump, was determined for each view for all patients and C-arm models. CT data from 72 adults were used. Collision between patient and C-arm would occur at the optimal tilt angle for 17% of simulations and at least 1 view in 68% of patients. Greater body mass index was associated with greater odds of suboptimal imaging (standard outlet: odds ratio [OR] 0.84, confidence interval [CI] 0.79-0.89, P < 0.001; S1: OR 0.91, CI 0.87-0.97, P = 0.002; S2: OR 0.85, CI 0.80-0.91, P < 0.001). S1 anterior sacral slope was associated with suboptimal S1 outlet views (OR 1.12, Cl 1.07-1.17, P < 0.001). S2 anterior sacral slope was associated with suboptimal standard outlet (OR 1.07, Cl 1.02-1.13, P = 0.004) and S2 outlet (OR 1.16, Cl 1.09-1.23, P < 0.001) views. Retroversion of the pelvis 15-20 degrees made optimal outlet views possible without collision in 95%-99% of all simulations, respectively. Suboptimal outlet imaging of the sacrum is associated with greater body mass index and sacral slope at S1 and S2. Retroversion of the pelvis by 15-20 degrees with a bump under the distal sacrum may offer a low-tech solution to ensure optimal fluoroscopic imaging for percutaneous fixation of the posterior pelvic ring. Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

To see, or not to see: Online job advertisement and EU non-discrimination law

The recruitment process has largely moved online. Job advertisements which used to be bound to newspapers and other print media have become an online service as part of a growing trend towards a more digitalised hiring process. Alongside increased flexibility and cost-cutting, this trend brings so previously unseen challenges. The technology behind online job portals and social media allows job ads to be shown to targeted groups of people using machine learning techniques to filter through the available data and search for the most suitable audience. The correlations that are inferred by algorithms between content and audience, however, can lead to biased outcomes. This is a serious problem since the specific risk with online job ads is that jobseekers who are considered less suitable by the algorithm will not see the ad at all. Such a result effectively hinders access to the labour market and poses the risk of perpetuating existing biases and discrimination. Those discrimination risks raise questions about the legal framework of online job advertisements. This article examines the requirements of the new EU initiatives to regulate artificial intelligence and the digital market and EU non-discrimination law regarding online job advertisements. It also proposes a low-tech solution to the high-tech problems associated with online job advertisements by introducing a legal requirement to publicly tender job ads on an online noticeboard, thus ensuring transparency and effective access to employment.

The Boy in the Borstal: Gene Hunting, Dopaminergic Dogma, and the Science of Schizophrenia

The Boy in the Borstal: Gene Hunting, Dopaminergic Dogma, and the Science of Schizophrenia

Delivering Remote Learning Using a Low-Tech Solution: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Bangladesh

Delivering Remote Learning Using a Low-Tech Solution: Evidence from a Randomized Controlled Trial in Bangladesh

Straw Bale Building as a Low-Tech Solution: A Case Study in Northern Poland

There is a growing interest in low-tech technologies, drawing on the tradition of building with organic and unprocessed materials. One such technology is straw bale constructions. This paper presents an example of a timber-frame building in which straw bales were used as wall filling. The building is located in northern Poland and is a small, year-round single-family dwelling. Based on the available literature and experimental studies, it can be concluded that straw bale technology carries several potential threats related to the selected technology, quality of workmanship, and climatic conditions. The article describes the measurements of the air tightness of the building, the heat transfer coefficient U and the analysis of the humidity of straw walls. The study results confirm the risks related to the low air tightness of the building and the risk of water vapour condensation in the external partitions.

Approximate climate analysis for assessing the suitability of Indian climate zones for hydroponic fodder applications

Hydroponic fodder has been proposed as a novel low-tech solution to India’s fodder scarcity. Hydroponic fodder can reduce water requirements by up to 95% and use up to 70% less land due to their vertically scalable nature. The short crop cycles of approximately 7 days yields a seed to feed ratio of 1:8. This study analyses the external environmental weather conditions in Indian climate zones, assessing their suitability for the application of hydroponic fodder solutions. The weather of each climate zone was approximated by a representative city through parameter selection and optimisation by three-dimensional Euclidean distance minimisation. Simulation and analysis were carried out on the Rhinoceros software platform with the Grasshopper and LadyBug plug-ins. Hourly temperature plots, sun-path diagrams and psychrometric charts with modified predicted mean vote polygons superimposed were generated for each climate zone. The ambient weather suitability of the following representative cities was simulated to be as follows: Ahmedabad (86.70%), Kolkata (81.86%), Bengaluru (94.07%), Lucknow (73.23%) and Srinagar (30.85%). A cost benefit analysis was buttressed by a sensitivity analysis with respect to the selling price of green fodder. A preliminary cash flow analysis yielded a discounted payback period of 4 months for direct fodder sales and 20 months for sale of livestock products as a co-benefit of green fodder production.

VOLT Valve: Applying the Frugal Innovation in a Green Touchless Low-Tech Solution

In their innovative development strategy, the third world countries should escape the sheep-like behaviour by following the same pathway as the developed western countries. Because they don’t have the same historical, geopolitical and social factors. There's a lot of truth behind Bruce Lee's well-known quote: “Using no way as way; having no limitation as limitation” by using practical technique with flexibility and reliability instead of theoretical and rigid method. The Frugal Innovation is a good demonstration of this practical way with the ability to “do more with less” [1-2] by creating more business and social value while minimizing the use of diminishing resources such as water, energy and funding. Within this context, the aim of the VOLT valve, where VOLT is the abbreviation of “Valve Opening with Low Tech”, is to propose an autonomous, low tech, eco-efficiency and compact product. This innovation have five distinct aspects that can be resumed in two words, WLoG NoTS (Water, Low, Green, No Touch and Social Technology) which is reflecting a homophony with “ Have nots “ who need to meet their energy and water needs in a quick and smart way.

Defining the Tradespace for Passively Defending Against Rogue Drones

While increasingly popular, small unmanned aerial vehicles, aka drones, are often flown illegally over outdoor public gatherings or public facilities like prisons, threatening the safety of those nearby. There is a clear need to address interloping drones in public spaces from a sociotechnical perspective, including understanding the tradespace of variables. Through surveys, interviews, technology and infrastructure design, and experimentation, we developed a tradespace model of those variables that managers and designers of high-risk settings like public spaces and prisons need to consider in their development or renovation. These include cost considerations, both capital and infrastructure, as well as technology design elements of range and false alarm rates potentially exacerbated by convolutional neural networks (aka, deep learning). Results also highlight that environmental design elements can provide a possible low-tech solution in the design of obstructions that either eliminate or complicate a drone pilot’s line of sight. This effort demonstrates that managers and designers of high-risk settings like public spaces and prisons will have to balance sometimes competing objectives to obtain the best possible outcomes for public safety.

Enhancing the energy utilization in parabolic trough concentrators with cracked heat collection elements using a cost-effective rotation mechanism

The risk of vacuum loss in linear solar heat collection elements (HCEs) is one of the major practical challenges that are facing the parabolic trough solar concentrator (PTSC) systems in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. Despite the long-life span of CSP systems, HCEs are frequently replaced due to permeated hydrogen (due to saturation of getters) or leaked air (due to failures in end metal-to-glass welding or cracked glass shells). This study proposes a low-tech solution for boosting the performance of PTSCs with partial or lost vacuum through rotating the HCEs. A carefully validated integrated 3D optical-thermal model is developed and used to quantify the energetic and exergetic performances of PTSCs with rotated and fixed HCEs for both cases of lost and maintained vacuum. Both steady and unsteady simulations are reported using high-precision ground measurements of direct irradiance and meteorological parameters. As the rotational speed increases from 0 to 20 rad/s, the energy efficiency of PTSCs with new and damaged HCEs is improved by ∼47 and 52%, respectively, at a Reynolds number of 4000 and an inlet temperature of 350 °C. By rotating a damaged HCE at only 10 rad/s, maximum improvements of ∼26 and 53% in the useful heat gain are obtained, compared to non-rotating evacuated and non-rotating damaged HCEs, respectively, at the same operating conditions. Overall, the advantage of the proposed concept is more pronounced when the PTSC is operating at relatively low flow rates, high temperatures, or under high irradiance levels.

Unidirectional pedestrian circulation: physical distancing in informal settlements

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a wide range of spatial interventions to slow the spread of the virus. The spatial limitations of narrow public circulation spaces within informal settlements, which house over 1 billion people around the world, make it impossible for pedestrians to practice physical distancing (or social distancing). A flexible mathematical method, the Cluster Lane Method, is proposed for turning a planar circulation network of any size or complexity into a network of unidirectional lanes. This makes physical distancing possible in narrow circulation spaces by limiting face-to-face interactions. The opportunities and challenges are discussed for the implementation of this cost-efficient, low-tech solution. New notions and theorems are introduced for oriented graphs in graph theory. <em><strong>Policy relevance</strong></em> A new approach based on graph theory is used to address the problem of COVID-19 contagion in the narrow public circulation networks of informal settlements. The Cluster Lane Method shows how to convert a planar circulation network of any size or complexity into a network of unidirectional lanes. This makes physical distancing possible in narrow circulation spaces by limiting face-to-face interactions between pedestrians. By involving the inhabitants of the informal settlement throughout the process, more adequate orientations of the lanes can be found.

A low-cost and efficient participatory ergonomic intervention to reduce the burden of work-related musculoskeletal disorders in an industrially developing country: an experience report

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are the first cause of occupational illness in Brazil and the number of cases in the industrial sector has increased progressively in the last 6 years. In order to prevent WMSDs, workplace ergonomics interventions are frequently implemented worldwide. This article describes the implementation strategy of a participatory ergonomic intervention conducted in the quality control department of a medium-sized Brazilian garment company. The intervention was carried out based on the nine steps presented by Vink, Imada and Zinck, and workers’ exposure to risk factors was investigated using the rapid upper limb assessment method. A low-tech and low-cost solution that successfully reduced workers’ exposure to WMSD risk factors was proposed, prototyped, tested and, finally, introduced. Participatory ergonomic interventions can be a feasible and effective approach to reduce the exposure to work-related risk factors for WMSDs in industrially developing countries.

Arab Knee: Management and Prevention-A Case Report

Radiographic osteoarthritis of the knee is very common in Saudi patients, especially in the patellofemoral compartment.&#x0D; Some studies have considered repetitive daily prayer activities as a factor of causation. However prevention and management recommendations appear to be non-existent in the literature. This report describes the case of chronic bilateral anterior knee pain in a devout adult male, which was dramatically alleviated by simply using a padded cushion under the prayer rug. Simple strategies of temporarily modifying prayer posture, insuring good prayer form, and adequate knee padding, may offer promise as low tech and economical solution for the management of anterior knee pain in this cultural group.

The Materialism Podcast: Exploring New Avenues for Materials Science Education

What’s the best media platform for science? Clearly, researchers are steadfast on their reliance of traditional academic journals to disseminate work among peers. This is a low-tech solution in a connected world. Perhaps it’s time for an audible change.

Merging Geo-Solar Exergy Storage Technology (GEST) and Environmental Quality Management (EQM): A Practical Solution for NZEB Retrofit

A decade ago, Geo-solar Exergy Storage Technology (GEST) was introduced as a means of utilizing natural, diurnal and seasonal transfers of exergy between a building and its surroundings to significantly decrease heating and cooling requirements. This is accomplished by retrofitting the structure with a dynamic skin to the existing building enclosure that is provided with internal conduits to carry air and fluids, for coupling geothermal storage surrounding the building with the exterior environment. This system was developed by engineers as an affordable, low-tech solution for providing seasonal heat storage in cold climate regions. Meanwhile another holistic but high-tech means to the same goal was initiated by an international group of building scientists by defining concepts for environmental quality management (EQM). Using heat pumps, ‘smart controls’, and newly developed wall coating materials, a fully integrated HVAC (plus moisture control and indoor air quality (IAQ)) system was proposed. The experience gained with GEST methods is now combined with the leading edge of Building Science to permit our international team to re-evaluate the concept of Geo-solar Exergy Storage and Dynamic Building Enclosure incorporated in a system with a heat pump as a new basis for retrofitting buildings in any climate.

Engineered extremes: microbial interactions with steel and bentonite in a geological disposal facility

The conditions of the deep subsurface, combined by perturbations caused by geological disposal of radioactive waste create multiple extreme conditions (limited space availability, high pH, high temperature etc.) for microbial communities. Microbial activity has the potential to cause corrosion of steel and alteration of bentonite clays used in geological disposal facilities. To understand the limits on microbial growth, and the potential for microbial activity to affect the swelling behaviour of the bentonite and metal corrosion, a suite of laboratory experiments is being conducted. In situ repository conditions have been replicated in the MIND (Horizon2020) project. Preliminary results show evidence of corrosion in all experiments, an increase in the basal spacings of smectites in the zone immediately surrounding the steel and inoculated samples had evidence of calcite crystal formation, accompanied by differences in the iron phases. These experiments simulate the in situ conditions well, but the complex nature of this experimental design (high pressure and flow) reduces the practicality of varying the environmental conditions. To complement these investigations, a low-tech solution has been implemented with unpressurised, hydrated bentonite batch experiments. The simpler nature of this set-up allows for investigation of more parameters. Microcosms with artificial groundwater used in the MIND set-up are being compared to the MIND groundwater composition, modelled to represent permafrost conditions. The effect of incubation temperature is also being investigated. Combined, these experiments will help to understand the influence of microbes under the extremes of geological disposal facilities and how their behaviour may change by external parameters.

Improving hand hygiene compliance with patient zone demarcation: More than just lines on the floor

Background Hand hygiene compliance can be difficult to improve as this prospective activity may not come to mind easily during busy clinical operations. Clinicians are often driven by clinical goals under time pressure, and the sudden recall to clean hands can either be disruptive or too late. Using patient zones as a reference has been known to be helpful. A low-tech solution of taping patient zones on the floor was introduced in a children’s intensive care unit. Coupled with this demarcation is a simplified protocol that uses patient zones for “just-in-time” reminders. Clinicians now clean their hands whenever they cross zone lines, namely “ before patient zone” and “ after patient zone”, along with “ before aseptic procedure” and “ after bodily fluids exposure”. Methods The mandatory national quarterly hand hygiene surveillance data for children’s intensive care unit and the entire hospital was tracked. Seven pre-intervention and seven post-intervention quarters were compared for improvement and sustainability. Results Overall, children’s intensive care unit hand hygiene compliance rose from an average of 77% to 90%, as well as physicians' hand hygiene compliance rates from 72% to 86%, and these differences are statistically significant. Hand Hygiene Moment 1 as defined by World Health Organization benefited the most from this intervention. Discussion Patient zone demarcation, along with more intuitive hand hygiene guidelines, is a cost-effective, operationally sensitive intervention that can improve hand hygiene compliance. The bundled solution taps on human factors science in understanding the cognitive challenges faced by clinicians. The positive effects are most profound in multi-bed cubicles where patient zones and infection control barriers are not clearly visible.

Air-breathing bio-cathodes based on electro-active biochar from pyrolysis of Giant Cane stalks

An innovative low-tech solution to fabricate electro-active biochar (e-biochar) electrodes for bio-electrochemical systems (BES) is proposed. Ligno-cellulosic stalks of Giant Cane (Arundo Donax L.) were subjected to pyrolysis treatment at 900 °C for 1 h. The material kept its original hollow cylindrical shape, rigid morphology and porous texture, as confirmed by 3DX-ray micro-computed tomography. These characteristics are suitable for its use at the air-water interface in BES, as air-breathing bio-cathodes. BET (Brunauer-Emmett-Teller) specific surface area was equal to 114 ± 4 m2 g−1, with more than 95% of pores in the microporosity range (pore diameter < 1 nm). Surface electrocatalytic activity was sufficient to sustain oxygen reduction reaction at pH 7, in terms of both onset potential (−0.02 V vs Ag/AgCl) and reduction limiting current density (1 A m−2). Electrical resistivity measurements confirmed sufficient conductivity (8.9 × 10−3 ± 1 × 10−4 Ω m) of the material and Raman spectroscopy allowed to estimate a graphitization degree in relation to the ID/IG, equal to 2.26. In parallel, the e-biochar were tested as air-exposed bio-cathodes in BES, coupled to carbon cloth bio-anodes. After inoculation with wastewater from swine-farming, current densities were generated in the range of 100–150 mA m−2, along more than 2 months of operation, under sodium acetate feeding. Confocal laser scanning imaging revealed consistent biofilm formation on the water-side surface of the cathodes, while a nearly-complete absence of it at the air-side.These e-biochar electrodes might open innovative perspectives to scale-up BES for different applications. Here, consistent salts depositions on the material after 70 days of exposure to the wastewater, suggest that e-biochar biocathodes might serve to recycle nutrients to agricultural soils, through minerals-enriched biochar.