Resource-constrained Communities Research Articles

Changing Lanes: Relational Dispositions That Fuel Community Science Learning

Supporting youths’ STEM dispositions takes an entire community of adults, yet we must understand the dispositions that adults bring to such community efforts, ways they influence youths’ learning and are shaped by the community. In this paper, we examine a sociotechnical system called Science Everywhere, which invited the broader community to interact with science learning experiences youths shared across home, school, and community settings. Integrating frameworks for disposition and asset-based community development, we present a case study of four focal adults within Science Everywhere embedded in one neighborhood. We make the case for a relational perspective of disposition development that leverages community members’ science and relational assets to foster dynamic, community-specific learning opportunities for youths, particularly those from resource-constrained communities.

Goal Orientation and Adolescent Social Competence: Ubuntu as a Mediator Among Black American Adolescents.

Social competence, which is the ability to demonstrate socio-emotional behavior skills, is crucial during adolescence with far-reaching implications across the lifespan. However, social competence development among youth is greatly influenced by social inequities, which places many Black American youth at a disadvantage due to the disproportionate burden on youth development in resource-constrained environments. Responsively, we sought to determine whether Afrocentric cultural norms (i.e., Ubuntu) and goal orientation contribute to the resilience of Black youth in developing social competence while controlling for social positions (i.e., social class and gender). For this study, we used the dataset of black boys and girls (average age of 14.68) from the Templeton Flourishing Children Project. Linear regression analysis followed by mediation analysis was conducted to identify the factors associated with higher degrees of social competence. Significant study findings indicate that Black youth reporting higher goal-oriented mindsets reported higher social competence scores. Goal orientation and social competence were mediated by Ubuntu, with the model explaining 63% variance in social competence in Black youth. The findings suggest prevention efforts that provide socialization centered around Afrocentric cultural norms may provide valuable means of bolstering social competence development in Black youth living in resource-constrained communities.

SARS-CoV-2 genotyping and sequencing following a simple and economical RNA extraction and storage protocol.

Since the beginning of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, supply chain shortages have caused major disruptions in sourcing the materials needed for laboratory-based molecular assays. With increasing demand for molecular testing, these disruptions have limited testing capacity and hindered efforts to mitigate spread of the virus and new variants. Here we evaluate an economical and reliable protocol for the extraction and short-term ambient temperature storage of SARS-CoV-2 RNA. Additional objectives of the study were to evaluate RNA from this protocol for 1) detection of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the spike gene and 2) whole genome sequencing of SARS-CoV-2. The RNAES protocol was evaluated with residual nasopharyngeal (NP) samples collected from Emory Healthcare and Emory Student Health services. All RNAES extractions were performed in duplicate and once with a commercial extraction robot for comparison. Following extraction, eluates were immediately tested by rRT-PCR. SARS-CoV-2 RNA was successfully detected in 56/60 (93.3%) RNAES replicates, and Ct values corresponded with comparator results. Upon testing in spike SNP assays, three genotypes were identified, and all variant calls were consistent with those previously obtained after commercial extraction. Additionally, the SARS-RNAES protocol yield eluate pure enough for downstream whole genome sequencing, and results were consistent with SARS-CoV-2 whole genome sequencing of eluates matched for Ct value. With reproducible results across a range of virus concentrations, the SARS-RNAES protocol could help increase SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic testing and monitoring for emerging variants in resource-constrained communities.

The contributions of religious leaders in addressing food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines: A realist evaluation of the Rapid Emergencies and Disasters Intervention (REDI)

To address the unintended consequences of public health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic (e.g., emergency food insecurity, income loss), non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have partnered with diverse actors, including religious leaders, to provide humanitarian relief in resource-constrained communities. One such example is the Rapid Emergencies and Disasters Intervention (REDI), which is an NGO-led program in the Philippines that leverages a network of volunteer religious leaders to identify and address emergency food insecurity among households experiencing poverty. Guided by a realist evaluation approach, the objectives of this study were to identify the facilitators and barriers to effective implementation of REDI by religious leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic and to explore the context and mechanisms that influenced REDI implementation. In total, we conducted 25 virtual semi-structured interviews with religious leaders actively engaged in REDI implementation across 17 communities in Negros Occidental, Philippines. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed. Three main context-mechanism configurations were identified in shaping effective food aid distribution by religious leaders, including program infrastructure (e.g., technical and relational support from partner NGO), social infrastructure (e.g., social networks), and community infrastructure (e.g., community assets as well as a broader enabling environment). Overall, this study contributes insight into how the unique positionality of religious leaders in combination with organizational structures and guidance from a partner NGO shapes the implementation of a disaster response initiative across resource-constrained communities. Further, this study describes how intersectoral collaboration (involving religious leaders, NGOs, and local governments) can be facilitated through an NGO-led disaster response network.

Making distributed edge machine learning for resource-constrained communities and environments smarter: contexts and challenges

The maturity of machine learning (ML) development and the decreasing deployment cost of capable edge devices have proliferated the development and deployment of edge ML solutions for critical IoT-based business applications. The combination of edge computing and ML not only addresses the development cost barrier, but also solves the obstacles due to the lack of powerful cloud data centers. However, not only the edge ML research and development is still at an early stage and requires substantial skills normally missed in resource-constrained communities, but also various infrastructure constraints w.r.t. network reliability and computing power, and business contexts from the resource-constrained environments require different considerations to make edge ML applications context aware through smart and intelligent runtime strategies. In this paper, we analyze representative real-world business scenarios for edge ML solutions and their contexts in resource-constrained communities and environments. We identify and map the key distinguished contexts of distributed edge ML and discuss the impacts of these contexts on data and software components and deployment models. Finally, we present key research areas, how we should approach them, and possible tooling for making edge machine learning solutions smarter in resource-constrained communities and environments.

School Dropout: Intentions, Motivations and Self-Efficacy of a Sample of South Africa Youth

There is strong evidence that dropping out of school has short-term and long-term effects for the individual, the family, the community, and other strata in society. In South Africa, learners dropping out of school has increased. The link between intention, motivation, and self-efficacy to drop out of school is an understudied area of research. The study aimed to determine the relationship between learners’ intention, motivation, and self-efficacy to drop out of low and high socio-economic schools. A quantitative methodological approach with a cross-sectional design was utilised. Participant’s selection included high school learners in Grades 9 and 11, at both high and low socio-economic public schools in the Western Cape, in South Africa. Most participants were female (51.2%), with a mean age of 16 years, attending schools in resource-constrained communities (50.1). Data was analysed using an independent t-test to assess a significant difference between learners in low and high socio-economic communities. Findings showed that many learners in high socio-economic schools hardly considered dropping out of school, whereas the opposite was true for learners in resource-constrained schools. Family challenges were often cited as a major reason for dropping out of school. The differences between the two groups of learners were significant.

The Work of Infrastructural Bricoleurs in Building Civic Data Dashboards

The Historic Westside Universities Alliance Data Dashboard was created to meet the data equity needs of a group of resource-constrained communities in the Westside neighborhoods of Atlanta. We observed the development of this dashboard by participating as ethnographers and developers of its public safety module. Our ethnography and subsequent situational analysis of the dashboard's infrastructuring process led us to the work that individual stakeholders do in bringing such a dashboard to fruition. These stakeholders, whom we call infrastructural bricoleurs, operate through principles of situated knowledge, partial perspectives, limited power, and located accountability. Our analysis, which builds on concepts of infrastructures, bricolage, and feminist principles of technology design, helps us add further specificity to the work that infrastructural bricoleurs need to do when building civic data dashboards with resource constrained communities. Our findings benefit other researchers studying data infrastructures as well as administrators and practitioners within programs like DSSG (Data Science for Social Good) who are interested in building data infrastructures under similar constraints.

BARRIERS TO EFFECTIVE PARENTING OF ADOLESCENT CHILDREN IN RESOURCE-CONSTRAINED COMMUNITIES

The study examined barriers to effective parenting of adolescent children in resource-constrained communities. A qualitative approach was adopted for data collection and analysis. Thematic analysis was applied to data acquired from a sample of parents from resource-constrained areas in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Parents interviewed identified the following barriers: financial constraints, peer influence, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of adequate parental time, communication and maturational changes. Given the parental challenges emerging from the findings of the study, greater understanding of the conditions under which effective parenting of adolescent children in resource-constrained societies can be fostered is essential. Keywords: barriers, parenting, adolescents, resource-constrained, communities

Experimental evaluation of a passive indirect solar dryer for agricultural products in Central Mozambique

Post-harvest losses are one of the major livelihood challenges for farmers in the Global South. The use of drying technologies to preserve agricultural products has been promoted as a particular solution to address this challenge. In this regard, we designed and tested a passive indirect solar dryer for drying agricultural products as an alternative to open sun drying (OSD) in Gurue district, Central Mozambique, using amaranth leaves and maize. In addition, a sensorial analysis was conducted by randomly selecting a group of 60 adults who evaluated the texture, aroma and color of dried amaranth and maize grains. Compared to OSD, the passive indirect solar dryer reduced drying time and increased the thermal efficiency. Evaluation of sensory quality attributes showed that passive indirect solar drying outperforms OSD. Practical applications This study evaluates the performance of a passive indirect solar dryer, a sustainable alternative to conventional food preservation technologies (e.g., refrigeration) that are not affordable to resource-constrained communities. The use of passive solar dryers, if carried out correctly, creates the possibility for poor rural households to safely store and increase shelf life of food. In addition, the acceptability of products dried in the passive indirect solar dryer is evaluated. Thus, the study also provides insights on passive solar dryer potential for preserving the quality of the final product.

Adsorption behavior of perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) onto activated spent coffee grounds biochar in synthetic wastewater effluent

Improved understanding of human health risks, environmental persistence, and widespread dispersion of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) has driven ongoing development of stringent regulations for these compounds in water. Char materials produced from agricultural food waste have recently been explored as alternatives to granular activated carbon for PFAS removal in water. Herein, spent coffee grounds (SCG) were pyrolyzed, activated with alkaline hydroxide, and evaluated for perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) adsorption. At environmentally-relevant PFOS concentrations, pyrolyzed SCG showed minimal PFOS removal while activated SCG removed 9.9%–99.6% of PFOS depending on activation conditions. SCGKOH (produced from a 1:1 mass ratio of pyrolyzed SCG and potassium hydroxide) had a maximum adsorption capacity of 43.4 mg/g compared to Filtrasorb® F300 activated carbon (55.7 mg/g) and a wood-based fly ash char (79.5 mg/g). All adsorbents display non-linear pseudo first-order adsorption behavior with rate constants of 0.414 h−1, 0.062 h−1, 0.090 h−1 for fly-ash biochar, SCGKOH and F300, respectively. Additionally, PFOS removal by all adsorbents decreased in the presence of simulated effluent organic matter. SCGKOH presents an exciting alternative to existing commercial char adsorbents. The widely available feedstock and low-input production process could make this material a viable water treatment option for resource-constrained communities.

Low-cost smartphone-controlled potentiostat based on Arduino for teaching electrochemistry fundamentals and applications

Accessibility to potentiostats is crucial for research development in electrochemistry, but their cost is the principal drawback for their massive use. With the aim to provide an affordable alternative for resource-constrained communities, we present a low-cost, portable electrochemical workstation that integrates an open-source potentiostat based on Arduino and a smartphone application. This graphical user interface allows easy control of electrochemical parameters and real-time visualization of the results. This potentiostat can perform the most used electrochemical techniques of cyclic and linear voltammetry and chronoamperometry, with an operating range of ±225 μA and ±1.50 V, and results that are comparable with those obtained with commercial potentiostats. Three applications reported here demonstrate the capacity and the good performance of this low-cost potentiostat as a teaching tool: identification of redox pairs, electrochemical characterization of pencil graphite electrodes, and detection of heavy metals using an electrodeposited film of bismuth on the pencil graphite electrode. Furthermore, detailed schemes of the device and its software are entirely available, expecting to provide an open-source potentiostat easy to replicate to further support education in electrochemical fundamentals and instrumentation.

Social-economic impact of chicken production on resource-constrained communities in Dodoma, Tanzania

Chickens, in many households, are kept by women and the youths, providing employment and means of increasing family economic gains. However, little information on the social-economic contribution of chickens' production in Dodoma is available. This study examined the potential of chickens' production in Kongwa district and Dodoma municipality in Tanzania. A cross-sectional questionnaire survey (with Likert scaling) was conducted, and in-depth interviews were used to gather information from the local livestock keepers. A total of 200 were interviewed, and of these, 33.93% were male and 66.07% were female. The entire family was responsible for chicken management in 66.07% of the households, whereby, in 25% of the households, only women were involved, and in 7.01% of the households, only men were involved in rearing chickens. Chicken production contributed socially and economically through meat, manure, offerings, source of income, aesthetic value (beauty), provision of school fees, and source of employment. The contribution of chicken production socially and economically among these categories varied significantly (Kruskal-Wallis statistical test = 33.36, P < 0.001). The potential customers for the chicken and their products were nearby shops (60.71%), individuals (retails) (85.71%), animal market place (Mnadani) (62.5%), travelers (55.35%), and restaurants (61.71%). The average selling price for the chicken was 12,500 Tanzanian Shilling (Tsh), whereas, for cocks, it was 13000 Tsh, and hens were sold at 10,000 Tsh. Chicken keeping is a very important sector in resource-constrained families as it provides for family proteins and income which support family health care, education, and other social needs. However, the productivity is not encouraging, so more education and support on chicken keeping is essential to enhance a positive economic impact on the local communities.

Beyond the Individual: A Group-Based Career Development Intervention Implemented in Resource-Constrained Schools in South Africa

ABSTRACT In South African high schools, many learners have limited support in making career related decisions to prepare them for the world of work after school. An important early transition for career-related decision-making is at the end of Grade 9 when learners are expected to decide which subjects they will select for the last phase of high school. Grade 9 is also the juncture where adolescents may decide to exit their formal schooling and enter the labor market. To support Grade 9 learners in making informed career-related decisions, this study examined the effectiveness of a group-based career guidance intervention implemented in eight secondary schools located in resource-constrained communities in the Western Cape, South Africa. The intervention aimed to improve learners’ career decision-making readiness and aid in making subject choices and subsequent career choices. The intervention consisted of interest assessment conducted in a group-format with the learners, after which a workshop was facilitated to share relevant information pertaining to their interests, other career attributes and pending subject choices. The results of this study demonstrate a significant impact of early adolescents’ career adaptability and ability to engage in the career decision-making process. These results show promise in the implementation of group-based career intervention, supporting learners to make informed decisions in relation to their career paths.

Estimated disease burden and lost economic productivity due to glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency in Nigerian newborns

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency rarely manifests as extreme hyperbilirubinemia [EHB, total serum/plasma bilirubin > 25 mg/dL (428 µmol/L)]. It is a major preventable cause of newborn morbidity and mortality. In resource-constrained communities of Nigeria, experts have observed its significant clinical burden. We accessed a previously published pooled model of G6PD deficiency and determined its prevalence, subsequent risk of EHB, kernicterus, and death to be 26.4% [95% confidence interval (CI): 19.5, 33.2%]; 33.3% (95%CI: 16.6, 50%); and 22.7% (95% CI: 16.5, 28.9%), respectively. The total number of disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost to symptomatic G6PD deficiency was 54,251 (95% CI: 6,039, 189,149). Estimated national average economic deficits due to mortality and disability ranged from $309 to $584 million. G6PD deficiency, when symptomatic in Nigerian newborns, is a significant disease burden, placing 1% of annual births at increased risks of neonatal mortality and morbidity, which contribute to significant economic productivity losses.

Advancing climate change adaptation in Ugandas agricultural programming for sustainable development: Key milestones and constraints

Climate change remains a crucial threat to sustainable development, particularly to the farming communities, which are more vulnerable to climate impacts. Uganda has made commendable steps in building an institutional framework for addressing climate change. However, the framework remains scattered in several documents making it difficult to track and conceptualize. This paper provides a one-stop center for understanding how effectively climate change is institutionalized in the agricultural sector and identifies the critical issues for future actions towards effective mainstreaming of climate change in agricultural programming. Findings in this paper are based on data collected through document review and a case study of Bududa district, representing the local governance of climate change adaptation mainstreaming. The paper observes that significant steps have been taken to mainstream climate change adaptation in agricultural programming, but adoption of adaptation measures will necessitate robust institutionalization of agricultural insurance as a climate change adaptation strategy particularly in the context of the rural, resource-constrained farming communities which are also more vulnerable to climate change hazards. Secondly, effective mainstreaming of climate change adaptation in agricultural programming in local governments will necessitate increased budget support from the central government towards addressing the critical institutional capacity gaps which hinder climate change adaptation programming and implementation of adaptation measures in local governments of Uganda. Key words: Climate change adaptation, agricultural programming, institutional frameworks for adaptation, Uganda regulatory frameworks for adaptation.

Chemical Contamination of Drinking Water in Resource-Constrained Settings: Global Prevalence and Piloted Mitigation Strategies

Chemical contamination of drinking water (including salinity) puts more than one billion people at risk of adverse health effects globally. Resource-constrained communities are the most affected and face unique challenges that require innovative safe water solutions. This review focuses on arsenic, fluoride, nitrates, lead, chromium, total dissolved solids, emerging organic contaminants, and, to a lesser extent, manganese, cadmium, selenium, and uranium. It covers contaminant prevalence, major health effects, and treatment technologies or avoidance strategies that have been proven effective in realistic water matrices and conditions. The review covers the levelized costs of water for pilot- and full-scale systems most relevant to resource-constrained communities, with a focus on component costs, including the costs of power systems, lifting water, waste management, and labor. These costs are not universally reported, but can be significant. The findingsare analyzed and discussed in the context of providing sustainable safe water solutions in resource-constrained settings.

Modeling user concerns in Sharing Economy: the case of food delivery apps.

Sharing Economy apps, such as Uber, Airbnb, and TaskRabbit, have generated a substantial consumer interest over the past decade. The unique form of peer-to-peer business exchange these apps have enabled has been linked to significant levels of economic growth, helping people in resource-constrained communities to build social capital and move up the economic ladder. However, due to the multidimensional nature of their operational environments, and the lack of effective methods for capturing and describing their end-users’ concerns, Sharing Economy apps often struggle to survive. To address these challenges, in this paper, we examine crowd feedback in ecosystems of Sharing Economy apps. Specifically, we present a case study targeting the ecosystem of food delivery apps. Using qualitative analysis methods, we synthesize important user concerns present in the Twitter feeds and app store reviews of these apps. We further propose and intrinsically evaluate an automated procedure for generating a succinct model of these concerns. Our work provides a first step toward building a full understanding of user needs in ecosystems of Sharing Economy apps. Our objective is to provide Sharing Economy app developers with systematic guidelines to help them maximize their market fitness and mitigate their end-users’ concerns and optimize their experience.

An innovation platform for diffusing public health practices across a global network

Hospitals and health systems in high-income countries (HIC) develop the capacities of peer healthcare organizations around the world by diffusing clinical, quality, and public health improvement practices in lower and middle-income countries (LMIC). In turn, these HIC healthcare institutions are exposed to innovative approaches developed and used by global communities to advance care despite resource constraints in the LMIC contexts. Attention has been growing in recent years to the potential these innovations can have to improve care delivery, lower costs, and drive quality within resource-constrained communities in HIC. Often referred to as “reverse innovations,” the identification, adaptation, and diffusion of these practices face challenges in uptake related to limited evidence, perceptions of poor quality or irrelevance, and a complicated regulatory and policy environment. This paper suggests the development of an approach to improve the capacity of the healthcare organizations in the HIC as well, based on lessons learned from diffusing practices in LMIC. It concludes with the need for a knowledge platform to support innovation diffusion in both directions.

Evaluation of the Beck Anxiety Inventory in predicting generalised anxiety disorder among individuals seeking HIV testing in the Western Cape province, South Africa.

BackgroundRoutine anxiety screening is needed among HIV test seekers, given the lack of health-care professionals with the ability to identify individuals with generalised anxiety.AimThe aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Beck anxiety inventory (BAI) in predicting caseness for generalised anxiety disorder (GAD) among persons seeking HIV testing, using the structured clinical interview for the DSM-5 (SCID-5) as the gold standard.SettingFive HIV testing sites in the Western Cape region of South Africa.MethodWe recruited 500 persons seeking HIV testing from five non-medical testing sites in the Western Cape, South Africa. We used receiver operating curve analysis to determine the optimal cut-off point on the BAI to discriminate between GAD caseness and non-caseness.Results3.4% of the sample met the DSM-5 criteria for a diagnosis of GAD. Using an optimal cut-off point of 21.5, the sensitivity and specificity of the BAI were 82% and 80%, respectively. The positive predictive value was 13%, while the negative predictive value was 99%.ConclusionOur data suggest that while the BAI may be used to screen for GAD, it is likely to yield a high number of false positives. A two-tiered method may be useful to mitigate against case over-identification. Thus, in a public health setting, persons screening positive on the BAI should receive a diagnostic interview to determine whether they are true cases for GAD. Within resource-constrained communities in South Africa, referral trajectories should be integrated with routine screening and HIV testing.

Navigating Resource-Constrained Systems and Communities to Promote the Behavioral Health of Black Youth

Navigating Resource-Constrained Systems and Communities to Promote the Behavioral Health of Black Youth