Improving the Power Outage Resilience of Buildings with Solar PV through the Use of Battery Systems and EV Energy Storage

Buildings with solar photovoltaic (PV) generation and a stationary battery energy storage system (BESS) may self-sustain an uninterrupted full-level electricity supply during power outages. The duration of off-grid operation is dependent on the time of the power fault and the capabilities of the home energy management system (HEMS). In this paper, building resilience is quantified by analyzing the self-sustainment duration for all possible power outages throughout an entire year. An evaluation method is proposed and exercised on a reference house in California climate zone 9 for which the detailed electricity usage is simulated using the EnergyPlus software. The influence of factors such as energy use behavioral patterns, energy storage capacity from the BESS, and an electric vehicle (EV) battery on the building resilience is evaluated. Varying combinations of energy storage and controllable loads are studied for optimally improved resilience based on user preferences. It is shown that for the target home and region with a solar PV system of 7.2 kW, a BESS with a capacity of 11 kWh, and an EV with a battery of 80 kWh permanently connected to the home, off-grid self-sustained full operation is guaranteed for at least 72 h

Wearable Haptic Devices for Gait Re-education by Rhythmic Haptic Cueing

This research explores the development and evaluation of wearable haptic devices for gait sensing and rhythmic haptic cueing in the context of gait re-education for people with neurological and neurodegenerative conditions. Many people with long-term neurological and neurodegenerative conditions such as Stroke, Brain Injury, Multiple Sclerosis or Parkinson’s disease suffer from impaired walking gait pattern. Gait improvement can lead to better fluidity in walking, improved health outcomes, greater independence, and enhanced quality of life. Existing lab-based studies with wearable devices have shown that rhythmic haptic cueing can cause immediate improvements to gait features such as temporal symmetry, stride length, and walking speed. However, current wearable systems are unsuitable for self-managed use for in-the-wild applications with people having such conditions. This work aims to investigate the research question of how wearable haptic devices can help in long-term gait re-education using rhythmic haptic cueing. A longitudinal pilot study has been conducted with a brain trauma survivor, providing rhythmic haptic cueing using a wearable haptic device as a therapeutic intervention for a two-week period. Preliminary results comparing pre and post-intervention gait measurements have shown improvements in walking speed, temporal asymmetry, and stride length. The pilot study has raised an array of issues that require further study. This work aims to develop and evaluate prototype systems through an iterative design process to make possible the self-managed use of such devices in-the-wild. These systems will directly provide therapeutic intervention for gait re-education, offer enhanced information for therapists, remotely monitor dosage adherence and inform treatment and prognoses over the long-term. This research will evaluate the use of technology from the perspective of multiple stakeholders, including clinicians, carers and patients. This work has the potential to impact clinical practice nationwide and worldwide in neuro-physiotherapy

Reaching for Home: Global Learning on Family Reintegration in Low and Lower-Middle Income Countries

This inter-agency, desk-based research aims to arrive at a clearer understanding of reintegration practices for separated children in low and lower-middle income countries. The research pulls together learning from practitioners and academics working with a range of separated children, such as those torn from their families by emergencies, children who have been trafficked or migrated for work, and children living in institutions or on the streets. Practitioners and researchers who work with these different population groups are for the most part unaware of the approaches and methods used in other areas of child protection, and this research aims to consolidate experience and create opportunities for dialogue and shared learning. The findings are based on an in-depth review of 77 documents, a short online survey involving 31 practitioners and policy makers, and key informant interviews with 19 individuals with expertise in children's reintegration

Why Invest in Collaborative Leadership Development? Summary Report

The Casey Foundation values skillful leadership in creating sustained social change. The Foundation partnered with the University of Maryland, School of Public Policy in sculpting a new approach to match leadership ability with constructive results for children, families and communities -- a collaborative leadership style for complex social issues. Readers, especially other foundations and nonprofit investors, get a look at the findings, lessons learned and recommendations from three years of collaborative leadership capacity-building effort

COLLATERAL BENEFITS OF DIABETES SELF-MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH SELF-ADMINISTERED OUTPATIENT PARENTERAL ANTIMICROBIAL THERAPY

Self-administered outpatient parenteral antimicrobial therapy (S-OPAT) is a self-care treatment modality in which patients requiring extended courses of intravenous antibiotics are trained to safely self-administer treatment via an indwelling catheter in their home. Many patients seen in the S-OPAT program have a diagnosis of diabetes and present with infections associated with poor glycemic control, including skin and soft-tissue infections and osteomyelitis. Given the degree of patient activation required to successfully complete the S-OPAT process, we hypothesized that participation in this self-care program may benefit patients in self-management of other chronic health conditions, such as diabetes. The study team included Anisha Ganguly (MPH candidate), Larry Brown (biostatistician), David Watkins, Dr. Kristin Alvarez, Dr. Deepak Agrawal, and Dr. Kavita Bhavan, founder and director of the Parkland S-OPAT clinic. We conducted a before-after retrospective analysis of diabetic patients receiving S-OPAT. HgbA1c, diabetes medication refill rates, and changes to diabetes medication regimen were compared in 6-month intervals prior to and following initiation of S-OPAT. A total number of 348 diabetic patients were identified, and 206 diabetic patients were included in the analysis. The mean HgbA1c decreased by 1.82 from the time period 6 months prior to and 6 months after initiation of S-OPAT (p \u3c 0.001). Subgroup analysis showed an additional significant reduction in HgbA1c among insulin users (p = 0.002). There were no differences in refill rates of diabetes medications or changes in medication regimen pre- and post-initiation of S-OPAT (p \u3e 0.05). Initiation of S-OPAT was associated with a significant reduction in HgbA1c among diabetic patients with similar findings among insulin users, a group requiring a higher level of self-care. The degree of patient engagement obtained through the S-OPAT model may have collateral benefits in improved self-management of other chronic diseases such as diabetes

The effectiveness of asking behaviors among 9-11 year-old children in increasing home availability and children's intake of fruit and vegetables : results from the Squire's Quest II self-regulation game intervention

Background: Home environment has an important influence on children's fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption, but children may in turn also impact their home FV environment, e.g. by asking for FV. The Squire's Quest II serious game intervention aimed to increase asking behaviors to improve home FV availability and children's FV intake. This study's aims were to assess: 1) did asking behaviors at baseline predict home FV availability at baseline (T0) (RQ1); 2) were asking behaviors and home FV availability influenced by the intervention (RQ2); 3) did increases in asking behaviors predict increased home FV availability (RQ3); and 4) did increases in asking behaviors and increases in home FV availability mediate increases in FV intake among children (RQ4)? Methods: This is a secondary analysis of a study using a randomized controlled trial, with 4 groups (each n = 100 child-parent dyads). All groups were analyzed together for this paper since groups did not vary on components relevant to our analysis. All children and parents (n = 400 dyads) received a self-regulation serious game intervention and parent material. The intervention ran for three months. Measurements were taken at baseline, immediately after intervention and at 3-month follow-up. Asking behavior and home FV availability were measured using questionnaires; child FV intake was measured using 24-h dietary recalls. ANCOVA methods (research question 1), linear mixed-effect models (research question 2), and Structural Equation Modeling (research questions 3 and 4) were used. Results: Baseline child asking behaviors predicted baseline home FV availability. The intervention increased child asking behaviors and home FV availability. Increases in child asking behaviors, however, did not predict increased home FV availability. Increased child asking behaviors and home FV availability also did not mediate the increases in child FV intake. Conclusions: Children influence their home FV environment through their asking behaviors, which can be enhanced via a serious game intervention. The obtained increases in asking behavior were, however, insufficient to affect home FV availability or intake. Other factors, such as child preferences, sample characteristics, intervention duration and parental direct involvement may play a role and warrant examination in future research

A crisis of enforcement: the decriminalisation of death and injury at work

Fatalities and injuries caused through work are far more prevalent than the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) currently reports. For example, they fi nd that more than 80 per cent of officially recorded work-related fatalities are fi ltered out from the HSE’s headline figure and remain buried in other categories in the official data. The official data made available by HSE reporting methodology may thus only serve to mask the true quantity and quality of harm that takes place during work processes. After re-assessing the scale of the harms caused, Tombs and Whyte conclude that being a victim of a work-related fatality or injury is far more likely than experiencing conventionally defi ned and measured violence and homicide. While such siphoning seems an inevitable and inherent characteristic of legal and regulatory systems, this briefi ng suggests that it may be only through the acknowledgement of ‘safety crime’ by agencies such as the Home Office, the police, the courts and the Scottish Government that safety crimes can be recast as ‘real’ crime and thus dealt with more appropriately. The authors’ conclusion, that most safety crimes are either undetected or filtered out from offi cial channels of resolution, begs the question whether burdens have been displaced to employees and members of the public