Design description of the Tangaye Village photovoltaic power system

The engineering design of a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) powered grain mill and water pump for the village of Tangaye, Upper Volta is described. The socioeconomic effects of reducing the time required by women in rural areas for drawing water and grinding grain were studied. The suitability of photovoltaic technology for use in rural areas by people of limited technical training was demonstrated. The PV system consists of a 1.8-kW (peak) solar cell array, 540 ampere hours of battery storage, instrumentation, automatic controls, and a data collection and storage system. The PV system is situated near an improved village well and supplies d.c. power to a grain mill and a water pump. The array is located in a fenced area and the mill, battery, instruments, controls, and data system are in a mill building. A water storage tank is located near the well. The system employs automatic controls which provide battery charge regulation and system over and under voltage protection. This report includes descriptions of the engineering design of the system and of the load that it serves; a discussion of PV array and battery sizing methodology; descriptions of the mechanical and electrical designs including the array, battery, controls, and instrumentation; and a discussion of the safety features. The system became operational on March 1, 1979

Operational performance of the photovoltaic-powered grain mill and water pump at Tangaye, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta)

A photovoltaic (PV) system powering a grain mill and water pump was installed in the remote African village of Tangaye, Burkina Faso (formerly Upper Volta) under the sponsorship of the U.S. Agency for International Development (AID) and by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Lewis Research Center (LeRC) in early 1979. The presence reports covers the second two years of operation from April 1981 through June 1983. During this time, the grain mill and water pump were operational 96 and 88 percent of the time respectively, and the PV system generated sufficient electricity to enable the grinding of about 111 metric tons of finely ground flow and the pumping of over 5000 cm sq of water from the 10 m deep well. The report includes a description of the current configuration of the system, a review of system performance, a discussion of the socioeconomic impact of the system on the villagers and a summary of results and conclusions covering the entire four-year period

Urban Children\u27s Experience of a Natural Place Outside of Denver

In the United States, a common and ingrained perception is that humans are separate from nature. Over the last several decades, urbanization, the increasing presence of technology, and progressively busier schedules contribute to a growing concern over a disconnect between children and nature. In light of this potential disconnect, I explored how urban children experience a natural place outside of the city. In this study, I investigated the sense of place of 27 children living in Denver, Colorado; sixteen of these children had experienced a natural place at a summer camp outside of the city. The children created photo-story maps of the special places in their lives, which I incorporated into follow-up photo-elicitation interviews, and characterized their experience through a qualitative content analysis. I found that most children enjoyed outdoor activities at the summer camp, with new people, in the largely unfamiliar natural place; however, the short experience there was detached from how the children experienced their everyday fun activities, with family and friends, in their often familiar special places. My findings indicate that if urban children are to become more connected with nature, then experiences of natural places outside of the city need to connect to their everyday lives in the city. To connect such experiences, I suggest urban children would need more frequent exposure to nearby natural places, in the presence of family and friends

Operational performance of the photovoltaic-powered grain mill and water pump at Tangaye, Upper Volta

The first two years of operation of a stand alone photovoltaic (PV) power system for the village of Tangaye, Upper Volta in West Africa are described. The purpose of the experiment was to demonstrate that PV systems could provide reliable electrical power for multiple use applications in remote areas where local technical expertise is limited. The 1.8 kW (peak) power system supplies 120-V (d.c.) electrical power to operate a grain mill, a water pump, and mill building lights for the village. The system was initially sized to pump a part of the village water requirements from an existing improved well, and to meet a portion of the village grain grinding requirements. The data, observations, experiences, and conclusions developed during the first two years of operation are discussed. Reports of tests of the mills used in the project are included

Tunisia Renewable Energy Project systems description report

In 1979, the Agency for International Development (AID) initiated a renewable energy project with the Government of Tunisia to develop an institutional capability to plan and institute renewable energy technologies in a rural area. The specific objective of the district energy applications subproject was to demonstrate solar and wind energy systems in a rural village setting. The NASA Lewis Research Center was asked by the AID Near East Bureau to manage and implement this subproject. This report describes the project and gives detailed desciptions of the various systems

Exploring Youth Relationships with Nature Using Qualitative GIS

Understanding youth relationships with nature—what nature is, where nature is located, and why nature is meaningful—is important for a range of contemporary issues, from promoting health and well-being to advancing a sustainable future. Relationships with nature are profoundly influenced by the lived experiences of youth, as they form social connections, have fun, learn, and go about their lives across an array of places—residences, schools, trip destinations, and places in between. One key to exploring youth relationships with nature, therefore, is engaging youth to document their experiences of nature in relation to specific places and developing methods that support them to do so. This dissertation aims to explore youth relationships with nature by expanding qualitative GIS methods to engage youth in research to document personal accounts of their experiences of nature and linking them to the locations of specific places. We partnered with a community organization, Nature Kids / Jóvenes de la Naturaleza (NKJN), in part to contribute to the ongoing efforts of NKJN to evaluate their environmental education (EE) programming for youth and families in Lafayette, Colorado (United States). We asked 55 youth to create story maps using existing web applications—combining images, descriptions, and drawings of areas on a map where specific nature places are meaningful in their lives. Our analysis of story maps explored impacts of different life experiences, including abrupt changes such as the COVID-19 lockdowns and differing exposure to EE programming, on how and where youth relate with nature and conceptualize what nature is. We integrated qualitative data and analysis with GIS and developed a codebook to interpret meanings embedded in the participant drawings of nature place areas on a map. We found that youth with different life experiences conceptualized and related with nature in different ways. Such differences would not have emerged without considering personal accounts in relation to specific locations as well as interpretations of participants’ drawings of areas on a map. Our qualitative GIS approach for analyzing participant-created story maps demonstrates the importance of engaging youth and their voices through familiar web-based technologies as well as documenting experiences of nature linked to geographic information about locations of specific places. Our analysis of participant-drawn areas on a map highlights untapped potential of qualitative GIS for gaining more nuanced understandings of the lived experiences of youth

Communicating with Patients and Their Families About Palliative and End-of-Life Care: Comfort and Educational Needs of Nurses

Introduction: Effectively discussing palliative care with patients and families requires knowledge and skill. The purpose of this study was to determine perceived needs of inpatient nurses for communicating with patients and families about palliative and end-of-life (EoL) care. Method: A non-experimental design was used. In total, 60 inpatient nurses from one hospital in Idaho completed the End of Life Professional Caregiver Survey (EPCS), which examines three domains: patient and family-centered communication, cultural and ethical values, and effective care delivery. Results: The number of years’ experience nurses had (F(9,131.57)=2.22, p=0.0246; Wilk\u27s ^=0.709) and the unit they worked on (F(6,110)=2.49, p=0.0269; Wilk\u27s ^=0.775) had a significant effect on their comfort discussing EoL and palliative care with patients and their families. For all three domains, years of nursing experience was positively associated with comfort in communicating about EoL care. Oncology nurses were most comfortable with regard to patient and family-centered communication. Discussion: The success and sustainability of this service is dependent on education for health-care providers. Studies are needed to determine the most effective ways to meet this educational challenge

Somali Bantu Refugees in Southwest Idaho: Assessment Using Participatory Research

Each year, refugees are forced to leave their homes and country due to result of wars or political turmoil. According to the National Office of Refugees, 2.6 million refugees have settled in the United States (U.S.) since 19751. Idaho is a state in which refugees are resettled. The majority of refugees in Idaho are located in the capitol city of Boise. The refugees come from over the globe including Latin America, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. African refugees represent a unique population in the United States and throughout the world. Many African refugees represent a preliterate population; they have no native written language. The refugees speak several different African dialects, with few African refugees who speak English. Many of these refugees are from countries embroiled in civil war, and they have spent years in resettlement camps in countries such as Kenya before achieving permanent placement in the United States (U.S.)