The majority of low-income rural Indian communities still use kerosene for lighting purposes and haven’t made the switch to solar technology because of a high initial investment involved and lack of awareness. MakeGlow is a low-cost Do-It-Yourself solar lantern that addresses both these problems. MakeGlow is mainly intended for students from underserved schools in low-income rural Indian communities. As part of a MakeGlow learning activity integrated in the school curriculum, students will build their own MakeGlow solar lanterns out of cardboard and a kit of parts. This approach will teach students about the working and benefits of switching to solar, while providing them with the means to build a low-cost solar lantern. At the end of the class term, students will organize a sale where they’d sell their MakeGlows to people in their communities, at a very low cost. This also acts as an effective channel of distribution for solar.
In 2011, only 18.8% of US mothers reached the six-month exclusive breastfeeding goal set by the World Health Organization. If 90% of mothers breastfed for the recommended six months, the US would save $13 billion per year. Breast massage can improve, prevent, or alleviate the most common breastfeeding problems and prolong breastfeeding duration. The purpose of the Breast Massage Knowledge Bank (BMKB) is to identify and match unique BMTs to specific breastfeeding problems and breast shapes/sizes. The sixteen BMTs identified in academic literature will serve as the baseline from which the BMKB will grow. The platform allows for feedback collection from breastfeeding experts and mothers. This data is analyzed to develop evidence-based education tools for diverse populations of parents and providers. LiquidGoldConcept is the only research- driven, for-profit company (with a sustainable, non-advertisement based revenue model) creating evidence-based, tailored breast massage videos focused on educating parents and health providers.
The One Health Nicaragua team will address food insecurity concerns in Sabana Grande, Nicaragua, by working with children and focusing on improving poultry production. Integrative workshops for students in Sabana Grande will focus on egg production, chick care, coop management, and disease prevention. Local students will manage a demonstration flock providing them the opportunity to gain first-hand experience with effective methods for raising, handling, and vaccinating poultry. Children can then share this information with their family thereby increasing knowledge dissemination throughout the community. Introducing poultry husbandry skills in the classroom will affect changes at the family level and sustainably improve overall community poultry production in Sabana Grande. Ultimately, this will lead to greater food security within the community.
Slow-sand filtration (SSF) is a tertiary treatment process that has been widely used for drinking water treatment. This technology has yet to be applied to wastewater treatment on a large scale. Pathogen reduction can be further enhanced by the addition of seeds from Moringa oleifera (a typical tree in Guatemala), which have proteins with antimicrobial properties. This project proposes to construct and operate a pilot-scale slow seed-sand filtration system at UC Davis to assess the feasibility of this technology, then to build a pilot-scale system in Sololá, Guatemala in order to adjust the system to local conditions. If successful, the pilot project will serve to encourage the community to build a full-scale treatment system.
In this time of plenty, many throw out their food ¬ mostly because they do nott know how to cook it, or they do not remember what they have bought. Foodful.ly works to stop food waste by addressing these two use problems – tracking food purchases using e-receipts and sending spoilage reminders and recipes with cooking tips. This project proposes a solution that tracks food purchases, models food spoilage, and simplifies meal planning. Foodful.ly is a web service and mobile application that, when associated with a credit card or email, tracks food purchase from the point of purchase using increasingly available electronic receipts. These electronic receipts are parsed quickly to a user’s inventory, and users are alerted when items are most likely to spoil according to independently developed spoilage algorithms. Recipes are sent to users based on learned preference and cooking experience level that uses these likely-to-spoil foods, minimizing the amount of food waste and time spent planning meals. This will ultimately result in health benefits and cost savings for users, as well as more time to spend living fully.
This team aims to open a maternal care unit with an onsite OB/GYN in the Knights Landing community of Yolo County. Since the closing of CommuniCare in 2008, the community of approximately 750 migrant families and undocumented workers living in Knights Landing has lacked access to comprehensive health care in their community up until the beginning of this year.
The project will provide women with more birth control options, urine tests, emergency contraception, and prenatal packages. These packages would include prenatal vitamins and vouchers for transportation to hospitals in Sacramento and the greater Yolo County. The goal is to integrate community members in all steps of the process, ensuring they take an active role in their own health care and the health care of their neighbors. Que Viva La Mujer would not just be a place where women can see a gynecologist in their own community, but also their resource for all their maternal and post parturition health care and educational needs.
Big Ideas Award Celebration, May 2012Photo Credit: Blum Center
Diabetes mellitus affects over 285 million people worldwide, and the number of people living with it grows at an annual rate of 2.3%. Pathologicode introduces innovative application and computer vision technologies to detect microangiopathy associated with prediabetes in individuals. This non-invasive, in- vivo procedure will provide healthcare professionals with detailed information on overall systemic health in order to screen for early indications of developing diabetes. By providing tools to screen for early indications of the disease, Pathologicode’s Peek software will enable healthcare professionals to provide early intervention through disease management protocols, ultimately leading to an overall improvement of patient health.
