Emerging decentralized infrastructure networks

Distributed hydrogen infrastructures have emerged as a complementary element in the quest for sustainable energy solutions, with potential applications in regions featuring high industrial demands and spatially resolved negative residual loads. These infrastructures can contribute to the decarbonization of electricity, heating, and transport...

Target product profiles for devices to diagnose urinary schistosomiasis in Nigeria

Schistosomiasis is a treatable and preventable neglected tropical disease of Public Health importance affecting over 200 million people worldwide while Nigeria is one of the high burden countries. Currently, available diagnostic tests are cumbersome, low in sensitivity and not field-adaptable given the high skills required that are not available...

Stakeholders’ Perspectives on the Application of New Diagnostic Devices for Urinary Schistosomiasis in Oyo State, Nigeria: A Q-Methodology Approach

Urinary schistosomiasis is a waterborne parasitic infection caused by Schistosoma haematobium that affects approximately 30 million people annually in Nigeria. Treatment and eradication of this infection require effective diagnostics. However, current diagnostic tests have critical shortcomings and consequently are of limited value to...

Design for divestment in a circular economy: Stimulating voluntary return of smartphones through design

For the transition toward a circular economy, it is essential that products are returned for reuse, refurbishing or recycling. In order to address the lack of literature on the topic from a user perspective, this paper explores how users can be stimulated to return used smartphones. Taking a Research through Design approach, we developed a...

Towards Inclusive Diagnostics for Neglected Tropical Diseases:: User Experience of a New Digital Diagnostic Device in Low-Income Settings

Designing new and inclusive diagnostic tools to detect Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) to achieve rational disease control requires a co-design process where end-users’ input is important. Failure to involve all potential end-users in new diagnostics for NTDs can result in low use and adoption failure, leading to persistent infection hot...

Rethinking the Top-Down Approach to Schistosomiasis Control and Elimination in Sub-Saharan Africa

The control and elimination of schistosomiasis have over the last two decades involved several strategies, with the current strategy by the World Health Organization (WHO)<br/>focusing mainly on treatment with praziquantel during mass drug administration (MDA). However, the disease context is complex with an interplay of social, economic,...

Social Network Analysis of the Schistosomiasis control program in two local government areas in Oyo state, Nigeria: Insights for NTD elimination plans

BACKGROUND: Schistosomiasis is one of the neglected tropical diseases targeted for elimination by 2030. Achieving disease elimination requires collaboration between stakeholders, country ownership and the involvement of community-level stakeholders. The state of stakeholder relationship determines the ease and timeliness of meeting disease...

Comparing Performance of Biomass Gasifier Stoves: Influence of a Multi-Context Approach

Millions of people worldwide die prematurely or suffer from severe health ailments due to cooking equipment that causes unhealthy doses of (household) air pollution. Many attempts to address this have fallen short because technology was not improved sufficiently or the way it was introduced constituted an ill fit with the broader “cooking eco...

Developing inclusive digital health diagnostic for schistosomiasis: a need for guidance via target product profiles

IntroductionThe INSPIRED project aims to develop inclusive Digital Optical Diagnostic Devices (DODDs) for schistosomiasis, to support disease management by enabling rapid diagnostic results, to improve efficient data management to guide decision-making and to provide healthcare workers with critical health information to facilitate follow-up...

Unveiling complexity of hydrogen integration: A multi-faceted exploration of challenges in the Dutch context

As the transition to sustainable energy intensifies, hydrogen emerges as a pivotal medium in mitigating climate change and improving energy security. While its applicability across various sectors is undeniable, its integration into established energy systems presents multifaceted challenges. This study investigates the complexities of...

A stakeholder analysis of schistosomiasis diagnostic landscape in South-West Nigeria: Insights for diagnostics co-creation

Background: Schistosomiasis, one of the neglected tropical diseases, is a water-based parasitic disease of public health importance. Currently, tests for Schistosoma haematobium infection either demonstrate poor specificity, are expensive or too laborious for use in endemic countries, creating a need for more sensitive, cheaper, and easy to use...

Exploring richness in design spaces as a multi-level defined construct

It seems relevant for designers who are dealing with complex societal issues to be able to assess whether they appreciate the complexity of the design task sufficiently before the stages of the design and production process are reached, as these require informed decisions before committing substantial resources. We put forward that the ...

Does Access Trump Ownership?: Exploring Consumer Acceptance of Access-Based Consumption in the Case of Smartphones

Value creation in a circular economy is based on products being returned after use. In the case of smartphones, most are never returned and tend to be kept in drawers. Smartphone access services (e.g., leasing or upgrade) have been experimented with in the Netherlands but have been largely unsuccessful. This study explores the reasons why...

Improving access to diagnostics for schistosomiasis case management in oyo state, Nigeria: Barriers and opportunities

Schistosomiasis is one of the Neglected Tropical Diseases that affects over 200 million people worldwide, of which 29million people in Nigeria. The principal strategy for schistosomiasis in Nigeria is a control and elimination program which comprises a school-based Mass Drug Administration (MDA)with limitations of high re-infection rates and...

Enhancing knowledge exchange and collaboration between craftspeople and designers using the concept of boundary objects

Design and craft domains possess knowledge and experiences that are valuable to product development; however, such knowledge is often tacit, localized, and embedded within each respective domain. In this paper, we examine how a combination of design tools—prescribed as boundary objects—supports knowledge exchange and collaboration between...

Facing complexity through varying the clarification of the design task: How a multi-contextual approach can empower design engineers to address complex challenges

Today, most challenges designers face are complex. One way industrial design engineers have learned to deal with this complexity is to simplify the problem early on—for example, by focusing on one particular context, e.g. user group. Variations are typically addressed, but preferably inside the simplified design task or even after initial...