Preventing yellow fever epidemics in Asian megacities: how can cities control mosquito-transmitted diseases?

The COVID-19 pandemic has reminded us of the ever present threat from infectious diseases, this includes the ones we know about already and future unknowns. The mosquito-transmitted disease yellow fever has claimed thousands of lives over the centuries and it hasn’t gone away. It is still endemic in tropical areas of Africa and Latin America, where it is kept at bay through constant surveillance, mass vaccination campaigns and some natural immunity within local populations. Despite this there are serious outbreaks from time to time. The Aedes mosquitoes capable of transmitting the virus from person to person, are now widespread in warmer countries worldwide, moreover they thrive in urban areas. With increased international movement, the fear is that infected travellers could unwittingly introduce the virus into countries where people have little or no immunity. Densely populated Asian megacities are a major concern. There are simple measures citizens can take to protect themselves and their homes from the bite of infected mosquitoes, but city leaders must be at the forefront of a coordinated response bringing together diverse stakeholders to ensure a robust and sustainable defence

Chemical Warfare in Narragansett Bay: Determining the Allelopathic Effects of Ulva

Several species of Ulva are commonly found in the waters of Narragansett Bay, especially in eutrophic waters, where they can form fast growing blooms that can have ecological and economic consequences. The formation and release of allelopathic chemicals has been previously documented in some species of Ulva, including Ulva lactuca. Three species of blade-forming Ulva are commonly found in Narragansett Bay and coastal Rhode Island, namely, U. compressa, U. lactuca, and U. rigida. We aimed to determine if these three species of Ulva had allelopathic effects by testing their impacts on the growth of other macroalgae. Cystoclonium purpureum, Chondrus crispus, and Ceramium virgatum tips were grown alone (control) or with either U. compressa, U. rigida, or U. lactuca in mesocosms separated by mesh for eight days, in two separate trials. The blotted-dry fresh weight of Cystoclonium, Chondrus, and Ceramium was recorded every other day and tips were photographed for surface area analysis. Nutrients were checked daily using NO3 as a proxy and adjusted to prevent nutrient limitation. All three species of Ulva had a significant negative effect on the growth of Cystoclonium, Chondrus, and Ceramium, although the effect was dependent on time. In the Cystoclonium trial, U. compressa and U. rigida treatments had the largest negative effect on Cystoclonium growth with overall mass loss observed after 6 days of co-culture. U. lactuca had a smaller negative effect on growth, with the average Cystoclonium growth rate after 8 days of co-culture (2.9 ± 0.9 % day-1) significantly below controls (5.0 ± 0.8 % day-1). In the Chondrus trial, there was a striking effect of all three Ulva species on the growth of Chondrus after only two days of co-culture. Growth rates of tips with all species of Ulva were \u3c1% day-1 for the duration of the experiment, while the control tips increased in growth over time from 1.83 (± 0.7) % day-1 on Day 2 to 5.56 (± 0.9) % day-1 on Day 8. Overall mass loss was observed after 8 days of co-culture with U. compressa. The Ceramium growth was more variable over the course of the trial, but clear separation was seen on day 8 between the controls and the decreased growth of the tips co-cultured with Ulva. All three species of Ulva had a similar effect on the growth of Ceramium at the end of the trial. Our results indicate that U. compressa, U. lactuca, and U. rigida can significantly inhibit the growth of other macroalgae. This has implications for secondary effects of Ulva blooms reducing the algal diversity in addition to primary effects of eutrophication

Disrupting Engineering Education

Traditional engineering education approaches are recognizable around the world – lectures, tutorials, laboratories, some projects. With the emergence of Industry 4.0, the world in which engineers practice is evolving at an ever-increasing rate, combining a greater focus on complex sociotechnical problems with new technologies and increasingly powerful design tools. In general, the engineering curricula have not adapted quickly to this change, but there is a shift in expectations of who and what engineering students should be. Engineering curricula are becoming more flexible, as are the learning environments in which they are implemented. This chapter draws upon the Doblin 10 types of innovation model as a framework to unpack the different kinds of innovation inherent in these emerging forms of disruption. It identifies that innovation is mostly clustered in the configuration and experience of our degrees, rather than the degrees themselves, and shows that effective disruption requires combining several types of innovation to be successful. The chapter further addresses the disruption process itself, highlighting the continuous improvement mindset that is necessary to commence, continue, and sustain disruptive innovation in engineering education. It identifies potential barriers and how these can be overcome, ending with a call to action