Special issue on engineering education: challenges for innovation

Engineering education plays an essential role in the pursuit of a more sustainable and equitable world. These two challenges imply training engineers to conceive and develop better goods and services with less, renewable resources (sustainability) for serving a large growing world population (equity), as denoted by the US National Academy of Engineering of the National Academies (2008). How to better train engineering students in a globalised, fast-evolving, and technology-dependant world is the goal of engineering education research.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Colorectal Cancer Stage at Diagnosis Before vs During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Italy

IMPORTANCE Delays in screening programs and the reluctance of patients to seek medical attention because of the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 could be associated with the risk of more advanced colorectal cancers at diagnosis. OBJECTIVE To evaluate whether the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic was associated with more advanced oncologic stage and change in clinical presentation for patients with colorectal cancer. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS This retrospective, multicenter cohort study included all 17 938 adult patients who underwent surgery for colorectal cancer from March 1, 2020, to December 31, 2021 (pandemic period), and from January 1, 2018, to February 29, 2020 (prepandemic period), in 81 participating centers in Italy, including tertiary centers and community hospitals. Follow-up was 30 days from surgery. EXPOSURES Any type of surgical procedure for colorectal cancer, including explorative surgery, palliative procedures, and atypical or segmental resections. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES The primary outcome was advanced stage of colorectal cancer at diagnosis. Secondary outcomes were distant metastasis, T4 stage, aggressive biology (defined as cancer with at least 1 of the following characteristics: signet ring cells, mucinous tumor, budding, lymphovascular invasion, perineural invasion, and lymphangitis), stenotic lesion, emergency surgery, and palliative surgery. The independent association between the pandemic period and the outcomes was assessed using multivariate random-effects logistic regression, with hospital as the cluster variable. RESULTS A total of 17 938 patients (10 007 men [55.8%]; mean [SD] age, 70.6 [12.2] years) underwent surgery for colorectal cancer: 7796 (43.5%) during the pandemic period and 10 142 (56.5%) during the prepandemic period. Logistic regression indicated that the pandemic period was significantly associated with an increased rate of advanced-stage colorectal cancer (odds ratio [OR], 1.07; 95%CI, 1.01-1.13; P = .03), aggressive biology (OR, 1.32; 95%CI, 1.15-1.53; P < .001), and stenotic lesions (OR, 1.15; 95%CI, 1.01-1.31; P = .03). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE This cohort study suggests a significant association between the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and the risk of a more advanced oncologic stage at diagnosis among patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer and might indicate a potential reduction of survival for these patients

Working with Young People at University of Porto

This work describes several initiatives of the University of Porto in Portugal and of its Faculty of Engineering, whose common goal is to attract young people to higher education in general, and to science and technology in particular. The U.Porto Annual Exhibition is briefly mentioned and Junior University is described in some detail. The Engineering Open Days and the EMPE Portal for secondary school students are also presented

Working with Young People at University of Porto

This work describes several initiatives of the University of Porto in Portugal and of its Faculty of Engineering, whose common goal is to attract young people to higher education in general, and to science and technology in particular. The U.Porto Annual Exhibition is briefly mentioned and Junior University is described in some detail. The Engineering Open Days and the EMPE Portal for secondary school students are also presented.</span&gt