Integrated Electrical and Mechanical Experience for First-year Students

Short Abstract: Engineering Technology faculty merged learning outcomes from three courses into a combined experience for first-year Electrical and Mechanical Engineering Technology students. This combined, active learning environment required the faculty to consider; assessment instruments, classroom layout, course scheduling, and team-teaching. Feedback from the first year guided changes for the second offering. Full Abstract: During the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years, Engineering Technology faculty at the Purdue Polytechnic - South Bend merged learning outcomes from 3 courses into a combined experience for first-year Electrical Engineering Technology (EET), Mechanical Engineering Technology (MET) and Engineering Technology (ET) students. Creating and delivering this combined, active learning environment required the faculty to consider; learning outcomes and assessments, classroom layout, course scheduling, and teaching as part of an instructional team. Student projects created both a structure and a theme for the course. In the team-taught, combined experience some assessments were performance-based, while others were traditional quizzes, exams, or written reports. Assessments were organized into “badges” in one of three categories; 1) required for all, 2) required for MET and ET (optional for EET), and 3) required for EET (optional for MET and ET). Students earned a ‘B’ for completing all required badges, an ‘A’ for all required badges and at least one optional badge, or an ‘F’ for failing to complete all required badges. For the second year, several changes were made in response to student feedback and instructor input. This presentation highlights the advantages and potential pitfalls of establishing a multidisciplinary active learning environment

Autoreactive T Cells in Human Smokers is Predictive of Clinical Outcome

Cross-sectional studies have suggested a role for activation of adaptive immunity in smokers with emphysema, but the clinical application of these findings has not been explored. Here we examined the utility of detecting autoreactive T cells as a screening tool for emphysema in an at-risk population of smokers. We followed 156 former and current (ever)-smokers for 2 years to assess whether peripheral blood CD4 T cell cytokine responses to lung elastin fragments (EFs) could discriminate between those with and without emphysema, and to evaluate the relevance of autoreactive T cells to predict changes during follow-up in lung physiological parameters. Volunteers underwent baseline complete phenotypic assessment with pulmonary function tests, quantitative chest CT, yearly 6-min walk distance (6MWD) testing, and annual measurement of CD4 T cell cytokine responses to EFs. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curve to predict emphysema for interferon gamma (IFN-γ), and interleukin 6 (IL-6) responses to EFs were 0.81 (95% CI of 0.74–0.88) and 0.79 (95% CI of 0.72–0.86) respectively. We developed a dual cytokine enzyme-linked immunocell spot assay, the γ-6 Spot, using CD4 T cell IFN-γ and IL-6 responses and found that it discriminated emphysema with 90% sensitivity. After adjusting for potential confounders, the presence of autoreactive T cells was predictive of a decrease in 6MWD over 2 years (decline in 6MWD, −19 m per fold change in IFN-γ; P = 0.026, and −26 m per fold change in IL-6; P = 0.003). In support of the human association studies, we cloned CD4 T cells with characteristic T helper (Th)1 and Th17 responses to EFs in the peripheral blood of ever-smokers with emphysema, confirming antigenicity of lung elastin in this population. These findings collectively suggest that the EF-specific autoreactive CD4 T cell assay, γ-6 Spot, could provide a non-invasive diagnostic tool with potential application to large-scale screening to discriminate emphysema in ever-smokers, and predict early relevant physiological outcomes in those at risk

Clinical trial facilitators: A novel approach to support the execution of clinical research at the study site level

In the summer of 2020, multiple efforts were undertaken to establish safe and effective vaccines to combat the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19). In the United States (U.S.), Operation Warp Speed (OWS) was the program designated to coordinate such efforts. OWS was a partnership between the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Department of Defense (DOD), and the private sector, that aimed to help accelerate control of the COVID-19 pandemic by advancing development, manufacturing, and distribution of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs’ (VA) was identified as a potential collaborator in several large-scale OWS Phase III clinical trial efforts designed to evaluate the safety and efficacy of various vaccines that were in development. Given the global importance of these trials, it was recognized that there would be a need for a coordinated, centralized effort within VA to ensure that its medical centers (sites) would be ready and able to efficiently initiate, recruit, and enroll into these trials.The manuscript outlines the partnership and start-up activities led by two key divisions of the VA's Office of Research and Development's clinical research enterprise. These efforts focused on site and enterprise-level requirements for multiple trials, with one trial serving as the most prominently featured of these studies within the VA. As a result, several best practices arose that included designating clinical trial facilitators to study sites to support study initiation activities and successful study enrollment at these locations in an efficient and timely fashion

Cross-Sectional Analysis of the Utility of Pulmonary Function Tests in Predicting Emphysema in Ever-Smokers

Emphysema is largely an under-diagnosed medical condition that can exist in smokers in the absence of airway obstruction. We aimed to determine the sensitivity and specificity of pulmonary function tests (PFTs) in assessing emphysema using quantitative CT scans as the reference standard. We enrolled 224 ever-smokers (current or former) over the age of 40. CT of thorax was used to quantify the low attenuation area (% emphysema), and to measure the standardized airway wall thickness. PFTs were used individually and in combination to predict their ability to discriminate radiographic emphysema. Significant emphysema (>7%) was detected in 122 (54%) subjects. Twenty six (21%) emphysema subjects had no evidence of airflow obstruction (FEV1/FVC ratio 23% emphysema showed airflow obstruction. The sensitivity and specificity of spirometry for detecting radiographic emphysema were 79% and 75%, respectively. Standardized airway wall thickness was increased in subjects with airflow obstruction, but did not correlate with emphysema severity. In this cohort of lifetime ever-smokers, PFTs alone were inadequate for diagnosing emphysema. Airway wall thickness quantified by CT morphometry was associated with airflow limitation, but not with emphysema indicating that the heterogeneous nature of lung disease in smokers may represent distinct phenotypes.Other UBCNon UBCReviewedFacultyResearche