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

Investigation into diagnostic accuracy of common strategies for automated perfusion motion correction

Respiratory motion is a significant obstacle to the use of quantitative perfusion in clinical practice. Increasingly complex motion correction algorithms are being developed to correct for respiratory motion. However, the impact of these improvements on the final diagnosis of ischemic heart disease has not been evaluated. The aim of this study was to compare the performance of four automated correction methods in terms of their impact on diagnostic accuracy. Three strategies for motion correction were used: (1) independent translation correction for all slices, (2) translation correction for the basal slice with transform propagation to the remaining two slices assuming identical motion in the remaining slices, and (3) rigid correction (translation and rotation) for the basal slice. There were no significant differences in diagnostic accuracy between the manual and automatic motion-corrected datasets (p=0.88). The area under the curve values for manual motion correction and automatic motion correction were 0.93 and 0.92, respectively. All of the automated motion correction methods achieved a comparable diagnostic accuracy to manual correction. This suggests that the simplest automated motion correction method (method 2 with translation transform for basal location and transform propagation to the remaining slices) is a sufficiently complex motion correction method for use in quantitative myocardial perfusion

High Prevalence of Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Women Considered Low Risk by Traditional Risk Assessment

Background: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in women in the United States. The purpose of this study was to characterize the prevalence and awareness of traditional CVD risk factors, obesity, and coronary heart disease (CHD) risk classification using the Framingham Risk Score (FRS) among women attending the 2006 Sister to Sister National Woman’s Heart Day event. Results: A total of 8936 participants (mean age 49 ± 14 years) were evaluated. There was a modest prevalence of traditional risk factors on screening, including non-high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) \u3e 160 mg/dL (27%), HDL-C \u3c40 mg/dL (16%), random glucose level \u3e140 mg/dL (6%), uncontrolled blood pressure ≥140/90 mm Hg (12%), current smoking (6%), and a positive family history of CHD (21%). There was a high prevalence of overweight (39%) or obese individuals (35%) (body mass index [BMI] 25–30 and ≥ 30 kg/m2, respectively), as well as those with high waist circumference (≥35 inches) (55%). Women were classified by FRS as low (85%), intermediate (6%), and high risk (9%). When cardiometabolic risk analyses included waist circumference in addition to the FRS, 59% of low-risk and 50% of intermediate-risk women had 1 or 2 risk factors, and 19% and 41% had ≥ 3 risk factors, respectively. Women were often unaware of risk factors on screening; among women without a previous diagnosis of dyslipidemia or hypertension, 48% and 7%, respectively, were given new diagnoses. Conclusions: Women participating in the 2006 Sister to Sister National Woman’s Heart Day event have a high prevalence of cardiometabolic risk factors, especially dyslipidemia, obesity, and high central adiposity, that place them at higher risk for the development of CVD and other comorbidities. The newly identified multiple risk factors in this population support the value of community health screening in women

Comparative genomics of isolates of a pseudomonas aeruginosa epidemic strain associated with chronic lung infections of cystic fibrosis patients

Pseudomonas aeruginosa is the main cause of fatal chronic lung infections among individuals suffering from cystic fibrosis (CF). During the past 15 years, particularly aggressive strains transmitted among CF patients have been identified, initially in Europe and more recently in Canada. The aim of this study was to generate high-quality genome sequences for 7 isolates of the Liverpool epidemic strain (LES) from the United Kingdom and Canada representing different virulence characteristics in order to: (1) associate comparative genomics results with virulence factor variability and (2) identify genomic and/or phenotypic divergence between the two geographical locations. We performed phenotypic characterization of pyoverdine, pyocyanin, motility, biofilm formation, and proteolytic activity. We also assessed the degree of virulence using the Dictyostelium discoideum amoeba model. Comparative genomics analysis revealed at least one large deletion (40-50 kb) in 6 out of the 7 isolates compared to the reference genome of LESB58. These deletions correspond to prophages, which are known to increase the competitiveness of LESB58 in chronic lung infection. We also identified 308 non-synonymous polymorphisms, of which 28 were associated with virulence determinants and 52 with regulatory proteins. At the phenotypic level, isolates showed extensive variability in production of pyocyanin, pyoverdine, proteases and biofilm as well as in swimming motility, while being predominantly avirulent in the amoeba model. Isolates from the two continents were phylogenetically and phenotypically undistinguishable. Most regulatory mutations were isolate-specific and 29% of them were predicted to have high functional impact. Therefore, polymorphism in regulatory genes is likely to be an important basis for phenotypic diversity among LES isolates, which in turn might contribute to this strain's adaptability to varying conditions in the CF lung

Cluster M Mycobacteriophages Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey with Unusually Large Repertoires of tRNA Isotopes

Genomic analysis of a large set of phages infecting the common hostMycobacterium smegmatis mc2155 shows that they span considerable genetic diversity. There are more than 20 distinct types that lack nucleotide similarity with each other, and there is considerable diversity within most of the groups. Three newly isolated temperate mycobacteriophages, Bongo, PegLeg, and Rey, constitute a new group (cluster M), with the closely related phages Bongo and PegLeg forming subcluster M1 and the more distantly related Rey forming subcluster M2. The cluster M mycobacteriophages have siphoviral morphologies with unusually long tails, are homoimmune, and have larger than average genomes (80.2 to 83.7 kbp). They exhibit a variety of features not previously described in other mycobacteriophages, including noncanonical genome architectures and several unusual sets of conserved repeated sequences suggesting novel regulatory systems for both transcription and translation. In addition to containing transfer-messenger RNA and RtcB-like RNA ligase genes, their genomes encode 21 to 24 tRNA genes encompassing complete or nearly complete sets of isotypes. We predict that these tRNAs are used in late lytic growth, likely compensating for the degradation or inadequacy of host tRNAs. They may represent a complete set of tRNAs necessary for late lytic growth, especially when taken together with the apparent lack of codons in the same late genes that correspond to tRNAs that the genomes of the phages do not obviously encode

Colorectal cancer screening awareness among physicians in Greece

BACKGROUND: Data comparison between SEER and EUROCARE database provided evidence that colorectal cancer survival in USA is higher than in European countries. Since adjustment for stage at diagnosis markedly reduces the survival differences, a screening bias was hypothesized. Considering the important role of primary care in screening activities, the purpose of the study was to investigate the colorectal cancer screening awareness among Hellenic physicians. METHODS: 211 primary care physicians were surveyed by mean of a self-reported prescription-habits questionnaire. Both physicians' colorectal cancer screening behaviors and colorectal cancer screening recommendations during usual check-up visits were analyzed. RESULTS: Only 50% of physicians were found to recommend screening for colorectal cancer during usual check-up visits, and only 25% prescribed cost-effective procedures. The percentage of physicians recommending stool occult blood test and sigmoidoscopy was 24% and 4% respectively. Only 48% and 23% of physicians recognized a cancer screening value for stool occult blood test and sigmoidoscopy. Colorectal screening recommendations were statistically lower among physicians aged 30 or less (p = 0.012). No differences were found when gender, level and type of specialization were analyzed, even though specialists in general practice showed a trend for better prescription (p = 0.054). CONCLUSION: Contemporary recommendations for colorectal cancer screening are not followed by implementation in primary care setting. Education on presymptomatic control and screening practice monitoring are required if primary care is to make a major impact on colorectal cancer mortality