Case for Christian Higher Education: Two-Year Technical Programs, Too

The importance of today’s professional-technical vocations is critical to the collective work for Christ in today’s world. People serving in these fields are truly at the front lines, responding to God’s word with their hearts, minds, and hands. Posting about the need for Christian technical training from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/the-case-for-christian-higher-education-two-year-technical-programs-too

Photocatalytic degradation of NOx by concrete pavement containing TiO2

Emissions from motor vehicles cause the concentrations of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in the immediate vicinity of highways to be 30-100% higher than background concentrations. Photocatalytic pavements have been proposed to address this localized pollution problem. Bench-scale evaluation of environmental variables confirmed that nitric oxide (NO) oxidation rate positively correlated with influent NO concentration and irradiance and negatively correlated with relative humidity. However, comparison of the slope of these correlations found significant differences between this study and other published work. Slab water loss, a variable not investigated in prior work, positively correlated with NO oxidation rate at water losses of 0-2% of saturated mass, but negatively correlated at losses greater than 2%. A positive correlation was documented for slab temperature; this finding contrasts previous assertions which considered this variable insignificant. Overall, oxidation rates ranged from 6.2-57 nanomoles per square meter per second. This sensitivity demonstrates that selecting a field location requires exceptionally careful review of environmental conditions. Comparison of photocatalytic slabs of pervious concrete and mortar manufactured with the same photocatalytic cement and water-to-cement ratio found no evidence of a difference in NO oxidation rate at a confidence level greater than 90%. This finding contrasts previous speculation, which asserted superior pervious concrete performance due to increased specific surface area. In a second contrast to previous work, no evidence of a correlation was found between NO oxidation rate and photocatalytic layer depth in two-lift pervious slabs. Although pervious slabs were not superior to mortar slabs, they are another material that could address NOx pollution. Lab investigation of blinding by prevailing roadway pollutants did not find evidence of a substantial decrease in performance at normally observed field loadings. Reaction products did cause blinding; however, the performance decrease was asymptotic and a complete loss of activity was not observed. In disagreement with previous reports, preliminary results did not observe easy photoactivity regeneration. The first phase of an ongoing field study did not find evidence that NO concentration in a photocatalytic section was lower than NO concentration in a control section. The most probable explanations for this observation are excess vibration, which caused mixture segmentation, and insufficient NO oxidation rate

Deliberately and Meekly Serving Our Lord

The Jesus miracles demonstrate that he is Lord over all. Posting about Jesus, our role model, from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/deliberately-and-meekly-serving-our-lord

Distinctively Christian Engineering: Implementing Guiding Principles in our Civil Curriculum

At Dordt College, we work to make our motto, Soli Deo Gloria (glory to God alone), the organizing principle for all activities. In the Engineering Department, it is our responsibility to continue to shape our program to be holistic and Christ-centered in order to equip our students to serve the Lord obediently in engineering. To direct the development and modification of our engineering curriculum, we established a set of five distinctively Christian guiding principles for engineering. Setting the direction for this work required a grounding point. Therefore, in a subsequent manuscript we evaluated the extent to which these principles were already emphasized in our civil engineering curriculum. This evaluation found opportunities for curriculum improvements, the most pressing of which was developing our students’ understanding that that the world and everything in it was created for God’s glory. In this paper, we report on and critique our implementation of course activities that addressed the identified opportunities for curriculum improvement. This implementation included a common survey and targeted course activities. The survey provided an assessment of whether the guiding principles resonated with students at various points in their education. The activities were both linked to specific principles and course objectives and built upon activities in prior courses. Our critique of these early implementation steps provided evidence that the course activities helped our students understand and appreciate the guiding principles. However, further work needs to be done to translate this knowledge into a lifestyle where the principles guide all of our students’ engineering work

To Engage Creation

An engineer\u27s role in this service is to use science and technology to care for the entirety of creation - humans, other creatures, and the natural environment - in a way that both develops its potential and ensures that our activities do not impair its ability to flourish in the future. Posting about ­­­­­­­­a Christian perspective on engineering from In All Things - an online hub committed to the claim that the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ has implications for the entire world. http://inallthings.org/to-engage-creation

Distinctively Christian Engineering: An Evaluation of our Civil Curriculum

AbstractAs professors in an engineering program developed with the intention of being Christ-centred and holistic, one of our responsibilities is to equip our students to serve the Lord obediently in all that they do—especially in engineering. To serve as the foundation of this preparation, we used a previous publication which set out five distinctively Christian guiding principles for engineering. Our intent is that these principles will be used to direct the development and modification of our engineering curriculum. Directing these efforts requires a grounding point. Therefore, this paper evaluates the extent to which these principles are already emphasized in the program’s civil engineering curriculum. Comparing this evaluation to benchmarks for each of the five principles revealed that the curriculum fell short. This result was expected because the curriculum does not contain a formal process to introduce, emphasize, and apply these principles. The evaluation determined that the first principle, which recognizes that the world and everything in it was created for God’s glory, fell the farthest from its benchmark. Since this principle is foundational to all the other principles, efforts to increase the emphasis of this principle should be given the highest priority.  OpsommingAs professore in ‘n ingenieursprogram wat ontwikkel is met die doel on Christo-sentries en holisties te wees, was een van ons verantwoordelikhede om ons studente toe te rus om die Here met gehoorsaamheid te dien in alles wat hulle doen – veral in ingenieurswese. As ‘n fondasie vir hierdie voorbereiding, het ons ‘n vorige publikasie gebruik waarin vyf duidelike Christelike rigtinggewende beginsels vir ingeneiurswese uiteengesit word. Ons bedoeling is dat hierdie beginsels gebruik sal word om die ontwikkeling en wysiging van ons ingenieurskurrikulum te onderlê.  Om rigting te gee aan hierdie poging moet ons die proses anker, en daarom sal hierdie artikel die omvang evalueer van die bereiking van hierdie beginsels in die program se siviele ingenieurswesekrrikulum. As mens hierdie evaluering vergelyk met doelwitte wat gestel is vir elkeen van die vyf beginsels, it is duidelik dat die kurrikulum tekortskiet.  Hierdie uitkoms was te verwagte omdat die kurrikulum nie ‘n formele proses bevat om hierdie beginsels bekend te stel, te onderstreep en toe te pas nie.  Die evaluering het bepaal dat die eerste beginsel, wat is dat alles geskep is tot die eer van God, en hierdie beginsel het die meeste tekort geskiet. Aangesien hierdie beginsel die fondasie is vir al die ander beginsels, moet pogings aangewend word om die belang van en onderstreping van hierdie beginsel die hoogste prioriteit te gee.https://doi.org/10.19108/KOERS.80.3.223

Photocatalytic Concrete Pavements: Laboratory Investigation of NO Oxidation Rate Under Varied Environmental Conditions

Concrete pavements containing TiO2 can be used for air pollution control by oxidizing NOX under UV-bearing sunlight. This study employed a bench-scale photoreactor to estimate NO oxidation rates for varied environmental conditions. Rates correlated positively with NO inlet concentration and irradiance and negatively with relative humidity. No correlation occurred with flow rate. A decrease in slab moisture (previously unstudied) positively correlated with NO oxidation rate at 0–2% loss of saturated mass, but negatively correlated at losses greater that 2%. Although prior researchers deemed temperature insignificant, data indicated a positive correlation. Overall, rates ranged from 9.8–64 nmol∙m-2∙s-1

Approximation Assessment of Photocatalytic Air Cleaning Pavements

This paper examines an approximation method to qualitatively assess the air-cleaning performance (i.e., specifically the elimination of aerial nitrogen oxide, NO, released within vehicular exhaust) by full-scale pavements which contain photo-catalytically reactive titanium dioxide under optimal conditions. Two hypothetical road configurations were considered using this method, including both a two-lane, low traffic density (i.e., 4,000 full-day AADT) and a four-lane, moderate traffic density (i.e., 10,000 full-day AADT) design. These options were then comparatively examined on the basis of expected European Union or United States vehicular emission levels. In each case, this method’s day-time-only percentile elimination approximation results were derived using an extrapolation of lab-based specific contaminant elimination rates (i.e., mass NO removed per surface area per time) relative to contaminant release rates which were projected for EU or US vehicular contaminant emission levels. Using this paper’s approximation method, and assuming best-case scenario conditions (i.e., original, un-aged, peak catalytic performance under optimal temperature, relative humidity, etc. conditions), day-timeonly percentile removals in the ~mid-60% to ~90% range were predicted for EU two- and fourlane roadways with low to moderate traffic densities. These EU contaminant elimination approximation percentiles were higher than the actual, observed range (e.g., typically ~mid-10% to ~mid-60% day-time removal percentiles) of published contaminant elimination values which had been measured according to gas-phase contaminant changes during a number of full-scale studies completed at various EU locations and with EU-related vehicle types and emissions. In the case of similar US highway options, this method’s approximated day-time-only elimination percentile results were lower than what was predicted for similar EU road options, with a range of ~30% to ~40%. These latter, lower US road approximations were believed to be related to higher expected US versus EU vehicle emission levels (i.e., by a factor of ~two- to ~three-fold for light and heavy duty vehicles)

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century