Engaging Civil Engineering Students in Their Sophomore Year with a Capstone-Like Experience: The Anatomy of Springer 1

In their efforts to reinvent the civil engineering curriculum at Clemson University through the National Science Foundation grant program entitled Revolutionizing Engineering Departments (RED), Clemson University\u27s Civil Engineering (CE) department has established the Arch Initiative. The Arch Initiative is Clemson\u27s version of the RED program, and just like the first row of springer blocks that begin the formation of an arch, Clemson\u27s CE department is developing a new course sequence (Springer 1 and 2) that aims to serve as the first level of the transformed CE curriculum. Springers are semester-long courses that emulate a capstone-like experience at the sophomore level by exposing students to real-world problems early on that will challenge them to develop new knowledge and skills. They will build on these skills during their junior and senior years through project-based learning and real-world applications. Faculty delivered a pilot course of Springer 1 in the spring semester of 2019, which introduced students to three subdisciplines of civil engineering: transportation, water resources, and construction management. The purpose of this thesis is to describe the development of the Springer 1 course and provide an evaluation of the course from a student learning gains standpoint based on surveys of the students who took the course. Two surveys were used in the assessment. The first Student Assessment of Learning Gains (SALG) survey was administered at the end of the course. The second survey was given in November 2020 after most of the Springer 1 students completed their junior year

Influence of Drying on Accelerated Carbonation Testing of Concrete

The aim of this work is to better understand the influence of drying conditions and moisture content of concrete on the carbonation kinetics during accelerated tests. Cylindrical specimens of a typical concrete formulation for buildings were dried, after 28 days wet curing, under three different conditions: 80°C, 45°C and 20°C and 50% RH. The carbonation depth and the height of water absorption were measured during 70 days testing under 3% CO2, 20°C and 65% RH. The results show that there is a significant difference in the drying behavior of cylindrical specimens between the lateral cast surface and their circular free surface. But, the drying cycle before accelerated carbonation tests has more influence on the carbonation rate than the type of exposed surfac

Lipofilling de la région mammaire (efficacité, complications, suivi radiologique et clinique. Etude rétrospective sur 8 ans.)

STRASBOURG-Medecine (674822101) / SudocSudocFranceF

Predominance of OXA-48 Carbapenemase-Producing Enterobacterales in a Moroccan Hospital

Objective. The emergence of carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales (CPE) is a major concern that is increasingly reported worldwide. Our study aimed at investigating the resistance of CPE isolates in a Moroccan teaching hospital using phenotypic and genotypic methods. Methods. Enterobacterales strains from March to June 2018 were collected from different clinical samples. The Enterobacterales isolates resistant to third-generation cephalosporins (3GC) and/or carbapenems were subjected to the Carba NP test and an immunochromatographic test for phenotypic detection. Detection of extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBL) was also performed following standards. Molecular screening of carbapenemases genes (OXA-48, NDM, blaKPC, blaIMP, blaVIM, and blaOXA-24, blaOXA-23, OXA-51, OXA-58) using conventional multiplex PCR assays was also performed on 143 isolates. Results. Enterobacterales represented 52.7% with a proportion of 21.8% of bacteria resistant to 3GC and/or carbapenems. Within 143 isolates MDR to 3GC, K. pneumoniae, E. coli, and E. cloacae represent 53.1%, 40.6%, and 6.3%, respectively. These strains were isolated mainly from urinary samples (74.8%) in patients admitted to emergency and surgical units. 81.1% of strains are producing ESBL and 29% are carbapenemase producers as confirmed by the Carba NP test, immunochromatographic test, and molecular testing. OXA-48 carriers represent 83.3% of these strains, followed by NDM with 16.7%. blaKPC, blaIMP, blaVIM, and blaOXA-24, blaOXA-23, OXA-51, OXA-58 were not detected in any of these bacteria. Conclusions. A high rate of CPE carrying OXA-48 among Enterobacterales resistant to 3GC and/or carbapenems isolates was found. Strict observance of hospital hygiene measures and more rational use of antibiotics are mandatory. Implantation of carbapenemases detection should be encouraged in our hospital settings to estimate the true burden of the CPE

Genomic characterisation of extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli in Rabat, Morocco.

Extended-spectrum β-lactamase (ESBL)-producing Escherichia coli are an increasingly significant cause of hospital- and community-acquired infections worldwide. Whereas several reports have highlighted their increased prevalence also in North African countries, genomic data on isolates associated with these infections are still scarce. This study aimed to provide data on ESBL-producing E. coli isolates from patients with extraintestinal infections at the Military Teaching Hospital Mohamed V of Rabat, Morocco. Whole-genome sequencing was carried out on 18 ESBL-producing extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC) isolates for analysis of phylogenomic evolution, virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance genes. Data were compared with ExPEC lineages from several surrounding countries using multilocus sequence typing (MLST) and single nucleotide polymorphism-based phylogenetic approaches. The majority of E. coli isolates were ST131 (n = 15), followed by ST617 (n = 2) and a novel sequence type (ST10703) that is closely related to the pandemic ST405 clone. All ST131 isolates belonged to the O25b-ST131 pandemic clone. They harboured more virulence genes than their non-ST131 counterparts. IncF plasmid replicons and the bla β-lactamase gene were identified in all isolates. No ESBL-producing E. coli isolates carried any known carbapenemase gene. Our findings underscore the pre-eminence of ST131 as the major factor driving the expansion of ExPEC in the Rabat region while highlighting the potential links with isolates circulating in other neighbouring countries

A 5500-frames/s 85-GOPS/W 3-D Stacked BSI Vision Chip Based on Parallel In-Focal-Plane Acquisition and Processing

International audienceThis paper presents a 3-D stacked vision chip featuring in-focal-plane read-out tightly coupled with flexible computing architecture for configurable high-speed image analysis. The chip architecture is based on a scalable standalone structure integrating image sensor on the top tier and processing elements (PEs) plus memories in the bottom tier. By using 3-D stacking partitioning, our prototype benefits from backside illuminated pixels sensitivity, a fully parallel communication between image sensor and PEs for low-latency performances, while leaving enough room in the bottom tier to embed advanced computing features. One scalable structure embeds a 16x16 pixel array (or 64 x 64 pixels in high-resolution mode), associated with an 8-bit single instruction multiple data (SIMD) processor; fabricated in dual 130-nm 1P6M CMOS process. This paper exhibits a 5500 frames/s and 85 giga operations per second (GOPS)/W in low-resolution mode, with large kernels capabilities through eight directions interpixel communication. Multiflow capability is also demonstrated to execute different programs in different areas of the vision chip