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Graduating approximately 150,000 engineering and engineering technology students per year, the engineering education system seeks to teach students to solve problems via analysis and design. Unfortunately, many curricula emphasize analysis at the expense of design, often relegating design activities to cornerstone and capstone design courses and leaving students ill-prepared for substantive capstone projects and post-baccalaureate practice. This work seeks to address this problem by introducing an appropriately-scaffolded design-analyze-build-test spine within an existing Mechanical Engineering Technology second-year Strength of Materials course. The 33-student cohort self-selected into 11 teams of 3 students per team to design, analyze, and additively manufacture 6-inch-long by 1-inch-maximum-width by 1-inch-maximum-height 3D-printed polylactic acid (PLA) beams weighing [less than or equal to] 45 grams. Beams were then three-point loaded during a culminating competition. The project intentionally rewarded multiple, competing objectives, including beam mass, maximum force at a 0.050-inch deflection, accuracy of analysis, and creativity. Over 29 calendar days, the project consumed approximately 1.5 in-class hours and was completed using only commonly-available university hardware, e.g., 3D printers and a load frame. Formative and summative surveys were administered to assess student task value, self-efficacy, and opinions. Results indicated that students were primarily motivated by utility and intrinsic task value. Despite 74% of the students having minimal experience with additive manufacturing, 75% of students felt their team had appropriate skills to complete the project. In addition to 84% of students stating the project reinforced their understanding of strength of materials, 95% of students stated that the project increased their understanding of open-ended design and the interconnection between material properties, materials processing, and strength of materials. This work is important in that it demonstrates a case study on how to incorporate design concepts within an engineering analysis course and that analysis and design concepts may coexist within a course.

Puerto Rico reported the first confirmed case of Zika virus (ZIKV) disease in November 2015 and subsequently experienced epidemic transmission that peaked by mid-August 2016 (1). Despite the large number [...]

Melioidosis is caused by Burkholderia pseudomallei, a saprophytic, gram-negative bacillus endemic to tropical regions worldwide (1). Diagnosis is difficult because of wide-ranging clinical manifestations (2), and this bacterium is innately [...]

Background: The first documented human leptospirosis cases in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) occurred following 2017 Hurricanes Irma and Maria. We conducted a representative serosurvey in USVI to estimate the seroprevalence and distribution of human leptospirosis and evaluate local risk factors associated with seropositivity. Methodology/Principal findings: A stratified, two-stage cluster sampling design was used and consisted of three island strata and random selection of census blocks and then households. All eligible members of selected households were invited to participate (≥5 years old, resided in USVI ≥6 months and ≥6 months/year). Household and individual-level questionnaires were completed, and serum collected from each enrolled individual. Microscopic agglutination test serology was conducted, and bivariate and logistic regression analyses completed to identify risk factors for seropositivity. In March 2019, 1,161 individuals were enrolled from 918 households in St. Croix, St. Thomas, and St. John. The territory-wide weighted seroprevalence was 4.0% (95% CI:2.3–5.7). Characteristics/exposures independently associated with seropositivity using logistic regression included contact with cows (OR: 39.5; 95% CI: 9.0–172.7), seeing rodents/rodent evidence or contact with rodents (OR: 2.6; 95% CI: 1.1–5.9), and increasing age (OR: 1.02; 95% CI: 1.002–1.04); full or partial Caucasian/White race was negatively correlated with seropositivity (OR: 0.02, 95% CI: 0.04–0.7). Bivariate analysis showed self-reported jaundice since the 2017 hurricanes (pRR: 5.7; 95% CI: 1.0–33.4) was associated with seropositivity and using a cover/lid on cisterns/rainwater collection containers (pRR: 0.3; 95% CI: 0.08–0.8) was protective against seropositivity. Conclusions/Significance: Leptospirosis seropositivity of 4% across USVI demonstrates an important human disease that was previously unrecognized and emphasizes the importance of continued leptospirosis surveillance and investigation. Local risk factors identified may help guide future human and animal leptospirosis studies in USVI, strengthen leptospirosis public health surveillance and treatment timeliness, and inform targeted education, prevention, and control efforts. Author summary: We established that in 2019, four percent of the population in the U.S. Virgin Islands (USVI) had evidence of previous exposure to Leptospira bacteria. There were no human cases of leptospirosis documented in USVI before the 2017 hurricanes, however due to the prevalence of the disease in other Caribbean localities, the post-hurricane cases, and the evidence of exposure demonstrated in this investigation, it is likely that leptospirosis has been a previously unrecognized problem in the territory. We demonstrated that contact with rodents or their body fluids or seeing rodents/evidence of rodents, contact with cows, increasing age, and not being part or full Caucasian/White race are independently associated with previous exposure to Leptospira spp. in USVI. These findings highlight the importance of continuing leptospirosis surveillance in USVI, considering leptospirosis as a diagnosis in patients with acute febrile illness and/or compatible exposures, and further investigating the epidemiology, ecology, and clinical features of leptospirosis in USVI. Our investigation also supports the need to investigate leptospirosis, and consider it a potential diagnosis, in locations with environmental conditions the bacteria favor (tropical and subtropical areas), even if leptospirosis has not been previously documented in those areas, and especially if it has not been previously investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dengue viruses cause ≅ 50 million infections annually worldwide, and ≅ 1% of these infections require hospitalization because of dengue hemorrhagic fever (1). Brazil accounts for ≅ 75% of all [...]

Abstract Background The Sykes' monkey and related forms (Cercopithecus mitis) make up an abundant, widespread and morphologically diverse species complex in eastern Africa that naturally harbors a distinct simian immunodeficiency virus (SIVsyk). We carried out a retrospective serological survey of SIV infection from both wild and captive Sykes' monkeys from Kenya. We compared two commercially available, cross-reactive ELISA tests using HIV antigens with a novel SIVsyk antigen-specific Western blot assay and analyzed the data by origin, subspecies, age and sex. Results The SIVsyk antigen-specific Western blot assay detected more serum samples as positive than either of the cross-reactive ELISA assays. Using this assay, we found that seroprevalence is higher than previously reported, but extremely variable in wild populations (from 0.0 to 90.9%). Females were infected more often than males in both wild and captive populations. Seropositive infants were common. However, no seropositive juveniles were identified. Conclusion We have developed a specific and sensitive Western blot assay for anti-SIVsyk antibody detection. Sykes' monkeys are commonly infected with SIVsyk, but with extremely variable prevalence in the wild. Higher infection prevalence in females suggests predominantly sexual transmission. High infection prevalence in infants, but none in juveniles, suggests maternal antibodies, but little or no vertical transmission.

The article states that to define the preponderance of prior dengue virus infection in children and teenagers eligible for dengue vaccination, a serosurvey was conducted in the U.S. Virgin Islands. It mentions that the survey was conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in collaboration with the U.S. Virgin Islands Department of Health (VIDOH), in 2022.