Work-in-progress: Identifying unit operations laboratory curriculum needs

A knowledge gap exists between what is taught in the undergraduate chemical engineering curriculum and what is needed in terms of knowledge, skills, and attributes for industry. ABET has worked towards characterizing curriculum needs by specifying seven student outcomes that were developed by their more than 2,200 experts from academia, government and industry. While useful in curriculum assessment, these outcomes are broad and do not provide details about what should be incorporated into specific courses. The National Science Foundation and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers surveyed 507 individuals from industry and academia to identify more specific skills needed for graduates going into industry. In addition to process safety and process dynamic knowledge, results suggested the need for skills in communication, critical thinking, teamwork, leadership, open-ended task analysis, problem solving, and time management. These skills are often taught through the unit operations laboratory. Through the COVID-19 pandemic, faculty were forced to evaluate the learning outcomes of unit operations laboratory courses, allowing them to think more explicitly about how to address those gaps identified through the previous study. Moving forward, faculty have the opportunity to redesign the course to meet the needs of industry. Surveying unit operations laboratory stakeholders will offer a more targeted approach to making the necessary changes in course content. This includes surveying 1. Faculty on their perceptions of the key learning outcomes of the unit operations laboratory, 2. Industry on the knowledge, skills and attributes that should be taught in the laboratory, and 3. Students on what gaps exist in the chemical engineering curriculum that could be filled by the laboratory. The results of these surveys will provide information that will help balance the breadth and depth of content necessary while incorporating updates to address stakeholder needs. This work-in-progress paper will detail the development of these three surveys. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Gambling and COVID-19 - Swedish national gambling data from a state-owned gambling sports and casino operator

The lockdown of sports and gambling venues during COVID-19 caused a fear of increased gambling on other online gambling types, with a risk for transfer to more addictive gambling than otherwise. This study aimed to analyze changes in gambling activity during COVID-19-affected periods. This study includes gambling tracking data from the Swedish state-owned gambling operator Svenska Spel Sports & Casino (sports betting, online casino, online bingo, poker). It included all individuals who gambled at least once from 10/02/2020 to 19/07/2020. The study period was divided into four periods, depending on their expected level of COVID-19 impact on gambling opportunities: pre-COVID period, and three COVID-affected periods (sports cancellation, emerging return of sports, substantial return of sports). Mixed models were used to analyze changes in gambling activity for each gambling type and for each period compared to the pre-COVID period. Models were estimated for two weekly gambling variables (wagers and number of gambling days) for each gambling type and adjusted for gender, age and initial gambling involvement (gambled or not during the first three weeks of the study). Results types differed markedly between gambling types. Sports betting followed the pattern of an apparent decrease and a gradual normalization but end levels significantly below pre-pandemic levels. In contrast, online poker and bingo frequency/ intensity increased upon sports lockdown but were not sustainable. Regarding online casino, no significant change was observed. Dramatic changes in the content of the gambling market may divert some gamblers to other gambling types, but maintained effects could not be demonstrated.

IL-6 and other biomarkers as predictors of severity in COVID-19.

OBJECTIVE: Cytokine release syndrome is suggested to be the most important mechanism triggering acute respiratory distress syndrome and end organ damage in COVID-19. The severity of disease may be measured by different biomarkers. METHODS: We studied markers of inflammation and coagulation as recorded in 29 patients on admission to the hospital in order to identify markers of severe COVID-19 and need of ICU. RESULTS: Patients who were eventually admitted to ICU displayed significantly higher serum levels of interleukin-6 (IL-6), C-reactive protein (CRP), and procalcitonin. No statistical differences were found between the groups in median levels of lymphocytes, D-dimer or ferritin. CONCLUSIONS: IL-6 and CRP were the strongest predictors of severity in hospitalized patients with COVID-19.