Engineering in Crisis – Critical Reflection Writing Prompt

Writing Prompt sent to the International Engineering, Social Justice, and Peace community and other engineering education sub-communitiess (primarily in North America: Our objective is to capture your thoughts, experiences, and responses to intersecting crises of COVID-19, white supremacy, anti-blackness, police violence, late capitalism, technologies and engineerings, power formations, state violence, academia, and engineering education over the past year. We wish to break the mould and create a space for the entire engineering community - students, educators, and professionals to share varied perspectives. Being oral history, this project is free from the usual academic barriers or gatekeeping. No citations needed if you do not wish to do so. While we aim to keep editorial interference at a minimum, we do not intend to include entries that (in our aesthetic and axiological judgement) can cause significant structural, cultural, or emotional harm to marginalised communities. We recognise that such filtering is hard to fully specify. The "objectives" statement above could be a guide for providing you a sense for what we are looking for. Entries should align with IJESJP's focus on engendering dialog on engineering practices that enhance gender, racial, class, and cultural equity and are democratic, non-oppressive, and non-violent. We acknowledge that even this filter limits the expression of particular forms of knowing and being. Our commitments are available here: http://esjp.org/about-esjp/our-commitments We are inspired by the way stories are told and archived through oral history, and feel the need to capture these stories before they become lost in the flux of our ongoing crises. Such history can be a story, anger and frustrations through rant, back of the envelope ideas and theories, poems, prose, fiction, critiques. This history is anything and everything you wish to document in time. Instructions: Please provide the following information by August 15th, 2021. Entry. Title, optional File upload, optional. Name, gender pronouns, and affiliations of authors Do you want your submission anonymous?

Non-occupational and occupational factors associated with specific SARS-CoV-2 antibodies among Hospital Workers - a multicentre cross-sectional study

Objectives Protecting healthcare workers (HCW) from Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) is critical to preserve the functioning of healthcare systems. We therefore assessed seroprevalence and identified risk factors for Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) seropositivity in this population. Methods Between June 22nd and August 15th 2020, HCW from institutions in Northern/Eastern Switzerland were screened for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We recorded baseline characteristics, non-occupational and occupational risk factors. We used pairwise tests of associations and multivariable logistic regression to identify factors associated with seropositivity. Results Among 4664 HCW from 23 healthcare facilities, 139 (3%) were seropositive. Non-occupational exposures independently associated with seropositivity were contact with a COVID-19-positive household (adjusted OR=54, 95%-CI: 31-97) and stay in a COVID 19 hotspot (aOR=2.2, 95%-CI: 1.1-3.9). Blood group 0 vs. non-0 (aOR=0.4, 95%-CI: 0.3-0.7), active smoking (aOR=0.5, 95%-CI: 0.3-0.9) and living with children <12 years (aOR=0.3, 95%-CI: 0.2-0.6) were associated with decreased risk. Occupational risk factors were close contact to COVID-19 patients (aOR=2.8, 95%-CI: 1.5-5.5), exposure to COVID-19-positive co-workers (aOR=2.0, 95%-CI: 1.2-3.1), poor knowledge of standard hygiene precautions (aOR=2.0, 95%-CI: 1.3-3.2), and frequent visits to the hospital canteen (aOR=1.9, 95%-CI: 1.2-3.1). Conclusions Living with COVID-19-positive households showed by far the strongest association with SARS-CoV-2 seropositivity. We identified several potentially modifiable risk factors, which might allow mitigation of the COVID-19 risk among HCW. The lower risk among those living with children, even after correction for multiple confounders, is remarkable and merits further study.

The long-term burden of war injuries in LMICs: Case of the Lebanese War of 2006

Background Armed conflict is a major cause of disability and mortality, particularly in LMICs. July 12, 2006 marks the start of a 33-day war in Lebanon which resulted in at least 1191 deaths and 4409 injured, the vast majority of whom were civilians. Little is known about the consequences of war-injuries inflicted on civilians. The AUB arm of the NIHR PrOTeCT Group aims to identify 1) war-injury characteristics associated with high burden of care 2) the long-term socioeconomic burden and 3) the quality of life of the injured civilians and their access to healthcare and medicine under conditions of war. Methods This study employs a mixed-method research design by reviewing medical records of patients admitted to hospitals in Lebanon between July 12th and August 15th, 2006, conducting interviews with patients, and administering the EQ5D5L questionnaire to understand the burden of injuries and the quality of life of patients 13 years after injury. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods will be used. Preliminary Results 25 interviews have been conducted so far. Injured civilians were mostly males, average age 27. The most common mechanism of injury was blast injury. Most patients underwent multiple surgeries as well as revision surgeries. The emerging themes include description of the 1-scene and type of injury; 2-referral process from the injury site to the hospital; 3-the types of services received; and 4-the financial and non-financial long-term impact. They described the long-term burden including chronic pain, poor mobility, anxiety or depression, and limited activities of daily living. Conclusions These preliminary results show that civilians injured during the July 2006 war are experiencing physical and psychological sequelae; thus, more services need to be offered to civilians injured during war. Key messages Physical impairments related to war injuries influenced the quality of life of study participants. Affordable or free rehabilitation services need to be offered to civilians injured during war.

SalivaDirect: A simplified and flexible platform to enhance SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity

Current bottlenecks for improving accessibility and scalability of SARS-CoV-2 testing include diagnostic assay costs, complexity, and supply chain shortages. To resolve these issues, we developed SalivaDirect, which received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on August 15th, 2020. The critical component of our approach is to use saliva instead of respiratory swabs, which enables non-invasive frequent sampling and reduces the need for trained healthcare professionals during collection. Furthermore, we simplified our diagnostic test by (1) not requiring nucleic acid preservatives at sample collection, (2) replacing nucleic acid extraction with a simple proteinase K and heat treatment step, and (3) testing specimens with a dualplex quantitative reverse transcription PCR (RT-qPCR) assay. We validated SalivaDirect with reagents and instruments from multiple vendors to minimize the risk for supply chain issues. Regardless of our tested combination of reagents and instruments from different vendors, we found that SalivaDirect is highly sensitive with a limit of detection of 6-12 SARS-CoV-2 copies/μL. When comparing SalivaDirect to paired nasopharyngeal swabs using the authorized ThermoFisher Scientific TaqPath COVID-19 combo kit, we found high agreement in testing outcomes (>94%). In partnership with the National Basketball Association (NBA) and Players Association, we conducted a large-scale (n = 3,779) SalivaDirect usability study and comparison to standard nasal/oral tests for asymptomatic and presymptomatic SARS-CoV-2 detection. From this cohort of healthy NBA players, staff, and contractors, we found that 99.7% of samples were valid using our saliva collection techniques and a 89.5% positive and >99.9% negative test agreement to swabs, demonstrating that saliva is a valid and noninvasive alternative to swabs for large-scale SARS-CoV-2 testing. SalivaDirect is a flexible and inexpensive ($1.21-$4.39/sample in reagent costs) option to help improve SARS-CoV-2 testing capacity. Register to become a designated laboratory to use SalivaDirect under our FDA EUA on our website: publichealth.yale.edu/salivadirect/.

Parturition dates in wild Eurasian lynx: evidence of a second oestrus?

Understanding reproductive physiology of a species is important to assess their potential to respond to environmental variation and perturbation of their social system during the mating or pre-mating seasons. We report 175 parturition dates from wild Eurasian lynx (Lynx lynx) in Scandinavia. Most lynx birth dates were highly synchronised around a mean of 30th May (SD = 9 days) with 173 of the 175 births ranging from May 2nd to June 30th. We detected two very late births on July 29th and August 15th in the absence of any indication that the females had given birth and lost a litter earlier in the year. We propose that these represent evidence of a second oestrus which is highly unusual in lynx because of their unique reproductive physiology. The rarity of these late season births has implications for lynx demography and social organisation.

Water Security as an Emergent Opportunity in Canada

On August 15th 2019, the Canadian Association for Security and Intelligence Studies hosted its monthly roundtable focusing on “Water Security as an Emergent Opportunity for Canada”. The presentation was delivered by Dr. Zafar Adeel, a serving member on the editorial boards of Sustainability Science (Springer) and New Water Policy and Practice Journal (PSO). Dr. Adeel highlighted various emerging and continuing water security threats in British Columbia, emphasizing their similarities to other global issues. He directed his talk to addressing the impacts of climate change on water insecurity and its ability to create new threats to Canada’s coastal cities. The following roundtable discussion centered around a dialogue on the persistent insecurity in Canada’s indigenous communities as a security concern describing the matter as a play off between policy and security affairs. Audience members then brought into question the suitability of using the Responsibility to Protect (R2P) doctrine to intervene where a nation’s water security is at risk and addressed the complexities of the ‘react’ pillar in intervening militarily.

CARA-CARA NICA MEMPENGARUHI RAKYAT SUPAYA TIDAK BERSIMPATI KEPADA PARA PEJUANG PADA MASA REVOLUSI FISIK DI BALI 1945-1950

[Title: The Ways of Influencing the People of NICA to Understand at Physical Revolution for Balinese People in Bali 1945-1950] Giving up without the conditions of Lieutenant General H. Ter Pooerten (Commander of the Dutch East Indies) to Lieutenant General Hitosyi Imamura (Japanese Army Chief), then the Dutch East Indies government has since ended in Indonesia. Not a long time ago Japan ruled in Indonesia, on August 15th, 1945 surrendered unconditionally to the allies. Then on March 2nd, 1946 the Y Brigade began landed along the Sanur coast. This Y Brigade is nicknamed "Gajah Merah". The arrival of the Gajah Merah in Bali, the situation became unsafe. The arrival of the Dutch (NICA) received resistance from fighters in Bali under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai. Sympathy getting from the Dutch people use various ways of influencing. The Dutch (NICA) influences the people in two ways, namely by means of soft and violent methods. In the soft way the Dutch (NICA) gave material to the people such as: giving cigarettes, snacks, money, batik cloth, rice and traveling by car. In providing soft assistance the Dutch also use their accomplices such as: NICA Gandek, AP and others. The Netherlands (NICA) in this case looks good and generous to the people so they get sympathy. Generally, it is influenced by the Dutch, whose economies are poor and whose education is low. By means of violence, the Dutch deliberately exhibited fighters who were captured by the public such as being kicked, beaten, dragged by car, and shot in front of the people. This method is carried out to regions that are pro-republic so that people become deterred and afraid. In this way the Dutch (NICA) hopes that the people will no longer want to help the fighters. To fall on the mentality of the Dutch people (NICA) deliberately stripped their hands or soldiers who were killed in a war that was paraded around the city by using an open truck that was rumored to be a young man who was killed. The mothers and fathers who were provoked by the Dutch propaganda, his soul was shaken. This is the way the Dutch influenced the Balinese people, however, the Balinese people and fighters were not deterred. Evidently the people and fighters remain united so that the physical revolution that took place in Bali can last long enough.

PERALATAN PERANG NICA DALAM MENGHADAPI PEJUANG PADA MASA REVOLUSI FISIK DI BALI TAHUN 1945 - 1950

[Title: The Nica War Equipment in Facing Patriots in Physical Revolution in Bali In 1945 – 1950] Giving up without the conditions of Lieutenant General H. Ter Poorten (Commander of the Dutch East Indies) on behalf of the United States Army in Indonesia to Liuetenant General Hiroshi Imamura (Japanese Army Leader). Since the Dutch East Indies government ended in Indonesia. At that time Dutch soldiers who were Japanese prisoners of war because they did not have time to flee to Australia were sent to the interior of Siam and Birma to clear forests and make bridges and railways. On August 15th 1945, Japan finally surrendered to allies. This defeat of Japan caused the captives of the Dutch to quickly hold preparatory exercises back to Indonesia. The arrival of the Dutch in Bali received resistance from the fighters under the leadership of Lieutenant Colonel I Gusti Ngurah Rai. Although the weapons possessed by fighters in Bali is limited but the struggle is long enough to survive. NICA in the face of fighters in Bali during the physical revolution has used modern war equipment such as: pipercub airplanes, lucked airplanes, motorbikes, jeeps, telephones, bren, mitraliur, stengun, mortar, lichthalon and others but not easy can beat him. This is because the fighters with the people in Bali are united.

"“IN ANY CASE, THE WAR IS A MAN’S BUSINESS”. BRUSOV’S CORRESPONDENCE WITH JOANNA BRUSOV (1914 – 1915) AS A BIOGRAPHIC SOURCE"

"The article concerns the unpublished biographic facts taken from the correspondence of V.Y.Brusov and I.M.Brusova from August 15th 1914 till May 21th 1915, when the poet worked in Warsaw as a reporter of the Moscow newspaper “Russkie Vedomosti” and his wife while living in Moscow helped him in his work."

Comparative Study of Computer Vision Syndrome and Smart Devices among the Employers and Students in College of College of health and Medical Technique of University of Al -Furat Al-Awsat Techniques. Kufa

Objectives Survey about numbers of students and employers that they were influenced by recurrent using of computers and smart devices, in addition to that, the comparative study performing by knowing of relationship with different and effect on them. Materials And Methods This study was executed on individuals of students and employees during 1 year only (from January 1st 2016 to August 15th 2017) in the College of Health and Medical Technology /kufa in the province of Al-Najaf. It is included in the relation between frequent using of computers and smart devices and another risk factor. Results The results shown significant differences in student’s users of computers and smart devices in which there were little numbers of visions influencing among them in different ages and genders. Utilizing for long periods during days in different purposes yet didn't have a greater effect on users in case of computer vision syndrome according to the employer’s users. Since the preparation of students was having medical glass in male and female and the letter has rated more than the male. In another hand the ages at about (24-32) the using of computers and smart devices was, and the more risk factors among all of them had had greater rates of correlation with the glass wearing in a group of students that they have eye allergy in comparison with the time user. Also these results were shown the superiority of male in comparison with female in using these devices So, from the results mentioned above the convergence in numbers of students that they have vision affects due to employment of these devices in such of ages about [(19-23), (24-32)] in male and female, but the first ages have slightly higher rates than other)] by percentage (50%) of the students that suffer from computer vision syndrome from all proportion, whereas 2nd group of another age has low significant differences in comparison with previous by the percentage closely (36.36%). The employer’s users of computer and smart devices have significant differences (p< 0.05) from the previous results, where it was noticed large numbers of users suffer from problems in their vision due to profuse utilization for long periods of this advice. At the ages (31-40) using for different purposes whether (science, entertaining or both of them) has close correlation with hitting of employers by vision syndrome, where this factor has significant differences in comparison with other risks (p<0.05), while utilizing of these devices under different lights numbers appeared to affect lower than it , also these results were shown no significant differences with regard to employer’s users that they were utilized optical glass after they had using these devices, also effect of this factor ( light numbers) on the putting of eyeglass and presence of significant differences (p<0.05) in comparison with the individuals of users that laying screen protection . We found significant differences (p< 0.05) in numbers of employers were wearing eyeglass after utilizing these appliances and these demonstrate the vulnerability of devices users and the percentage was (58.14%). Conclusions : Using computers and smart devices of students more than employers. Appearing different ienfluencing of eye glass wearing of students and employers that utilizing different computers and smart devices with some of risk factors according to others. It is Found assuring correlations among different risk factors , but shown in employers greater than students.