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The advent of Covid-19 provided an enormous academic and logistical challenge to almost all academic institutions in the United States and around the world. As a precautionary measure surrounding the novel coronavirus and in line with recommendations from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at that time (spring 2020), most higher education institutions in the United States shut down campuses and completed the second half of the spring 2020 semester virtually. During the fall 2020 semester, when relatively more was known about the virus, some institutions started with face-to-face classes but had to switch to virtual learning after noticing a spread of the coronavirus on their campuses. Others adopted a blended approach that supplements face-to-face meetings with virtual learning synchronously or asynchronously. Whichever approach adopted in place of the traditional face-to-face meetings did not necessarily solve the challenge faced by Engineering Technology programs, which typically infuse hands-on learning in most of the courses in their curriculum. Due to the applied nature of engineering technology, it is important to ensure that students stay engaged with creative ways to learn by doing. And to ensure that the students do not miss critical course content in virtual and blended engineering technology courses, it is vital that the students maintain high interactions with online resources such as class video recordings. This paper reviews students’ patterns of interactions with course videos to assess its impact on the academic success of engineering technology students in some upper-level blended courses delivered during the spring and fall 2020 semesters.

Purpose Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is ultrasound brought to the patient's bedside and performed in ‘real time’ by the healthcare provider. The utility of POCUS to facilitate management of the acutely ill patient has been demonstrated for multiple pathologies. However, the integration of ultrasonography and echocardiography training into residency curriculum varies across the acute care specialties. Study design After an institutional review board approval, anaesthesiology, emergency medicine, family medicine, internal medicine, paediatrics and general surgery programme directors (PDs) were surveyed. The survey consisted of 11 questions evaluating the primary bedside assessment tool for common acute care situations, POCUS topics that the PDs were comfortable practising and topics that the PDs felt were useful for their specialty. Barriers to POCUS use, certification and documentation were also surveyed. Results Overall, 270 PD surveys were completed. The preferred primary assessment tool for common acute care situations varied with specialty; emergency medicine PDs consistently responded that POCUS was the diagnostic modality of choice (p Conclusions This study is the first to evaluate differences in the preferred initial bedside assessment tool between the acute care specialties. Although POCUS is a superior tool for evaluating acute pathologies, disconnect between education and utilisation remains. This study highlights the need to incorporate POCUS into the acute care specialty curriculum.

Introduction Accuracy of fluoroscopy in predicting septal placement of the right ventricular (RV) leads is poor. This pilot study evaluated the feasibility and impact of real‐time transthoracic echocardiogram (TTE) during RV lead placement. Method Consecutive patients undergoing transvenous RV lead placement and had a point of care ultrasound team available for TTE guidance were included in the study. TTE was performed to confirm or refute the septal position of RV lead initially positioned using fluoroscopy; leads were repositioned until a septal position was confirmed on TTE. The primary outcome measured was whether the use of TTE resulted in lead repositioning. Result Among the 26 patients included in the study, real‐time TTE during RV lead placement resulted in reposition of the lead to a septal position in 38.5% of patients. Conclusion Use of real‐time TTE guidance during fluoroscopic RV lead placement is feasible and can aid in confirming a septal position., Pilot study evaluating the feasibility and impact of real‐time transthoracic echocardiogram during cardiac implantable electronic device (CIED) right ventricular lead placement.

Early detection of acute myocardial ischemia is critical to prevent permanent myocardial damage. The impact of apical ischemia on global left ventricular (LV) function can be difficult to characterize using traditional volume‐based echocardiography measures. Myocardial strain imaging is a sensitive, quantitative marker of myocardial deformation that can measure ventricular function. Recent advances allow layer‐specific measurement of endo‐ and epicardial strain, enhancing the ability to evaluate myocardial ischemia. This study investigates the effects of apical ischemia on LV function using epi‐ and endocardial strain. We hypothesize that myocardial strain will identify changes in regional and global myocardial function associated with focal apical ischemia as compared to ejection fraction (EF), and that longitudinal strain will be a better indicator of myocardial dysfunction compared to circumferential or radial strain. In a porcine model (n = 9), acute ischemia was induced by left anterior descending coronary artery occlusion. Echocardiograms were performed at baseline, during 15‐min ischemia, and after reperfusion. Global longitudinal strain decreased with acute focal ischemia of the left ventricular apical region (baseline: −16.4% vs. ischemia: −12.2%; P = 0.010), with no change observed in global circumferential and radial strain or EF. Both endocardial and epicardial longitudinal strain decreased by 68% (P

The primary aim of this study was to use speckle-tracking strain imaging to evaluate the effect of general anesthesia (GA) and positive-pressure ventilation (PPV) on left atrial (LA) mechanics. The authors hypothesized that GA and PPV would be associated with a decrease in LA strain. The secondary aims were to investigate the effects of GA and PPV on traditional Doppler-derived measures of LA function and Doppler echocardiographic grade of diastolic function.A prospective observational study.A university hospital.Adult patients undergoing cardiac surgery.Transthoracic echocardiography was performed at baseline and under GA with PPV.Changes in LA function associated with GA and PPV were assessed using LA speckle-tracking strain imaging. A reduction was observed in LA peak longitudinal strain (24% v 18%, p0.001) and preatrial contraction strain (13% v 8%, p0.001). No difference was seen in LA contraction strain or atrial ejection fraction. Indexed LA volume and Doppler diastolic indices also were reduced significantly, and 39% of patients had a change in measured diastolic grade under GA with PPV.Speckle-tracking strain imaging of the left atrium demonstrated that GA and PPV had a significant impact on LA mechanics by decreasing strain measures of LA preload, with a lesser effect on LA contractility.