Teaching-the purpose of repeatable testing: Response to comment of J. D. Edmonds

It is not clear that the comment Grading and Regrading \u27 has very much to do with our article.\u27 The comment seems rather to be a nostalgic statement recalling the good old days when with glee we cracked the whip and the students either shaped up or shipped out. Our purpose in doing repeatable testing was not to become a do your own thing force, to raise everyone\u27s grades, to achieve well defined educational objectives like teaching the solution to the inclined plane problem, to do away with certification, and most definitely our purpose was not to replace teachers with computer-programmed instruction. Our purpose was in fact really rather simple. It was to try to teach more physics. Dr. Edmond\u27s comment has not addressed the premise of our paper, which is that people learn from their mistakes (even in the real world). We have used nothing but the old guard establishment tool of testing as a measure of content mastery. Once the test is established as the measure of content mastery, how large a jump is it to the statement that if you do better on the next exam you will have mastered more content? If we can improve the teaching of physics and make the students feel good about learning at the same time, we should be willing to give up a few of our old sadistic pleasures

Realistic Elbow Flesh Deformation Based on Anthropometrical Data for Ergonomics Modeling

The human model for ergonomic simulation has improved in terms of its reliability and appearance and yet there seems to be less attention paid to create a realistic and accurate flesh deformation around the joint. This study, a part of ongoing research, proposes a combination of manual and automatic (3D body scanner) measurements to create a database for flesh deformation prediction i.e. flesh deformation area and cross section changes, around the elbow joint. The database consists of two race groups i.e., Caucasian and Asian (23 subjects, 11 males and 12 females), which were carefully chosen to represent a variety of height and body type. The prediction results for both flesh deformation area and cross section changes are discussed as well as their relevance for the next stage of the study

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

H2− formation in electron impact ionization of H2 near threshold

New features in near threshold ionization spectra of H2 which can be correlated with two series of H2− states proceeding across the H2+ threshold, indicate a need for coincidence experiments that differentiate between one and two electron decay modes of H2−