Exercise Your Brain with Bananagrams

During the last holiday season I stopped by the local game store looking for a few good board games for my teen age sons. The first clerk to help me was a seasonal worker and I was soon convinced that she was not even much of a game player. When I finally got the regular clerk, an obvious game geek, he recommended Bananagrams

Validating a Health Questionnaire for Predicting Neuropathy in Patients with Insulin-Dependent Diabetes Mellitus

Questionnaires are a cost-effective method for screening large numbers of people for health problems. More expensive clinical follow-up can focus on people whose responses to the questionnaire suggest they are most at risk. To my knowledge, no questionnaire has ever been developed to screen for neuropathy in diabetics. Using the questionnaire developed by Dr. Peter Cavanagh and Dr. Robert Van Deursen at the Center for Locomotion Studies (CELOS) at Penn State University, I was able to create a model from the questionnaire that predicts the presence of neuropathy

The reduction of computer anxiety: its relation to relaxation training, previous computer training, achievement and need for cognition

This study examined computer anxiety and its relationship to four areas: computer literacy training, relaxation exercises, achievement and the personality variable need for cognition. Subjects were college students in a semester long computer literacy course that was part of a teacher preparation program. Computer anxiety was measured using the Computer Anxiety Index (CAIN). The CAIN was taken by students at three times in the semester, at the beginning of the course, after six weeks, and at the end of the course. Need for cognition was measured using the Need for Cognition Scale and it was taken by students during the second week of the class. Achievement was assessed using grades assigned in the class;From the data gathered in this study, there was evidence found that supported the position that computer literacy training was an effective means for reducing computer anxiety, however, computer anxiety was not reduced during the first six weeks of the semester long computer literacy course. A significant, but weak relationship between the personality variable need for cognition, and reduction of computer anxiety was also discovered. Last, this study found that the relationship between computer anxiety and achievement in a computer literacy course was more strongly related to postcourse computer anxiety than it was to precourse computer anxiety

Development and validation of a measure of computer anxiety

The potential of the computer is very high; however, a computer is only a servant to those using it, and beyond that, it has little value. To obtain the benefits of this powerful machine, lay individuals in the society are probably going to have to consciously choose to use computers. Superficially, this may seem very simple, but there is at least one major impediment that prevents many from making the choice to use computers. Many have a sense of anxiety approaching fear when they interact with machines, especially computers

Byzantine Agreement Given Partial Broadcast

This paper considers unconditionally secure protocols for reliable broadcast among a set of n players, where up to t of the players can be corrupted by a (Byzantine) adversary but the remaining h = n - t players remain honest. In the standard model with a complete, synchronous network of bilateral authenticated communication channels among the players, broadcast is achievable if and only if 2n/h < 3. We show that, by extending this model by the existence of partial broadcast channels among subsets of b players, global broadcast can be achieved if and only if the number h of honest players satisfies 2n/h < b + 1. Achievability is demonstrated by protocols with communication and computation complexities polynomial in the size of the network, i.e., in the number of partial broadcast channels. A respective characterization for the related consensus problem is also give

Selection of chromosomal DNA libraries using a multiplex CRISPR system.

The directed evolution of biomolecules to improve or change their activity is central to many engineering and synthetic biology efforts. However, selecting improved variants from gene libraries in living cells requires plasmid expression systems that suffer from variable copy number effects, or the use of complex marker-dependent chromosomal integration strategies. We developed quantitative gene assembly and DNA library insertion into the Saccharomyces cerevisiae genome by optimizing an efficient single-step and marker-free genome editing system using CRISPR-Cas9. With this Multiplex CRISPR (CRISPRm) system, we selected an improved cellobiose utilization pathway in diploid yeast in a single round of mutagenesis and selection, which increased cellobiose fermentation rates by over 10-fold. Mutations recovered in the best cellodextrin transporters reveal synergy between substrate binding and transporter dynamics, and demonstrate the power of CRISPRm to accelerate selection experiments and discoveries of the molecular determinants that enhance biomolecule function

H-Diplo Roundtable XX-20 on Matthew J. Ambrose. The Control Agenda: A History of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks

A set of reviews of Matthew J. Ambrose\u27s The Control Agenda: A History of the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks, with a response from the author

Optimization of Drug Prescription and Medication Management in Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease

Cardiovascular disease increases incrementally with age and elderly patients concomitantly sustain multimorbidities, with resultant prescription of multiple medications. Despite conforming with disease-specific cardiovascular clinical practice guidelines, this polypharmacy predisposes many elderly individuals with cardiovascular disease to adverse drug events and non-adherence. Patient-centered care requires that the clinician explore with each patient his or her goals of care and that this shared decision-making constitutes the basis for optimization of medication management. This approach to aligning therapies with patient preferences is likely to promote patient satisfaction, to limit morbidity, and to favorably affect healthcare costs