Here, seeking to understand the effects of social media in relation to social media fatigue and/or overload in recent years, the authors used various linear models to assess the results of a survey of 27 respondents. Their results showed that increased duration of use of social media did not necessarily lead to fatigue, suggesting that quality may be more important than quantity. They also considered the purpose of an individual's social media usage as well as their engagement behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Impact of simple vs complex carbohydrates under time constraint before anaerobic and aerobic exercise
The goal of this study was to determine the if carbohydrates or complex carbohydrates are better for athlete's performance in anaerobic and aerobic exercise. Ultimately, we found that, when one’s schedule only allows for 30 minutes to eat before a workout, the best pre-workout meal for optimal glycogen levels to prompt muscle hypertrophy, strength increases, and better endurance is one that is simple carbohydrate-heavy.
Read More...Design and implementation of a cryptographically secure electronic voting infrastructure
In this study, the authors present proposed cryptographic controls for election sites with the hypothesis that this will mitigate risk and remediate vulnerabilities.
Read More...Effects of caffeine on muscle signals measured with sEMG signals
Here, the authors used surface electromyography to measure the effects of caffeine intake on the resting activity of muscles. They found a significant increase in the measured amplitude suggesting that caffeine intake increased the number of activated muscle fibers during rest. While previous research has focused on caffeine's effect on the contraction signals of muscles, this research suggests that its effects extend to even when a muscle is at rest.
Read More...Impact of study partner status and group membership on commitment device effectiveness among college students
Here seeking to identify a possible solution to procrastination among college students, the authors used an online experiment that involved the random assignment of study partners that they shared their study time goal with. These partners were classified by status and group membership. The authors found that status and group membership did not significantly affect the likelihood of college students achieving their committed goals, and also suggest the potential of soft commitment devices that take advantage of social relationships to reduce procrastination.
Read More...Impacts of COVID-19 on daily water use: Have people started using more water?
In this study, the authors investigated whether water usage changed in São Paulo during the COVID-19 quarantine and explored reasons why.
Read More...Lack of correlation between odor composition and neuron response in the olfactory cortex of mice
To address whether odor sensory circuits are organized topographically, the authors investigate whether the neuronal responses to similar odors amongst different mice mapped similarly in brain.
Read More...The role of furry friends in facilitating social interaction during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused disruption in social interactions. In this study, the authors tested if walking a dog will change human interactions and found that walking with a dog increased social interaction.
Read More...A novel approach to determine which organism best displays Gijswijt's Sequence in its genome
The sequence of nitrogenous bases that make up the DNA of organisms can contain hidden mathematical sequences. Here the authors used BioPython, a programming tool, to find an organism that displays Gijswijt’s Sequence in its genome. In this manner they found that the common carp best displays Gijswijt’s Sequence in its genome.
Read More...Correlation between shutdowns and CO levels across the United States.
Concerns regarding the rapid spread of Sars-CoV2 in early 2020 led company and local governmental officials in many states to ask people to work from home and avoid leaving their homes; measures commonly referred to as shutdowns. Here, the authors investigate how shutdowns affected carbon monoxide (CO) levels in 15 US states using publicly available data. Their results suggest that CO levels decreased as a result of these measures over the course of 2020, a trend which started to reverse after shutdowns ended.
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