8 Unexpected Ways to Use your Dry Erase Board

Dry erase boards bring flexibility into your work; you can share ideas and brainstorm conveniently with whiteboards. Dry erase paints have even made it easier; you can convert your office wall into whiteboards with the clear whiteboard paint. So how do you use the creative space you have in your office or classroom?

We know it is pretty much simple when it comes to using the whiteboard. However, there are other creative ways we can make use of our whiteboards.

1.    The ideas you share on the whiteboard do not need to be erased permanently when you want to write something else. You can always take a photo of the whiteboard and keep it forever. You can always share this photo with your colleagues or convert it to pdf for future use. 

2.   You can also make your whiteboard boundless by converting the entire wall into idea boards. You employees can share their ideas wherever they are in the office. This means you do not have to squeeze a lot of valuable information on one small whiteboard. The clear whiteboard paint can be a great way to give your employees that freedom. Just paint up those walls, and your office becomes an idea hub.

3.   You can also use the whiteboard as a calendar to remind your employees of their deadlines. It is easy to keep deadlines in mind when it is glaring at you from that big whiteboard. Your employees will always work to meet time schedules since they are continually reminded. 

4.   Whiteboards can also be good screens for your presentations. When you need a screen to project a presentation, your whiteboard can be ideal. Your painted whiteboards walls are even better. There are no distractions since the wall or screen is white and clean.

5.    Whiteboards are also great for putting up multimedia stuff such as company analysis graphs, quick memos, and photos. During group discussions, you can put up any relevant demonstration materials on the whiteboard. Putting it up is better than putting them on the table because your colleagues will see them better when raised. This method is, however, applicable only when the material is legible even when placed on the whiteboard. 

6.   Whiteboards are not only great for companies; they are also useful school resources. Your pupils who are practicing spellings can also use it. They do not have to waste sheets while trying to spell words. They can use write and erase on the whiteboard until they get the spelling right.

7.   Your students will also need these if you want to make your mathematics class sweet and fun. They can always practice several math problems with ease. They will enjoy this because they can always clean when they make mistakes. Your students will no longer hesitate to try those tough math problems.

8.   You can also try out a formative assessment with your students using the whiteboard. You will be able to check the students' understanding of the topic quickly. This method is excellent because the feedback is fast. You can also correct any misconception your students may have on the subject.

The Role of L-Methylfolate in Depressive Disorders

According to the National Institute of Mental Health, an estimated 16.2 million U.S. adults suffer from depression. This chronic and recurrent illness is ranked among the nation's most common diseases. It is the leading cause of disability in the United States and carries a growing economic burden that recently tallied at $210.5 billion. Perhaps even more alarming is the fact that nearly half of all patients seeking treatment for depression will never reach remission¹. This is why many are turning to alternative and/or combination therapies, such as with supplemental L-methylfolate, in the hopes of improving those odds.

Biochemical Causes of Depression

Depression can be traced to an imbalance of three neurotransmitters (chemical messengers) in the brain which is responsible for regulating mood. Those neurotransmitters are serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine. Most of the conventional antidepressant medications on the market today are designed to address this imbalance. Unfortunately, 30% of patients will not get well taking typical antidepressants alone and will subsequently require additional supportive therapy.

Why Traditional Antidepressant Therapy Doesn't Always Work

As many as 70% of people who suffer from depression have a genetic defect that prevents their bodies from converting folate, either from food or synthetic sources, into L-methylfolate. This is the only form of folate that the brain can use to regulate the production of neurotransmitters.

People who are deficient in L-methylfolate are²³:

• 6 times more likely not to respond to traditional antidepressants
• Less likely to achieve remission
• 13 times more likely to experience a relapse of their depression
• At risk of depressive episodes that are more severe, last longer and take longer to overcome
• Produce less serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine (neurotransmitters that regulate mood)

Combination Therapy

As mentioned, a good portion of patients suffering from depressive disorders will not overcome their condition using antidepressant medication alone. As a result, many experts are recommending that patients take a more comprehensive approach, using a combination of prescribed and supplemental medications. The sooner this is done, the better since the subsequent faster improvement in mood can increase the likelihood that the patient will stick to the treatment plan.

In one clinical study, patients who did not respond to conventional antidepressants were given 15mg per day of supplemental L-methylfolate for a period of 12 months. Of those patients involved in the trial, approximately 38% had a full recovery from their depression. Furthermore, 51% experienced a reduction in the severity of their depression symptoms. Most notably, none of the patients who made a full recovery experienced a relapse of their depression during trials.

L-methylfolate supplementation is most effective in depressed patients who have decreased levels of folate or folate by-products in the blood and/or have been unresponsive to common antidepressant medications. If you suffer from depression and have not had luck managing your condition through conventional treatment methods, we encourage you to speak with your doctor to find out whether combination therapy with supplemental L-methylfolate would be a better solution.

Resources:

1. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/major-depression.shtml
2. https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/statistics/disability/us-leading-categories-of-diseases-disorders.shtml
3. https://www.psychiatryadvisor.com/mood-disorders/economic-burden-of-depression-tops-200-billion/article/400468/
4. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3363299/
5. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27035404
6. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14658985
7. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16298109 
8. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15323595

What is the Next Big Cryptocurrency?

The amount of people kicking themselves for not getting in with Bitcoin or Ethereum when the going was good seems to grow daily as the niche of Cryptocurrency steadily gains mainstream traction. Everybody is looking to find the next big thing, but how do you know it when you find it?

A large majority of the new Cryptocurrencies hitting the market are part of readily built platforms, they are tokens to be exchanged by the users of those platforms and the scope of growth is limited. Others still look to provide services to all other cryptocurrencies and it's these that should catch your attention a little more if you're looking to make an investment. It's not flashy that will be the next big thing it's functional. Simple and straightforward coins that help to provide a service in the flourishing market of cyberspace.

Algorand is just such a coin. Instead of working to steal the spotlight itself it builds a platform on which all the other Cryptocurrencies can shine too, this is precisely what made Bitcoin and Ethereum so successful. Working through consensus Algorand harnesses the computational power of its user base to process transactions no matter how big or small swiftly and securely. Basically, it is going to build a platform that the larger coins such as Bitcoin and Ethereum will need to utilize in order to handle the larger amount of users and transactions there coins are seeing.

Algorand users are selected at random to protect them from attacks and put into a block. More users are called upon as task load increases but the size of the group stays constant as the network grows. They have put significant thought into anonymity and safety and the transactions and users themselves will be well protected from malicious attack. As they have perfected a safe but simple transactional algorithm, the cost of each transaction is incredibly low comparatively and so the platform is very welcoming in that regard.

The speed with which the transactions go through, however, is one of the major selling points as those who have used other Cryptocurrencies before will know there can be a wait when transferring and even longer before you can cash out the coin or token. This is what really helps Algorand stand out as the next big Cryptocurrency; the speed and ease with which you can transact. This coupled with the fact that it is completely decentralized and each and every transaction is treated equally regardless of size. Like Bitcoin before it, Algorand really does taste like the finance of the future.

We are envisioning very big things in the future for this game-changing technology and would highly advise those who are looking to invest to consider adding some Algorand to the digital wallet when possible. You won't regret it.