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Topic Review
Timeline of Epochs in Cosmology
The timeline of cosmological epochs outlines the formation and subsequent evolution of the Universe from the Big Bang (13.799 ± 0.021 billion years ago) to the present day. An epoch is a moment in time from which nature or situations change to such a degree that it marks the beginning of a new era or age. Times on this list are measured from the moment of the Big Bang.
  • 5.6K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Lattice Materials
Lattice material is a cellular material consisting of a periodic network of structural elements such as rods or beams. This network of lattices exists over a wide spectrum of scale from the nanoscale to macroscale and has been applied in a wide area of applications. In the nanoscale spectrum, most of the CNT (Carbon Nano Tube) based sensors are made using lattice materials. Micro-lattices material is being developed intensively as it offers high energy absorption capability. On a macroscale, due to its high stiffness and lightweight properties, lattice materials are widely used in aerospace applications.
  • 5.6K
  • 28 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Sannyasa
Sannyasa (saṃnyāsa) is the life stage of renunciation within the Hindu philosophy of four age-based life stages known as ashramas, with the first three being Brahmacharya (bachelor student), Grihastha (householder) and Vanaprastha (forest dweller, retired). Sannyasa is traditionally conceptualized for men or women in late years of their life, but young brahmacharis have had the choice to skip the householder and retirement stages, renounce worldly and materialistic pursuits and dedicate their lives to spiritual pursuits. Sannyasa is a form of asceticism, is marked by renunciation of material desires and prejudices, represented by a state of disinterest and detachment from material life, and has the purpose of spending one's life in peaceful, love-inspired, simple spiritual life. An individual in Sanyasa is known as a Sannyasi (male) or Sannyasini (female) in Hinduism, which in many ways parallel to the Sadhu and Sadhvi traditions of Jain monasticism, the bhikkhus and bhikkhunis of Buddhism and the monk and nun traditions of Christianity, respectively. Sannyasa has historically been a stage of renunciation, ahimsa (non-violence) peaceful and simple life and spiritual pursuit in Indian traditions. However, this has not always been the case. After the invasions and establishment of Muslim rule in India, from the 12th century through the British Raj, parts of the Shaiva and Vaishnava ascetics metamorphosed into a military order, to rebel against persecution, where they developed martial arts, created military strategies, and engaged in guerrilla warfare. These warrior sanyasis (ascetics) played an important role in helping European colonial powers establish themselves in India.
  • 5.6K
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Normative
Normative generally means relating to an evaluative standard. Normativity is the phenomenon in human societies of designating some actions or outcomes as good or desirable or permissible and others as bad or undesirable or impermissible. A norm in this normative sense means a standard for evaluating or making judgments about behavior or outcomes. Normative is sometimes also used, somewhat confusingly, to mean relating to a descriptive standard: doing what is normally done or what most others are expected to do in practice. In this sense a norm is not evaluative, a basis for judging behavior or outcomes; it is simply a fact or observation about behavior or outcomes, without judgment. Many researchers in science, law, and philosophy try to restrict the use of the term normative to the evaluative sense and refer to the description of behavior and outcomes as positive, descriptive, predictive, or empirical. Normative has specialised meanings in different academic disciplines such as philosophy, social sciences, and law. In most contexts, normative means 'relating to an evaluation or value judgment.' Normative propositions tend to evaluate some object or some course of action. Normative content differs from descriptive content. One of the major developments in analytic philosophy has seen the reach of normativity spread to virtually all corners of the field, from ethics and the philosophy of action, to epistemology, metaphysics, and the philosophy of science. Saul Kripke famously showed that rules (including mathematical rules, such as the repetition of a decimal pattern) are normative in an important respect. Though philosophers disagree about how normativity should be understood, it has become increasingly common to understand normative claims as claims about reasons. As Derek Parfit explains:
  • 5.6K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
French Republican Calendar
The French Republican calendar (French: calendrier républicain français), also commonly called the French Revolutionary calendar (calendrier révolutionnaire français), was a calendar created and implemented during the French Revolution , and used by the French government for about 12 years from late 1793 to 1805, and for 18 days by the Paris Commune in 1871. The revolutionary system was designed in part to remove all religious and royalist influences from the calendar, and was part of a larger attempt at decimalisation in France (which also included decimal time of day, decimalisation of currency, and metrication). It was used in government records in France and other areas under French rule, including Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of the Netherlands, Germany, Switzerland, Malta, and Italy.
  • 5.6K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Manual Muscle Testing for Post-Stroke Upper Extremity Assessment
The Manual Muscle Testing (MMT) scoring system is an assessment tool used by rehabilitation physicians or physiatrists, physiotherapists, neurologists, and other clinicians who deal with the individuals’ functional status. The most frequently used approach is the use of MMT to assess the grade of muscle weakness in different pathologies.
  • 5.6K
  • 16 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Polystyrene vs. Polylactide
Polystyrene (PS) is a thermoplastic polymer made of aromatic hydrocarbon monomer styrene that is derived from fossil-fuels. The synthesis of PS is based on the free radical polymerization of styrene using free-radical initiators. It is mostly used in solid (high impact and general purpose PS), foam and expanded PS forms. The main advantages of PS are low-cost, easy processing ability, and resistance to ethylene oxide, as well as radiation sterilization. Polylactide (PLA)—biodegradable and compostable aliphatic polyester—is one of the key biopolymers with the largest market significance. 
  • 5.6K
  • 28 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Innovative Industrial Use of Bamboo
Industrial and service development has led researchers to focus on non-conventional materials with significant roles in innovation development and implementation. Entrepreneurs aim to develop innovative and creative strategies using good, valuable, durable, and sustainable materials that serve industrial and economic development. As result, the use of natural construction and production materials has increased interest related to the desire of developing greener and/or environmentally friendly processes. Several natural, re-emerging materials used in the past (e.g., bamboo, straw, reeds, and hemp) have been found useful again and deserving of research to fully understand their potential for different applications. 
  • 5.6K
  • 21 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Passive Films
The outstanding corrosion resistance of many metals and alloys results from the presence of a thin oxide-“passive”-film on the bare metal surface formed during its exposure to an oxidising environment. Once a film is formed, typically 1-3 nm thick, the reaction rate between the metallic material and the environment will be several orders of magnitude lower. The original theory of film formation goes back to Michael  Faraday, who in the 19th century studied iron surfaces and found them “altered”. A review of the early days of passive film research has been written by Uhlig (1979). A general introduction to the theory of passivity has been published by Sato (1990), whereas the electronic properties of passive films on different materials have been  reviewed by Schultze and Lohrengel (2000). The characterisation of the composition and structure of such thin films and the study of their interaction with corrosive environments requires a combination of sophisticated experimental techniques, namely electrochemical methods, XPS, ESCA, AES, SIMS, ISS, ARXPS, XANES, ICP-AES/MS, and others, which are leading to advanced progress over the past two decades.
  • 5.6K
  • 21 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Candida albicans
Candida albicans is a common commensal fungus that colonizes the oropharyngeal cavity, gastrointestinal and vaginal tract, and healthy individuals’ skin.
  • 5.6K
  • 23 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Algorithmic Journalism
A term that attempts to describe the procedures that have been brought about by recent technological changes in the field of journalism. Characterized by researchers as “the process of using software or algorithms to automatically generate news stories" (Graefe 2016) and “the combination of algorithms, data, and knowledge from the social sciences to supplement the accountability function of journalism” (Hamilton and Turner 2009).
  • 5.6K
  • 03 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Algorithm for Dysphagia Screening
Dysphagia is often unrecognized because many people are unfamiliar with symptoms and signs of dysphagia  besides choking during swallowing.  Dysphagia screening is therefore important. A good screening should be a quick process and minimally invasive but can determine the likelihood of dysphagia. Here, an algorithm for dysphagia screening is introduced. The algorithm can be used for people unspecialized in dysphagia.
  • 5.6K
  • 05 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Edible Artemisia: Health Effects
The Artemisia species, often known collectively as "wormwood" are herbs and shrubs, which could be perennial, biennial and annual plants, distributed on all continents except Antarctica, mainly on Northern Hemisphere, with only 25 species on the Southern Hemisphere, being the Asian the zone where higher species diversity is concentrated. The use of Artemisia species in traditional medicine is well-documented and demonstrates the great ethnopharmacological value of this genus. In addition to the traditional medicine applications, Artemisia species exhibit high food value since many of them are species used in culinary as a food, spices, condiments and beverages flavoring.
  • 5.6K
  • 06 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Modulators in Silicon Photonics
Silicon optical technology extends beyond just lasers, offering photonic components such as, modulators, photodetectors (PDs), splitters, (de)multiplexers, and filters.
  • 5.6K
  • 08 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Encyclopaedia Metallum
Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives (commonly known as Metal Archives per the URL or just MA) is a website which lists bands from various forms of heavy metal music. Encyclopaedia Metallum was described by Matt Sullivan of Nashville Scene as "the Internet's central database for all that is 'tr00' in the metal world." Terrorizer described the site as "a fully-exhaustive list of pretty much every metal band ever, with full discographies, an active forum and an interlinking members list that shows the ever-incestuous beauty of the metal scene". Nevertheless, there are exceptions for bands which fall under disputed genres not accepted by the website. Encyclopaedia Metallum attempts to provide comprehensive information on each band, such as a discography, logos, pictures, lyrics, line-ups, biography, trivia and user-submitted reviews. The site also provides a system for submitting bands to the archives. The website is free of advertisements and is run completely independently.
  • 5.6K
  • 02 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Cline
In biology, a cline (from the Greek κλίνειν klinein, meaning "to lean") is a measurable gradient in a single character (or biological trait) of a species across its geographical range. First coined by Julian Huxley in 1938, the "character" of the cline referred to is usually genetic (e.g. allele frequency, blood type), or phenotypic (e.g. body size, skin pigmentation). Clines can show smooth, continuous gradation in a character, or they may show more abrupt changes in the trait from one geographic region to the next. A cline refers to a spatial gradient in a specific, singular trait, rather than a collection of traits; a single population can therefore have as many clines as it has traits, at least in principle. Additionally, Huxley recognised that these multiple independent clines may not act in concordance with each other. For example, it has been observed that in Australia, birds generally become smaller the further towards the north of the country they are found. In contrast, the intensity of their plumage colouration follows a different geographical trajectory, being most vibrant where humidity is highest and becoming less vibrant further into the arid centre of the country. Because of this, clines were defined by Huxley as being an "auxiliary taxonomic principle"; that is, clinal variation in a species is not awarded taxonomic recognition in the way subspecies or species are. While the terms "ecotype" and "cline" are sometimes used interchangeably, they do in fact differ in that "ecotype" refers to a population which differs from other populations in a number of characters, rather than the single character that varies amongst populations in a cline.
  • 5.6K
  • 09 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Adaptability Quotient
Adaptability Quotient (AQ) is a metric of adaptability used to measure performance in the workplace and assess individual potential. The earliest article published by Stuart Parkin in 2010 gave rise to the term Adaptability Quotient. This has inspired many others to expand and research the area. A recent deep dive into Adaptability Quotient can be found at SingularityU London Adaptability Webinar: "Developing adaptable workforces, a roadmap to recovery", where Ross Thornley, is joined by Jason Slater from UNIDO and Professor Nicolas Deuschel . Additionally Amin Toufani in 2014, shares his insights during his public lecture at Singularity University. he defines AQ as the ability to realize optimal outcomes based on recent or future change. Ross Thornley and Mike Raven's work at AQai is deepening the scientific research of AQ in the workplace, opening up new frontiers of understanding and links across multiple disciplines. Their A.C.E model is widely seen as the most holistic and comprehensive assessment. AQ is defined as, "Measuring the abilities, characteristics, and environmental factors which impact the successful behaviors and actions of people, and organizations to effectively respond to uncertainty, new information, or changed circumstances.” Decoding AQ 2020, Ross Thornley. (As of 2019), there is a growing body of literature surrounding adaptability, and consequent interest in being able to harness, measure, and quantify adaptability in the workplace. Adaptability was identified as the “new competitive advantage” by the Harvard Business Review in 2011. In 2014, The Flux Report (published by Right Management in the UK) revealed that 91% of HR managers thought that: "People will be recruited on their ability to deal with change and uncertainty" as opposed to other skills. Specifically adaptive performance in the research literature means numerous organizational scholars have recognized that traditional models of performance are static and need to be augmented to include "responsiveness to changing job requirements" — labeled adaptive performance (AP; Allworth & Hesketh, 1999, p. 98; Griffin, Neal, & Parker, 2007; Pulakos, Arad, Donovan, & Plamondon, 2000).
  • 5.6K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Jagdtiger
The Jagdtiger ("Hunting Tiger"; officially designated Panzerjäger Tiger Ausf. B) is a German casemate-type heavy tank destroyer from World War II. It was built upon the slightly lengthened chassis of a Tiger II. Its ordnance inventory designation was Sd.Kfz. 186. The 71-tonne Jagdtiger was the heaviest armored fighting vehicle (AFV) used operationally by any participant nation of WWII and is the heaviest combat vehicle of any type to achieve series production during the conflict. The vehicle was armed with a 128 mm Pak 44 L/55 main gun which was capable of outranging and defeating any tank or AFV fielded by the Allied forces. It saw brief service in small numbers from late 1944 up until the end of the war on both the Western and Eastern Front. Although 150 were ordered, only around eighty were produced. Due to an excessive weight and a significantly underpowered drivetrain system, the Jagdtiger was continuously plagued with various mobility and mechanical problems. At present, three Jagdtigers survive in different museums around the world.
  • 5.6K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
White Privilege
White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With roots in European colonialism and imperialism, and the Atlantic slave trade, white privilege has developed in circumstances that have broadly sought to protect white racial privileges, various national citizenships, and other rights or special benefits. In the study of white privilege and its broader field of whiteness studies, both pioneered in the United States , academic perspectives such as critical race theory use the concept to analyze how racism and racialized societies affect the lives of white or white-skinned people. For example, American academic Peggy McIntosh described the advantages that whites in Western societies enjoy and non-whites do not experience as "an invisible package of unearned assets". White privilege denotes both obvious and less obvious passive advantages that white people may not recognize they have, which distinguishes it from overt bias or prejudice. These include cultural affirmations of one's own worth; presumed greater social status; and freedom to move, buy, work, play, and speak freely. The effects can be seen in professional, educational, and personal contexts. The concept of white privilege also implies the right to assume the universality of one's own experiences, marking others as different or exceptional while perceiving oneself as normal. Some scholars say that the term uses the concept of "whiteness" as a proxy for class or other social privilege or as a distraction from deeper underlying problems of inequality. Others state that it is not that whiteness is a proxy but that many other social privileges are interconnected with it, requiring complex and careful analysis to identify how whiteness contributes to privilege. Other commentators propose alternative definitions of whiteness and exceptions to or limits of white identity, arguing that the concept of white privilege ignores important differences between white subpopulations and individuals and suggesting that the notion of whiteness cannot be inclusive of all white people. They note the problem of acknowledging the diversity of people of color and ethnicity within these groups. Some commentators have observed that the "academic-sounding concept of white privilege" sometimes elicits defensiveness and misunderstanding among white people, in part due to how the concept of white privilege was rapidly brought into the mainstream spotlight through social media campaigns such as Black Lives Matter. As an academic concept that was only recently brought into the mainstream, the concept of white privilege is frequently misinterpreted by non-academics; some academics, having studied white privilege undisturbed for decades, have been surprised by the seemingly sudden hostility from right-wing critics since approximately 2014.
  • 5.6K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Immune Response to SARS-CoV-2 and mRNA Vaccines
The SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 disease) uses the Spike proteins of its envelope for infecting target cells expressing on the membrane the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) enzyme that acts as a receptor. To control the pandemic, genetically engineered vaccines have been designed for inducing neutralizing antibodies against the Spike proteins. These vaccines do not act like traditional protein-based vaccines, as they deliver the message in the form of mRNA or DNA to host cells that then produce and expose the Spike protein on the membrane (from which it can be shed in soluble form) to alert the immune system. Since the genetically engineered vaccines have been modified to be more stable and because they are distributed via liponanoparticles to various tissues and organs, this type of products may cause unforeseen serious adverse effects.
  • 5.6K
  • 19 Apr 2023
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