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Topic Review
Scientology and Other Religions
The relationship between Scientology and other religions is very complex. While Scientology claims that it is fully compatible with all existing major world religions and that it does not conflict with them or their religious practices, there are major differences in beliefs and practices between Scientology and most religions, especially the major monotheistic religions. Members are not allowed to engage in other similar mental therapies or procedures, religious or otherwise. However, some ministers from other churches have adopted some Scientology secular programs. According to Jacob Neusner, Scientology is a "synthesis of existing ideas and a reflection of particular cultural, social, and historical circumstances in which it was born and developed". The religion reflects Western and American values, such as "beliefs in democracy, individualism, and freedom", while borrowing little from religions based on the Bible. Similarities exist between Scientology and eastern religions such as Hinduism and Buddhism.
  • 4.8K
  • 10 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Overtourism
Overtourism refers to a situation where the number of tourists at a destination and the nature of the tourism industry is perceived to be diminishing the quality of life of residents, the quality of experiences of tourists, and the quality of the physical environment, including both cultural and natural heritage [1][2][3][4][5].
  • 4.8K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Modernity
Modernity is a complex socio-cultural and historical concept that signifies a departure from traditional ways of life towards contemporary, industrialized societies characterized by technological advancements, urbanization, and changing social structures. Emerging in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, modernity encompasses a broad spectrum of transformations, including shifts in economic systems, political ideologies, and cultural expressions, shaping the modern world as we know it today.
  • 4.8K
  • 25 Jan 2024
Topic Review
Pride
Pride is an emotional state deriving positive affect from the perceived value of a person or thing with which the subject has an intimate connection. It may be inwardly or outwardly directed. With a negative connotation pride refers to a foolishly and irrationally corrupt sense of one's personal value, status or accomplishments, used synonymously with hubris. With a positive connotation, pride refers to a content sense of attachment toward one's own or another's choices and actions, or toward a whole group of people, and is a product of praise, independent self-reflection, and a fulfilled feeling of belonging. Philosophers and social psychologists have noted that pride is a complex secondary emotion which requires the development of a sense of self and the mastery of relevant conceptual distinctions (e.g. that pride is distinct from happiness and joy) through language-based interaction with others. Some social psychologists identify the nonverbal expression of pride as a means of sending a functional, automatically perceived signal of high social status. In contrast, pride could also be defined as a lowly disagreement with the truth. One definition of pride comes from St. Augustine: "the love of one's own excellence". A similar definition comes from Meher Baba: "Pride is the specific feeling through which egoism manifests." Pride is sometimes viewed as corrupt or as a vice, sometimes as proper or as a virtue. While some philosophers such as Aristotle (and George Bernard Shaw) consider pride (but not hubris) a profound virtue, some world religions consider pride's fraudulent form a sin, such as is expressed in Proverbs 11:2 of the Hebrew Bible. In Judaism, pride is called the root of all evil. When viewed as a virtue, pride in one's abilities is known as virtuous pride, greatness of soul or magnanimity, but when viewed as a vice it is often known to be self-idolatry, sadistic contempt, vanity or vainglory. Pride can also manifest itself as a high opinion of one's nation (national pride), ethnicity (ethnic pride) and sexual identity.
  • 4.8K
  • 02 Nov 2022
Biography
Geoffrey Hoppe
Geoffrey Hoppe (born Geoffrey Alan Hoppe on August 26, 1955, in Appleton, Wisconsin United States) is the founder and CEO of the Crimson Circle Energy Company, Inc. Hoppe claims that in 1997 on an airplane flight a non-physical entity he calls "Tobias of the Crimson Council" presented himself and began conversing with him.[1][2][3][4] Hoppe contends that since then he has been able to channel T
  • 4.8K
  • 26 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Water Well
A water well is an excavation or structure created in the ground by digging, driving, boring, or drilling to access groundwater in underground aquifers. The well water is drawn by a pump, or using containers, such as buckets, that are raised mechanically or by hand. Wells were first constructed at least eight thousand years ago and historically vary in construction from a simple scoop in the sediment of a dry watercourse to the qanats of Iran, and the stepwells and sakiehs of India. Placing a lining in the well shaft helps create stability, and linings of wood or wickerwork date back at least as far as the Iron Age. Wells have traditionally been sunk by hand digging, as is the case in rural areas of the developing world. These wells are inexpensive and low-tech as they use mostly manual labour, and the structure can be lined with brick or stone as the excavation proceeds. A more modern method called caissoning uses pre-cast reinforced concrete well rings that are lowered into the hole. Driven wells can be created in unconsolidated material with a well hole structure, which consists of a hardened drive point and a screen of perforated pipe, after which a pump is installed to collect the water. Deeper wells can be excavated by hand drilling methods or machine drilling, using a bit in a borehole. Drilled wells are usually cased with a factory-made pipe composed of steel or plastic. Drilled wells can access water at much greater depths than dug wells. Two broad classes of well are shallow or unconfined wells completed within the uppermost saturated aquifer at that location, and deep or confined wells, sunk through an impermeable stratum into an aquifer beneath. A collector well can be constructed adjacent to a freshwater lake or stream with water percolating through the intervening material. The site of a well can be selected by a hydrogeologist, or groundwater surveyor. Water may be pumped or hand drawn. Impurities from the surface can easily reach shallow sources and contamination of the supply by pathogens or chemical contaminants needs to be avoided. Well water typically contains more minerals in solution than surface water and may require treatment before being potable. Soil salination can occur as the water table falls and the surrounding soil begins to dry out. Another environmental problem is the potential for methane to seep into the water.
  • 4.7K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Deep Eutectic Solvents
Deep eutectic solvents (DESs), were introduced in 2001 as an alternative to ILs. These showed a stronger ecofriendly profile, with easier and cheaper production, while having similar properties. DESs contain large, asymmetrical ions that have low lattice energy and, thus, low melting points. They are often acquired by the complexation of a quaternary ammonium salt with a metal salt or hydrogen bond donor (HBD). The charge delocalization occurring through hydrogen bonding between, for instance a halide ion and the hydrogen-donor moiety, is responsible for the decrease in the melting point of the mixture, in relation to the melting points of the individual components. Since 2001, many scientists around the globe pursed the utilization of DESs and published a variety of studies. The use of DESs in analytical microextraction techniques is on the rise, due to the many benefits they provide, such as lower cost and easier synthesis than ILs and an environmentally friendly profile, because of the low toxicity reported, although they need further investigation. To this day, the number of HBAs and HBDs is quite limited, so more studies ought to be carried out to present a plethora of DESs available for use. Moreover, DESs are not commercially available yet, substantially affecting and further limiting their usage for routine analyses in industrial or certified laboratories. The extraordinary high relative recoveries, selectivity, low LODs and decent repeatability they offer, render them appropriate for the determination and quantification of lots of compounds in either simple or complex matrices. As seen, most applications regard liquid phase microextractions rather than solid phase microextractions, because of their liquid nature, as it is simpler to use them as supporting solid adsorbents. The fact that the sample preparation of complicated matrices is of high interest makes them ideal for the research. Hopefully, DESs will be available for purchase in the foreseeable future and will replace organic solvents in some analytical methods commonly used nowadays, while more studies are carried out about their properties. Our aim in this review will be towards the use of DESs in analytical extraction and microextraction techniques, while briefly presenting some frequently used DESs, their synthesis methods and their properties. The ever-increasing use of deep eutectic solvents (DES) in microextraction techniques will be discussed, focusing on the reasons needed to replace conventional extraction techniques with greener approaches that follow the principles of green analytical chemistry.
  • 4.7K
  • 10 Feb 2021
Biography
Firouz Naderi
Firouz Michael Naderi (Persian: فیروز نادری‎: Fīrouz Nāderi; born 1946) is an Iranian scientist who spent more than 30 years in various technical and executive positions at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) where he contributed to some of America's most iconic robotic space missions. He retired from NASA in 2016 and currently is a management consultant, an advisor to early-st
  • 4.7K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Nest Labs
Nest Labs is an American manufacturer of smart home products including thermostats, smoke detectors, and security systems. Its flagship product, which was the company's first offering, is the Nest Learning Thermostat that was introduced in 2011. The product is programmable, self-learning, sensor-driven, and Wi-Fi-enabled – features that are often found in other Nest products. It was followed by the Nest Protect smoke and carbon monoxide detector in October 2013. After its acquisition of Dropcam in 2014, the company introduced its Nest Cam branding of security cameras beginning in June 2015. Co-founded by former Apple engineers Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers in 2010, the company quickly expanded to more than 130 employees by the end of 2012. Google acquired Nest Labs for United States dollar 3.2 billion in January 2014, when the company employed 280. As of late 2015, Nest employs more than 1,100 and has a primary engineering center in Seattle.
  • 4.7K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Human Nutrition
Human nutrition deals with the provision of essential nutrients in food that are necessary to support human life and good health. Poor nutrition is a chronic problem often linked to poverty, food security, or a poor understanding of nutritional requirements. Malnutrition and its consequences are large contributors to deaths, physical deformities, and disabilities worldwide. Good nutrition is necessary for children to grow physically and mentally, and for normal human biological development.
  • 4.7K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Q’anjob’al Language
Q'anjob'al (also Kanjobal) is a Mayan language spoken primarily in Guatemala and part of Mexico. According to 1998 estimates compiled by SIL International in Ethnologue, there were approximately 77,700 native speakers, primarily in the Huehuetenango Department of Guatemala. Municipalities where the Q'anjob'al language is spoken include San Juan Ixcoy (Yich K'ox), San Pedro Soloma (Tz'uluma' ), Santa Eulalia (Jolom Konob' ), Santa Cruz Barillas (Yalmotx), San Rafael La Independencia, and San Miguel Acatán (Pedro Mateo Pedro 2010). Q'anjob'al is taught in public schools through Guatemala's intercultural bilingual education programs.
  • 4.7K
  • 06 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Control Rod
Control rods are used in nuclear reactors to control the rate of fission of the nuclear fuel – uranium or plutonium. Their compositions include chemical elements such as boron, cadmium, silver, hafnium, or indium, that are capable of absorbing many neutrons without themselves fissioning. These elements have different neutron capture cross sections for neutrons of various energies. Boiling water reactors (BWR), pressurized water reactors (PWR), and heavy-water reactors (HWR) operate with thermal neutrons, while breeder reactors operate with fast neutrons. Each reactor design can use different control rod materials based on the energy spectrum of its neutrons.
  • 4.7K
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Catholic Teachings on Heresy
In the Roman Catholic Church, heresy has a very specific meaning. There are four elements which constitute formal heresy; a valid Christian baptism; a profession of still being a Christian; outright denial or positive doubt regarding a truth that the Catholic Church regards as revealed by God; and lastly, the disbelief must be morally culpable, that is, there must be a refusal to accept what is known to be a doctrinal imperative. Therefore, to become a heretic in the strict canonical sense and be excommunicated, one must deny or question a truth that is taught as the word of God, and at the same time recognize one's obligation to believe it. If the person is believed to have acted in good faith, as one might out of ignorance, then the heresy is only material and implies neither guilt nor sin against faith.
  • 4.7K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Economic Complexity
Economic complexity, which links the productive structure of a country with its knowledge, labour, and sophistication, seems to raise new challenges for the environment’s preservation and quality. The relationship between economic complexity and the environment is multi-faced and creates unimagined challenges for humanity in its path toward social and economic progress. 
  • 4.7K
  • 22 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Presidential Cabinets of the Weimar Republic
Presidential cabinets (German: Präsidialkabinette) is a term applied to a succession of governments of the Weimar Republic whose legitimacy derived exclusively from presidential emergency decrees. From April 1930 to January 1933, three chancellors, Heinrich Brüning, Franz von Papen, and Kurt von Schleicher, governed without the consent of the Reichstag, Germany's lower house of parliament. Article 48 of the Weimar Constitution gave the President of Germany (Reichspräsident) the power to pass emergency measures which did not require parliamentary support, as long as the federal cabinet approved of them. After a grand coalition led by chancellor Hermann Müller collapsed, president Paul von Hindenburg appointed the Centre Party politician Heinrich Brüning to the chancellorship. Since Brüning did not command a majority in parliament, he governed exclusively through the president's emergency powers. Whenever the government suffered parliamentary defeats, Hindenburg would dissolve the Reichstag and enable Brüning to stay in office. During Brüning's time in office, the fascist National Socialist German Workers' Party and its leader Adolf Hitler became an influential force in German politics. Brüning legislated to oppose the party's paramilitary activity but was replaced with Franz von Papen, a conservative advisor of the president, who sought to compromise with the forces of the radical right. His short-lived presidential government saw the NSDAP gain the largest share of seats in parliament in the election of July 1932. Unable to overcome parliamentary obstruction, he was succeeded by Kurt von Schleicher, who, in turn, gave way to Adolf Hitler on 30 January 1933. The presidential cabinets have been interpreted as a result of scepticism towards parliamentary government in German society as well as a fundamental shift in political practice towards a strong presidential ruler. Hindenburg's decision to govern without the support of the Reichstag constitutes a milestone on Germany's progression from a multi-party democracy to a totalitarian dictatorship under Hitler.
  • 4.7K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Privacy Concerns with Facebook
Meta Platforms Inc., or Meta for short, (formerly known as Facebook) has faced a number of privacy concerns. These stem partly from the company’s revenue model that involves selling information collected about its users for many things including advertisement targeting. Meta Platforms Inc. has also been a part of many data breaches that have occurred within the company. These issues and others are further described including user data concerns, vulnerabilities in the company’s platform, investigations by pressure groups and government agencies, and even issues with students. In addition, employers and other organizations/individuals have been known to use Meta Platforms Inc. for their own purposes. As a result, individuals’ identities and private information have sometimes been compromised without their permission. In response to these growing privacy concerns, some pressure groups and government agencies have increasingly asserted the users’ right to privacy and to be able to control their personal data.
  • 4.7K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Stress and Strain Induced Transformations
Displacive stress and strain induced transformations are those transformations that occur when the formation of martensite or bainitic ferrite is promoted by the application of stress or strain. These transformations have been shown to be one of the mechanisms by which the mechanical properties of a microstructure can be improved, as they lead to a better ductility and strength by the transformation induced plasticity effect. 
  • 4.7K
  • 08 Mar 2021
Topic Review
The Spemann Organizer
In 1924, to understand the processes involved in developmental biology, Spemann and Mangold transplanted a blastopore lip between different ectodermal regions of amphibian embryos. The transplanted dorsal tissue differentiated mostly into a notochord, while the ectoderm of the host dorsal tissue that was sitting above the transplanted region (blastopore lip) was induced and differentiated to form a Siamese twin containing dorsal tissues such as somites and a neural plate, which would form the central nervous system, forming the bulk of a second axis. The major findings were that the transplant had altered the fate of the overlying cells and that the neural folds were built from recipient cells and not donor cells. Spemann and Mangold discovered the organizing center in the dorsal blastopore lip of amphibians. This center consists of a cluster of cells in the developing embryo that have the ability to interact and instruct morphogenesis in the surrounding cells during gastrulation. When transplanted to the ventral side of the embryo, the center will induce the formation of a secondary axis, promoting the development of the central nervous system, organs, and tissues, as well as the formation of the main body axis. Spemann and Mangold found the first evidence of the organizing center, thereafter called the “Spemann organizer”, and its major role in the development of vertebrates. This discovery also introduced the concept of induction in embryonic development, which refers to the method used by specific cells to affect the fate of other embryonic cells. A major milestone had been achieved for developmental biology.
  • 4.7K
  • 11 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Ultra-Heat Treatment on Milk Proteins
Milk contains approximately 3.5% by weight protein, which is a highly complex system. This milk protein is usually divided into two main fractions based on their solubility nature. Casein proteins are about 75% to 80% of the total protein in the milk and precipitate at pH 4.6 at 20 °C, while 20% of the protein remains in the serum.
  • 4.7K
  • 07 Oct 2021
Biography
Mustafa Tlass
Mustafa Abdul Qadir Tlass (Arabic: مصطفى طلاس; 11 May 1932 – 27 June 2017) was a Syrian senior military officer and politician who was Syria's minister of defense from 1972 to 2004.[1] He was part of the four-member Regional Command during the Hafez Assad era. Tlass was born in Rastan near the city of Homs to a prominent local Sunni Muslim family on 11 May 1932.[2] His father, Abdu
  • 4.7K
  • 05 Dec 2022
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