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Topic Review
Reusable Launch System
A reusable launch system is a launch system that allows for the reuse of some or all of the component stages. To date, several fully reusable suborbital systems and partially reusable orbital systems have been flown. The first reusable spacecraft to reach orbit was the Space Shuttle (in 1981), which failed to accomplish the intended goal of reducing launch costs to below those of expendable launch systems. During the 21st century, commercial interest in reusable launch systems has grown considerably, with several active launchers. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has said that if one can figure out how to reuse rockets like airplanes then the cost of access to space will be reduced by as much as a factor of a hundred. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket has a reusable first stage and capsule (for Dragon flights) with an expendable second stage. SpaceX has been developing a reusable second stage since the late 2010s which, if successful, could make possible the first fully-reusable orbital launch vehicle during the 2020s. Virgin Galactic has flown reusable suborbital spaceplanes, and the suborbital Blue Origin New Shepard rocket has a recoverable boost stage and passenger capsule.
  • 4.5K
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Sustainable Agriculture and Biodiversity Conservation in Japan
Japan aims to be carbon-neutral by 2050 by targeting various sectors including agriculture. One of the main strategies in this sector to mitigate climate change effects is environmental conservation agriculture (ECA); however, ECA utilization remains low in most of Japan’s prefectures to this date. Japan has been active in promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable agriculture, which is why it currently has a total of 11 Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) designated by FAO. Japan has been proactive in preserving endangered species, such as butterflies vascular plants, and birds
  • 4.5K
  • 19 May 2022
Topic Review
Renewable Energy Status in Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan has a well-developed hydrocarbon industry backed with abundant domestic resources. Oil and gas have played a crucial role in the economic revival of the country since independence was regained back in 1991. The legal foundation of the transition to carbon-zero energy generation was laid in the 1990s with a number of acts mentioning the importance of the shift. The government has an ambitious plan to improve the situation, though an action plan with targeted renewables share in production and consumption is still to be prepared.
  • 4.5K
  • 24 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Power Electronics for EV Charging Stations
This paper proposes a design for the Bidirectional electric vehicle charger which is capable of doing both the Grid to Vehicle and Vehicle to Grid power transfer, and the interaction will be made through an automatic smart energy management system(EMS). A simple power electronics topology is used. The user can adjust the output of this charger by using the control signal provided by the controller. The simulation result obtained shows that it has an interaction between the charger and an Energy Management System(EMS) in a residence
  • 4.5K
  • 13 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Cook Stove
A biomass cook stove is heated by burning wood, charcoal, animal dung or crop residue. Cook stoves are commonly used for cooking and heating food in rural households. Nearly half of the world's population, approximately 3 billion people, use solid fuels such as coal, wood, animal dung, and crop residues for their domestic energy needs. Among those who use indoor cooking stoves, the poorest families living in rural areas most frequently use solid fuels, where it continues to be relied on by up to 90% of households. Households in developing countries consume significantly less energy than those in developed countries; however, over 50% of the energy is for cooking food. The average rural family spends 20% or more of its income purchasing wood or charcoal for cooking. The urban poor also frequently spend a significant portion of their income on the purchase of wood or charcoal. Deforestation and erosion often result from harvesting wood for cooking fuel. The main goal of most improved cooking stoves is to reduce the pressure placed on local forests by reducing the amount of wood the stoves consume, and to reduce the negative health impacts associated with exposure to toxic smoke from traditional stoves.
  • 4.5K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Cottage Culture in Finland: Development and Perspectives
This entry provides an understanding of the past, present, and future of the Finnish cottage culture to create an overall picture of its development trajectory and its terminology, e.g., villa, in this context denoting a second home. Convenient, ready-made solutions, easy maintenance, a high level of equipment, year-round use, location, and modern and simple architectural styles are important selection criteria for (summer) cottages that belonged only to the wealthy bourgeois class in the 19th century and have taken their present form with a major transformation in Finland since then. Additionally, municipal regulations and increased attention to ecological concerns are other important issues regarding the cottage today. Cottage inheritance has changed over the generations, and the tightening of building regulations and increased environmental awareness are key drivers of the future transformation of cottage culture. Moreover, the increasing demand for single-family and outdoor spaces created by social changes such as remote working, which has become widespread with the COVID-19 pandemic, will make the summer cottage lifestyle even more popular in Finland. It is thought that this entry will contribute to the continuance of the Finnish cottage culture, which is essential for the vitality of countryside municipalities, local development, national culture, and the well-being of Finnish people. 
  • 4.5K
  • 14 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Fat Leonard Scandal
The Fat Leonard scandal is a corruption scandal and ongoing investigation within the United States Navy involving ship support contractor Glenn Defense Marine Asia (GDMA), a subsidiary of the Glenn Marine Group. The Washington Post called the scandal "perhaps the worst national-security breach of its kind to hit the Navy since the end of the Cold War." At the heart of the scandal was Glenn Defense Marine Asia, a firm run by Leonard Glenn Francis, a Malaysian national known as "Fat Leonard" for his then over 350 pound weight. Francis provided at least a half million dollars in cash, plus travel expenses, luxury items, and prostitutes to a large number of U.S. uniformed officers of the United States Seventh Fleet, who in turn gave him classified material about the movements of U.S. ships and submarines, confidential contracting information, and information about active law enforcement investigations into Glenn Defense Marine Asia. Francis then "exploited the intelligence for illicit profit, brazenly ordering his moles to redirect aircraft carriers to ports he controlled in Southeast Asia so he could more easily bilk the Navy for fuel, tugboats, barges, food, water and sewage removal." The Navy, through GDMA, even employed divers to search harbors for explosives. He also directed them to author "Bravo Zulu" memos, which is an informal term for a letter of commendation from the Navy given to civilians who have performed outstanding services for the Navy, in order to bolster GDMA's credibility for jobs "well done". The first activities of the conspiracy were confirmed to have existed in 2006 when Francis recruited numerous Navy personnel to engage in corruption, including directing contracts toward his firm, disfavoring competitors, and inhibiting legitimate fiscal and operational oversight. The initial co-conspirators labelled themselves "the cool kids" and "the wolf pack." U.S. federal prosecutors filed criminal charges against 33 people in connection with the Fat Leonard scandal. Of those, 22 pleaded guilty: Francis himself, four of his top aides, and 17 Navy officials (specifically, at least ten commissioned officers, two petty officers, one former NCIS special agent, and two civilian Navy contracting officials). Nine others are awaiting trial in U.S. district court in San Diego. Separately, five Navy officers were charged with crimes under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ) and have been subject to court-martial proceedings. An additional civilian pleaded guilty to a scandal-related crime in Singapore court. Suffering health problems, Francis was hospitalized and released in March 2018. Rather than returning to the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service, he was granted a medical furlough and allowed to stay in San Diego at a private residence owned by one of his physicians, under 24-hour surveillance for which his family paid. At a deposition taken in 2018 in the David A. Morales case, Francis said he is being treated for kidney cancer. In 1989, when he was 21, Francis had been sentenced to three years in jail in Malaysia for firearms possession.
  • 4.5K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Nuclear Symmetry Energy
Nuclear symmetry energy is a measure of the energy cost to make nuclear systems more neutron rich. It depends on the density of the system. Information about the density dependence of nuclear symmetry energy has broad ramifications on the mechanisms of supernova explosions, properties of neutron stars and gravitational waves from their mergers. It is also important for understanding properties of nuclei as well as the dynamics and products of their collisions in laboratory experiments. 
  • 4.5K
  • 03 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Insect Pests of Brassica oleracea
The propagation and regeneration of Brassica species has been successful using seeds and different explants like petioles, cotyledons, stems and shoot tips. Shoot regeneration and rooting of Brassica species are successfully obtained from cotyledons and hypocotyl explants. The biological cycle length of Brassica species may either differ slightly or may not differ from one species to another. For instance, the seeds of Brassica oleracea take five days to germinate after sowing at 20–25 °C while the seeds of Brassica campestries take about three to five days to germinate after sowing at 20–25 °C. The most common insect pests of economic importance to Brassica oleracea in African smallholder farmers include Plutella xylostella, Helula undalis, Pieris brassicae, Brevycoryne brassicae, Trichoplusia ni and Myzus persicae. Those insect pests infest cabbages at different stages of growth, causing huge damage and resulting into huge yield losses. The African smallholder farmers use cultural and synthetic pesticides to control those insect pests and minimize infestations. The cultural practices are environmental friendly but are ineffective to control the insect pests. Due to ineffectiveness of cultural practices, African smallholder famers use broad-spectrum synthetic pesticides to effectively control the Brassica species insect pests. The improper and misuse of synthetic pesticides result into insect pests resistance towards the insecticides applied, environmental pollution and human health threats. Insect pests such as Plutella xylostella, Hellula undalis, Brevicoryne brassicae and Myzus persicae have developed resistance to a wide range of pesticides used such as cypermethrin, parathion, decamethrin, quinalphos and lamda-cyhalothrin. Therefore, that calls for search of the alternative products which can effectively be used to control those insect pests in the field.
  • 4.5K
  • 28 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Performance Evaluation of the Board of Directors
Abstract:   Purpose: The objectives of this paper are to analyse both individual and overall performance evaluations of the Board of Directors as carried out by Maltese Listed Companies (MLCs) and to assess the importance of such board evaluations to small shareholders. Design/Approach/Methodology: The study was designed around semi-structured interviews with fifteen MLC representatives and seven stockbrokers, as well as questionnaires administered to twenty-nine small shareholders. Findings: The findings indicate that, while Boards of Director evaluations are carried out in MLCs, they lack the necessary formal structures that specify critical evaluation measures. Thus one may infer that those charged with the responsibility of conducting evaluations are not being well determined. By departing from the recommendations of the Maltese Corporate Governance Code on performance evaluations, MLCs have generally opted to resort to an inward and more restricted style of evaluation, doing away with external or independent parties in the process.   Practical Implications: Recommendations include the promotion of shareholder interest by enhancing their awareness of the benefits they will stand to gain from the process and by involving them more in the process. Originality/Value: The paper considers possible evaluation measures that may be aimed to enhance both shareholder and public confidence in the exercise and also other ways by which it may be improved. It thus contributes to the literature, as yet scarce, which relates to corporate governance in small states.   Keywords: Performance evaluation, corporate governance, board of directors, MLCs.   JEL code: G34. Paper type: Research article.
  • 4.5K
  • 28 May 2020
Topic Review
Widow
A widow is a woman whose spouse has died and a widower is a man whose spouse has died. The treatment of widows and widowers around the world varies.
  • 4.5K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Obiter Dictum
Obiter dictum (usually used in the plural, obiter dicta) is Latin phrase meaning "by the way", that is, a remark in a judgment that is "said in passing". It is a concept derived from English common law, whereby a judgment comprises only two elements: ratio decidendi and obiter dicta. For the purposes of judicial precedent, ratio decidendi is binding, whereas obiter dicta are persuasive only.
  • 4.5K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Niche Sport
Non-conventional sports that do not attract mass audiences
  • 4.5K
  • 21 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Classification of Indigenous Peoples of the Americas
Classification of Indigenous peoples of the Americas is based upon cultural regions, geography, and linguistics. Anthropologists have named various cultural regions, with fluid boundaries, that are generally agreed upon with some variation. These cultural regions are broadly based upon the locations of Indigenous peoples of the Americas from early European and African contact beginning in the late 15th century. When Indigenous peoples have been forcibly removed by nation-states, they retain their original geographic classification. Some groups span multiple cultural regions.
  • 4.5K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Polyenes
Polyenes were, after griseofulvin, the first fungal-specific antibiotics on the market and ever since, more than 200 polyene antifungals have been discovered, of which amphotericin B, nystatin and natamycin are most commonly used in antifungal therapy .
  • 4.5K
  • 12 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Spirulina for Skin Care
Spirulina stands out as a sustainable bioactive microalga with health-promoting properties, and an important active ingredient of natural cosmetics products. 
  • 4.5K
  • 05 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Bismuth-213
In contrast to external high energy photon or proton therapy, targeted radionuclide therapy (TRNT) is a systemic cancer treatment allowing targeted irradiation of a primary tumor and all its metastases, resulting in less collateral damage to normal tissues. The α-emitting radionuclide bismuth-213 (213Bi) has interesting properties and can be considered as a magic bullet for TRNT. 
  • 4.5K
  • 11 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Nematode Identification
Nematodes are non-segmented roundworms evenly distributed with various habitats ranging to approximately every ecological extremity. These are the least studied organisms despite being the most diversified group. Nematodes are the most critical equilibrium-maintaining factors, having implications on the yield and health of plants as well as well-being of animals. As a result of the lack of precise taxonomic features, nematode taxonomy remains uncertain. Morphology-based identification has proved inefficacious in identifying and exploring the diversity of nematodes, as there are insufficient morphological variations. Different molecular and new evolving methodologies have been employed to augment morphology-based approaches and bypass these difficulties with varying effectiveness. These identification techniques vary from molecular-based targeting DNA or protein-based targeting amino acid sequences to methods for image processing. High-throughput approaches such as next-generation sequencing have also been added to this league. These alternative approaches have helped to classify nematodes and enhanced the base for increased diversity and phylogeny of nematodes, thus helping to formulate increasingly more nematode bases for use as model organisms to study different hot topics about human well-being.
  • 4.5K
  • 12 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Biogas
Biogas refers to a mixture of different gases produced by the breakdown of organic matter in the absence of oxygen. Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as agricultural waste, manure, municipal waste, plant material, sewage, green waste or food waste. Biogas is a renewable energy source. Biogas can be produced by anaerobic digestion with methanogen or anaerobic organisms, which digest material inside a closed system, or fermentation of biodegradable materials. This closed system is called an anaerobic digester, biodigester or a bioreactor. Biogas is primarily methane (CH4) and carbon dioxide (CO2) and may have small amounts of hydrogen sulphide (H2S), moisture and siloxanes. The gases methane, hydrogen, and carbon monoxide (CO) can be combusted or oxidized with oxygen. This energy release allows biogas to be used as a fuel; it can be used for any heating purpose, such as cooking. It can also be used in a gas engine to convert the energy in the gas into electricity and heat. Biogas can be compressed, the same way as natural gas is compressed to CNG, and used to power motor vehicles. In the United Kingdom , for example, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17% of vehicle fuel. It qualifies for renewable energy subsidies in some parts of the world. Biogas can be cleaned and upgraded to natural gas standards, when it becomes bio-methane. Biogas is considered to be a renewable resource because its production-and-use cycle is continuous, and it generates no net carbon dioxide. As the organic material grows, it is converted and used. It then regrows in a continually repeating cycle. From a carbon perspective, as much carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere in the growth of the primary bio-resource as is released, when the material is ultimately converted to energy.
  • 4.5K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Middle Eastern Philosophy
Middle Eastern philosophy includes the various philosophies of the Middle East regions, including the Fertile Crescent, Iran, and Anatolia. Traditions include Ancient Egyptian philosophy, Babylonian philosophy, Jewish philosophy, Iranian/Persian philosophy, and Islamic philosophy.
  • 4.5K
  • 05 Dec 2022
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