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Topic Review
Smart Libraries
With the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) and Internet-of-Things (IoT), thousands of smart devices can be interconnected with each other. A series of innovative concepts have emerged and penetrated into all aspects of human life, e.g., “Smarter Planet”, “Smart City”, “Smart Community”, and “Smart Campus”. As a key and indispensable field, librarianship has become a convenient scenario aided by AI and IoT. Distinctive advanced AI-based approaches applied in libraries include, but are not limited to, natural language processing (NLP), deep learning (DL), recommender systems, machine vision, and smart acquisition.
  • 4.4K
  • 19 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Features New to Windows 8
The transition from Windows 7 to Windows 8 introduced a number of new features across various aspects of the operating system. These include a greater focus on optimizing the operating system for touchscreen-based devices (such as tablets) and cloud computing.
  • 4.4K
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Charivari
Charivari, shivaree, chivaree, or skimmington (ride) was a folk custom in which a mock parade was staged through a community accompanied by a discordant mock serenade. Since the crowd aimed to make as much noise as possible by beating on pots and pans or anything that came to hand these parades are often referred to as rough music. Parades were of three types. In the first, and generally most violent form, a wrongdoer or wrongdoers might be dragged from their home or place of work and paraded by force through a community. In the process they were subject to the derision of the crowd, they might be pelted and frequently a victim or victims were dunked at the end of the proceedings. A safer form involved a neighbour of the wrongdoer impersonating the victim whilst being carried through the streets. The impersonator was obviously not himself punished and he often cried out or sang ribald verses mocking the wrongdoer. In the common form, an effigy was employed instead, abused and often burnt at the end of the proceedings. Communities used "rough music" to express their disapproval of different types of violation of community norms. For example, they might target marriages of which they disapproved such as a union between an older widower and much younger woman, or the too early remarriage by a widow or widower. Villages also used charivari in cases of adulterous relationships, against wife beaters, and unmarried mothers. It was also used as a form of shaming upon husbands who were beaten by their wives and had not stood up for themselves. In some cases, the community disapproved of any remarriage by older widows or widowers. Charivari is the original French word, and in Canada it is used by both English and French speakers. Chivaree became the common variant in Ontario, Canada. In the United States, the term shivaree is more common. As species of popular justice rituals Charivaric events were carefully planned and they were often staged at times of traditional festivity thereby blending delivering justice and celebration.
  • 4.4K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Power
In physics, power is the amount of energy transferred or converted per unit time. In the International System of Units, the unit of power is the watt, equal to one joule per second. In older works, power is sometimes called activity. Power is a scalar quantity. Power is related to other quantities; for example, the power involved in moving a ground vehicle is the product of the traction force on the wheels and the velocity of the vehicle. The output power of a motor is the product of the torque that the motor generates and the angular velocity of its output shaft. Likewise, the power dissipated in an electrical element of a circuit is the product of the current flowing through the element and of the voltage across the element.
  • 4.4K
  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Wind Turbine Blade Failures
The wind turbine is a complex structure. Although there is no single approach and there is variability in the commercial designs, a typical WTB is a thin-walled multi-cellular hollow airfoil shaped cross-section. For its manufacture, a number of materials and material systems are used for structural purposes (fibre composites and sandwich composite systems) as well as aesthetic purposes (primers, UV gel coats, paint, etc). The potential causes of wind turbine blade failures can be classified into the following four categories:1. damage from lightning;2. failures due to fatigue;3. leading edge erosion;4. damage from icing.The types of damage caused to wind turbine blades—originating from the above four different sources—along with their significance to the turbine’s performance and secure operation, are detailed in the following sub-sections.
  • 4.4K
  • 11 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Natural Polymers Used in Edible Food Packaging
Natural polymers like polysaccharides and proteins, i.e., alginate; carrageenan; chitosan; starch; pea protein, are important materials obtained from renewable plant, algae and animal sources, as well as from agroindustrial residues. Historically, some of them have been widely used by ancient populations for food packaging until these were replaced by petroleum-based plastic materials after World War II. Nowadays, biobased materials for food packaging have attracted attention. Their use was boosted especially because of the environmental pollution caused by inappropriate disposal of plastic packaging. Biobased materials are welcome to the design of food packaging because they possess many advantages, such as biodegradability, biocompatibility and low toxicity. Depending on the formulation, certain biopolymer-based packaging may present good barrier properties, antimicrobial and antioxidant activities Thus, polysaccharides and proteins can be combined to form diverse composite films with improved mechanical and biological behaviors, making them suitable for packaging of different food products. 
  • 4.4K
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Postbiological Evolution
Postbiological evolution is a form of evolution which has transitioned from a biological paradigm, driven by the propagation of genes, to a nonbiological (e.g., cultural or technological) paradigm, presumably driven by some alternative replicator (e.g., memes or temes), and potentially resulting in the extinction, obsolescence, or trophic reorganization of the former. Researchers anticipating a postbiological universe tend to describe this transition as marked by the maturation and potential convergence of high technologies, such as artificial intelligence or nanotechnology.
  • 4.4K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Biography
Georg Ohm
Georg Simon Ohm (16 March 1789 – 6 July 1854) was a Germany physicist and mathematician. As a school teacher, Ohm began his research with the new electrochemical cell, invented by Italian scientist Alessandro Volta. Using equipment of his own creation, Ohm found that there is a direct proportionality between the potential difference (voltage) applied across a conductor and the resultant electr
  • 4.4K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Agarwood
Agarwood, popularly known as oudh or gaharu, is a fragrant resinous wood of high commercial value, traded worldwide and primarily used for its distinctive fragrance in incense, perfumes, and medicine. This fragrant wood is created when Aquilaria trees are wounded and infected by fungi, producing resin as a defense mechanism. The depletion of natural agarwood caused by overharvesting amidst increasing demand has caused this fragrant defensive resin of endangered Aquilaria to become a rare and valuable commodity. Given that instances of natural infection are quite low, artificial induction, including biological inoculation, is being conducted to induce agarwood formation.
  • 4.4K
  • 06 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Techniques Involved in Plantlet Generation
Ornamentals come in a variety of shapes, sizes, and colors to suit a wide range of climates, landscapes, and gardening needs. Compared to demand, a shortage of plant materials and diversity force the search for solutions for their constant acquisition and improvement to increase their commercial value, respectively. In vitro cultures are a suitable solution to meet expectations using callus culture, somatic embryogenesis, protoplast culture, and the organogenesis of protocorm-like bodies; many of these techniques are commercially practiced. Factors such as culture media, explants, carbohydrates, plant growth regulators, and light are associated with the success of in vitro propagation. Techniques, especially embryo rescue and somatic hybridization, are widely used to improve ornamentals. The development of synthetic seed allows season-independent seed production and preservation in the long term. Despite the advantages of propagation and the improvement of ornamentals, many barriers still need to be resolved. In contrast to propagation and crop developmental studies, there is also a high scope for molecular studies, especially epigenetic changes caused by plant tissue culture of ornamentals. 
  • 4.4K
  • 07 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Tetraspanins of extracellular vesicles
Tetraspanins are transmembrane proteins with ability to interact with each other and with other non-tetraspanin partners, building up a complex called tetraspanin web. This dynamic structure participates in many cellular processes. Although currently, the tetraspanin proteins found in extracellular vesicles are mostly applied as markers, increasing evidence points to their role in extracellular vesicle biogenesis, cargo selection, cell targeting, and cell uptake under both physiological and pathological conditions.
  • 4.4K
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Classical Liberalism
Classical liberalism is a political ideology and a branch of liberalism which advocates civil liberties under the rule of law with an emphasis on economic freedom. Closely related to economic liberalism, it developed in the early 19th century, building on ideas from the previous century as a response to urbanization and to the Industrial Revolution in Europe and the United States . Notable individuals whose ideas contributed to classical liberalism include John Locke, Jean-Baptiste Say, Thomas Robert Malthus, and David Ricardo. It drew on the classical economic ideas espoused by Adam Smith in Book One of The Wealth of Nations and on a belief in natural law, utilitarianism, and progress. The term "classical liberalism" was applied in retrospect to distinguish earlier 19th-century liberalism from the newer social liberalism.
  • 4.4K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Culture and COVID-19: Impact of Cross-Cultural Dimensions on Behavioral Responses
The global pandemic of COVID-19 has impacted every sphere of human life across all nations of the world. Countries adapted and responded to the crisis in different ways with varied outcomes and different degrees of success in mitigation efforts. Studies have examined institutional and policy-based responses to the pandemic. However, to gain a holistic understanding of the pandemic response strategy and its effectiveness, it is also important to understand the cultural foundations of a society driving its response behavior. Towards that end, this entry focuses on a few key cultural dimensions of difference across countries and proposes that national culture is related to the protective behavior adopted by societies during COVID-19. The cultural dimensions examined in relation to COVID-19 include the dimensions of individualism vs. collectivism, power distance, uncertainty avoidance, masculinity and femininity, and future orientation. Inferences are drawn from academic research, published data, and discernible indicators of social behavior. The entry provides pointers for each dimension of culture and proposes that cultural awareness be made an important element of policy making while responding to crises such as COVID-19. 
  • 4.4K
  • 05 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Human-Centered Machine Learning
Human-centered Machine Learning (HCML) is about developing adaptable and usable Machine Learning systems for human needs while keeping the human/user at the center of the entire product/service development cycle.
  • 4.4K
  • 06 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Ulva (Enteromorpha) Polysaccharides and Oligosaccharides
The high-valued utilization of Ulva (previously known as Enteromorpha) bioresources has drawn increasing attention due to the periodic blooms of world-wide green tide. The polysaccharide is the main functional component of Ulva and exhibits various physiological activities. The Ulva oligosaccharide as the degradation product of polysaccharide not only possesses some obvious activities, but also possesses excellent solubility and bioavailability. Both Ulva polysaccharides and oligosaccharides hold promising potential in the food industry as new functional foods or food additives. Studies on Ulva polysaccharides and oligosaccharides are increasing and have been the focus of the marine bioresources field.
  • 4.4K
  • 19 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Rank-Size Distribution
Rank-size distribution is the distribution of size by rank, in decreasing order of size. For example, if a data set consists of items of sizes 5, 100, 5, and 8, the rank-size distribution is 100, 8, 5, 5 (ranks 1 through 4). This is also known as the rank-frequency distribution, when the source data are from a frequency distribution. These are particularly of interest when the data vary significantly in scale, such as city size or word frequency. These distributions frequently follow a power law distribution, or less well-known ones such as a stretched exponential function or parabolic fractal distribution, at least approximately for certain ranges of ranks; see below. A rank-size distribution is not a probability distribution or cumulative distribution function. Rather, it is a discrete form of a quantile function (inverse cumulative distribution) in reverse order, giving the size of the element at a given rank.
  • 4.4K
  • 31 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Fundamentals of the Electroreduction of CO2
Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the main greenhouse gases and the major factor driving global climate change. From the viewpoint of abundance, economics, non-toxicity, and renewability, CO2 is an ideal and significant C1 resource, and its capture and recycling into fuels and chemical feedstocks using renewable energy is of great significance for the sustainable development of society. Electrochemical CO2 reduction reactions (CO2RRs) are an important pathway to utilize CO2 resources. Zinc has been demonstrated as an effective catalyst for CO2RRs.
  • 4.4K
  • 17 Apr 2023
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Bioplastic as a Substitute for Plastic in Construction Industry
Bioplastics have proven to be a viable substitute for plastics in some sectors, although their use in construction is still limited. The construction sector currently uses 23% of the world’s plastic production, both for the materials themselves and for their packaging and protection. A considerable part is not recycled and is dispersed into the environment or ends up in landfills. In response to the environmental problems caused by oil-based plastic pollution, the development of biocomposite materials such as bioplastics represents a paradigm shift. This entry aims to explain what bioplastics are, providing a classification and the description of the different properties and applications. It also lays out the most interesting uses of these materials in the construction field. 
  • 4.4K
  • 02 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Neutral Powers During World War II
The neutral powers were countries that remained neutral during World War II. Some of these countries had large colonies abroad or had great economic power. Spain had just been through its civil war, which ended on 1 April 1939 (five months prior to the Invasion of Poland)—a war that involved several countries that subsequently participated in World War II. During World War II, the neutral powers took no official side, hoping to avoid attack. However, Portugal, Sweden, and Switzerland all helped the Allies by supplying "voluntary" brigades to the United Kingdom , while Spain avoided the Allies in favor of the Axis, supplying them with its own voluntary brigade, the Blue Division. Ireland generally favoured the Allied side, as with the United States. The United States remained neutral until 8 December 1941, a day following the attack by Japan on Pearl Harbor. The Lateran Treaty between Italy and the Vatican, signed in 1929, required that the Pope maintain "perpetual neutrality in international relations"—making the Vatican City a neutral state. Several countries suffered invasions in spite of their efforts to be neutral. These included Nazi Germany's invasion of Denmark and Norway on 9 April 1940—then Belgium, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg on 10 May 1940. On the same day, 10 May 1940, the British, having already invaded the Faroe Islands in April, invaded Iceland and established an occupying force (subsequently replaced by the then-neutral United States). The Soviet Union invaded Lithuania on 15 June 1940 and Latvia and Estonia on 17 June. In the Balkans, the Italo-Greek War began on 28 October 1940 and Yugoslavia was invaded in April 1941. Iran was also attacked and occupied by Britain and the Soviet Union in August 1941. See also the histories of Afghanistan, Andorra, Guatemala, Liechtenstein, Saudi Arabia and Yemen during this period.
  • 4.4K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Sustainable Housing in Rwanda
Baked clay bricks (Impunyu) is the dominant wall construction material in Rwanda. Clay deposits in the country’s lowlands are utilized for baked clay bricks. Despite the ongoing campaign, the use of wood by some local brick producers is unfriendly to the environment. Recent research has called for alternative methods in order to reduce the cost and impact on the environment. Earlier efforts with compressed earth blocks were saddled with weight and a substantial use of cement for good surface texture and adequate resistance against surface erosion. This research explored the potentials of using an appropriate dose of clay (from Muhanzi), volcanic light aggregate (Amakoro, (from Musanze)), and cement to produce unbaked shelled compressed earth blocks (SCEB). SCEB is a compressed earth block with an outer shell and inner core of different cement content or materials, compressed into a unit block. The result is a masonry unit with a higher surface resistance, durability, and desirable architectural effect produced with a 60% reduction in cement content. A weight reduction of 12% was achieved with an optimum content of 33% of the volcanic lightweight aggregate. A cost reduction of 25% was recorded over conventional compressed earth brick walls and a 54% over sand-cement block walls. Possible future trends were also identified with appreciable prospects in earthen architecture. 
  • 4.4K
  • 29 Jul 2021
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