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Topic Review
Urban Morphology and Sustainable Urban Form
This qualitative grounded theory study is to unpack a conceptual model for assessing the interrelation between urban morphology and sustainable urban form. As it is cited in this entry, although numerous researches have been carried out on the topic of "sustainable urban form" and "urban morphology", yet, there seems to be a substantial gap in the study of the mutual relationship between the two. As the importance is not evaluated in the previous literature, there was no explored model to validate the relation. Consequently, this study was intended to gain a conceptual model of the necessity of conducting systematic model evaluations of sustainable urban form based on the typo morphology as a field of inquiry.
  • 4.2K
  • 06 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Vegetables Irrigated with Untreated Wastewater
Vegetables are commonly cultivated with untreated wastewater and consumed by human beings who often ignore their harmful impacts on health. The industrialization and urbanization in developing countries have led to the release of increasing amounts of heavy metals (HM) into the environment. Regular monitoring of metal concentration levels in contaminated soils and edible plants is essential to prevent their excessive build-up in the diet and food chains.
  • 4.2K
  • 25 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Polyphenol Analysis
The analysis of polyphenols can be approached from two main perspectives: by liquid chromatography, which provides the polyphenolic profile, but also allows the quantification of target individual polyphenols, or by spectrophotometric or electrochemical assays, which provide an estimation of the total polyphenol content or the antioxidant capacity.
  • 4.2K
  • 11 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Instrumental Temperature Record
The instrumental temperature record provides the temperature of Earth's climate system from the historical network of in situ measurements of surface air temperatures and ocean surface temperatures. Data are collected at thousands of meteorological stations, buoys and ships around the globe. The longest-running temperature record is the Central England temperature data series, which starts in 1659. The longest-running quasi-global record starts in 1850. In recent decades, more extensive sampling of ocean temperatures at various depths allows estimates of ocean heat content, but these samples do not form part of the global surface temperature datasets.
  • 4.2K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Markov Chain Applications to Education
The theory of Markov chains is a smart combination of Linear Algebra and Probability theory offering ideal conditions for modelling situations depending on random variables. Markov chains have found important applications to many sectors of the human activity. In this work a finite Markov chain is introduced representing mathematically the teaching process which is based on the ideas of constructivism for learning. Interesting conclusions are derived and a measure is obtained for the teaching effectiveness. An example on teaching the derivative to fresher university students is also presented illustrating our results.
  • 4.2K
  • 03 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Youth Empowerment for Sustainable Development
Youth, generally defined as young people aged between 15 and 24, are a key population. Their empowerment as members of our societies is vital for the societal ecosocial transition from a human-centered to an ecosocial focus, in pursuit of Sustainable Development (SD) and the United Nations “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” with its 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). In relation to sustainability, ecosocial transition is a holistic perspective with ecological, economic, and social dimensions of development focusing on the interlinkage between social and ecological sustainability.
  • 4.2K
  • 21 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Xeno Nucleic Acid
Xeno nucleic acid (XNA) is a synthetic alternative to the natural nucleic acids DNA and RNA as information-storing biopolymers that differs in the sugar backbone. As of 2011, at least six types of synthetic sugars have been shown to form nucleic acid backbones that can store and retrieve genetic information. Research is now being done to create synthetic polymerases to transform XNA. The study of its production and application has created a field known as xenobiology. Although the genetic information is still stored in the four canonical base pairs (unlike other nucleic acid analogues), natural DNA polymerases cannot read and duplicate this information. Thus the genetic information stored in XNA is "invisible" and therefore useless to natural DNA-based organisms.
  • 4.2K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Non-Sieving Mechanism
Non-sieving mechanism is a particle removal process in which particles smaller than the membrane pores are captured by adsorption at the pore surface. The non-sieving mechanism plays an important role for charged solute. There are three accepted non-sieving mechanisms: Donnan exclusion, dielectric exclusion, and hydration mechanism.
  • 4.2K
  • 18 Feb 2022
Topic Review
OER Electrocatalysts
The oxygen evolution reaction (OER) is the efficiency-determining half-reaction process of high-demand, electricity-driven water splitting due to its sluggish four-electron transfer reaction. Tremendous effects on developing OER catalysts with high activity and strong acid-tolerance at high oxidation potentials have been made for proton-conducting polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis (PEMWE), which is one of the most promising future hydrogen-fuel-generating technologies. Electrochemical water splitting involves two heterogeneous multi-step half-reactions, which are referred to as the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and the anodic oxygen evolution reaction (OER). An important frontier in OER electrocatalysis research is the development of the rational design of catalysts. Most of the excellent OER catalysts with high activity and durability are not stable in acidic solutions. They are easily oxidized and decomposed in a strong acid system, which is one of the indispensable working conditions for PEMWE.  Outstanding OER electrocatalysts should have excellent intrinsic activity and sufficient active sites, and these requirements are generally combined with simplicity and controllability.
  • 4.2K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
The Autonomic Nervous System Interaction with Immunity
The autonomic nervous system (ANS) and the immune system are deeply interrelated. The ANS regulates both innate and adaptive immunity through the sympathetic and parasympathetic branches, and an imbalance in this system can determine an altered inflammatory response as typically observed in chronic conditions such as systemic autoimmune diseases. Rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, and systemic sclerosis all show a dysfunction of the ANS that is mutually related to the increase in inflammation and cardiovascular risk. Moreover, an interaction between ANS and the gut microbiota has direct effects on inflammation homeostasis. Recently vagal stimulation techniques have emerged as an unprecedented possibility to reduce ANS dysfunction, especially in chronic diseases characterized by pain and a decreased quality of life as well as in chronic inflammation.
  • 4.2K
  • 07 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Operation Bertram
Operation Bertram was a Second World War deception operation practised by the Allied forces in Egypt led by Bernard Montgomery, in the months before the Second Battle of El Alamein in 1942. Bertram was devised by Dudley Clarke to deceive Erwin Rommel about the timing and location of the Allied attack. The operation consisted of physical deceptions using dummies and camouflage, designed and made by the British Middle East Command Camouflage Directorate led by Geoffrey Barkas. These were accompanied by electromagnetic deceptions codenamed Operation Canwell, using false radio traffic. All of these were planned to make the Axis believe that the attack would take place to the south, far from the coast road and railway, about two days later than the real attack. Bertram consisted of the creation of the appearance of army units where none existed and in concealing armour, artillery and matériel. Dummy tanks and guns were made mainly of local materials including calico and palm-frond hurdles. Real tanks were disguised as trucks, using light "Sunshield" canopies. Field guns and their limbers were also disguised as trucks, their real wheels visible, under a simple box-shaped "Cannibal" canopy to give the shape of a truck. Petrol cans were stacked along the sides of existing revetted trenches, hidden in the shadows. Food was stacked in piles of boxes and draped with camouflage nets to resemble trucks. Trucks were parked openly in the tank assembly area for some weeks. Real tanks were similarly parked openly, far behind the front. Two nights before the attack, the tanks replaced the trucks, being covered with "Sunshields" before dawn. The tanks were replaced that same night with dummies in their original positions, so the armour remained seemingly two or more days' journey behind the front line. To reinforce the impression that the attack was not ready, a dummy water pipeline was constructed, at an apparent rate of 5 mi (8.0 km) per day. Some days' worth remained to be built at the time of the attack; dummy tanks, guns and supplies were constructed to the south. After the battle, the captured German panzerarmee general Wilhelm Ritter von Thoma told Montgomery that he had believed the Allies had at least one more armoured division than they did and that the attack would be in the south. Rommel's stand-in, general Georg Stumme, thought the attack would not begin for several weeks. Bertram had succeeded; when announcing the victory at El Alamein in the House of Commons, Winston Churchill praised the camouflage operation.
  • 4.2K
  • 02 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Application of Artificial Neural Networks in Construction Management
Artificial neural networks (ANN) exhibit excellent performance in complex problems and have been increasingly applied in the research field of construction management (CM) over the last few decades. This paper aims to provide a comprehensive understanding of the application of ANN in CM research and useful reference for the future.Content analysis is performed to comprehensively analyze 112 related bibliographic records retrieved from seven selected top journals published between 2000 and 2020. The results indicate that the applications of ANN of interest in CM research have been significantly increasing since 2015. Back-propagation was the most widely used algorithm in training ANN. Integrated ANN with fuzzy logic/genetic algorithm was the most commonly em-ployed way of addressing the CM problem. In addition, 11 application fields and 31 research topics were identified, with the primary research interests focusing on cost, performance, and safety.
  • 4.2K
  • 27 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Recession of 1937–38
The recession of 1937–1938 was an economic downturn that occurred during the Great Depression in the United States. By the spring of 1937, production, profits, and wages had regained their early 1929 levels. Unemployment remained high, but it was slightly lower than the 25% rate seen in 1933. The American economy took a sharp downturn in mid-1937, lasting for 13 months through most of 1938. Industrial production declined almost 30 percent, and production of durable goods fell even faster. Unemployment jumped from 14.3% in May 1937 to 19.0% in June 1938. Manufacturing output fell by 37% from the 1937 peak and was back to 1934 levels. Producers reduced their expenditures on durable goods, and inventories declined, but personal income was only 15% lower than it had been at the peak in 1937. In most sectors, hourly earnings continued to rise throughout the recession, partly compensating for the reduction in the number of hours worked. As unemployment rose, consumer expenditures declined, leading to further cutbacks in production.
  • 4.2K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Meaningful Life
In positive psychology, a meaningful life is a construct having to do with the purpose, significance, fulfillment, and satisfaction of life. While specific theories vary, there are two common aspects: a global schema to understand one's life and the belief that life itself is meaningful. Meaning can be defined as the connection linking two presumably independent entities together; a meaningful life links the biological reality of life to a symbolic interpretation or meaning. Those possessing a sense of meaning are generally found to be happier, to have lower levels of negative emotions, and to have lower risk of mental illness.
  • 4.2K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Metal matrix composites (MMCs)
Metal matrix composites (MMCs) present extraordinary characteristics, including high wear resistance, excellent operational properties at elevated temperature, and better chemical inertness as compared to traditional alloys. These properties make them prospective candidates in the fields of aerospace, automotive, heavy goods vehicles, electrical, and biomedical industries. MMCs are challenging to process via traditional manufacturing techniques, requiring high cost and energy. The laser-melting deposition (LMD) has recently been used to manufacture MMCs via rapid prototyping, thus, solving these drawbacks. Besides the benefits mentioned above, the issues such as lower ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, weak bonding between matrix and reinforcements, and cracking are still prevalent in parts produced by LMD. In this article, a detailed analysis is made on the MMCs manufactured via LMD. An illustration is presented on the LMD working principle, its classification, and dependent and independent process parameters. Moreover, a brief comparison between the wire and powder-based LMDs has been summarized. Ex- and in-situ MMCs and their preparation techniques are discussed. Besides this, various matrices available for MMCs manufacturing, properties of MMCs after printing, possible complications and future research directions are reviewed and summarized.
  • 4.2K
  • 01 Jul 2026
Topic Review
The Relationship between Empathy and Attachment
Empathy is an important channel for health improvement and social adaptation of individuals, laying a foundation for moral development and positive outcomes. A high level of empathy can promote prosocial behavior and the well-being of people while upgrading interpersonal relationships. In contrast, a low level of empathy is closely related with the externalization of aggressive behavior and social adjustment.
  • 4.2K
  • 17 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Precambrian
The Precambrian (or Pre-Cambrian, sometimes abbreviated pЄ, or Cryptozoic) is the earliest part of Earth's history, set before the current Phanerozoic Eon. The Precambrian is so named because it preceded the Cambrian, the first period of the Phanerozoic eon, which is named after Cambria, the Latinised name for Wales, where rocks from this age were first studied. The Precambrian accounts for 88% of the Earth's geologic time. The Precambrian (colored green in the timeline figure) is an informal unit of geologic time, subdivided into three eons (Hadean, Archean, Proterozoic) of the geologic time scale. It spans from the formation of Earth about 4.6 billion years ago (Ga) to the beginning of the Cambrian Period, about 541 million years ago (Ma), when hard-shelled creatures first appeared in abundance.
  • 4.2K
  • 15 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Haze in Beer
Beer is one of the oldest and also most widely consumed alcoholic beverages. It is a kind of colloid solution with complex composition and weak stability. The haze formation in beer is a serious quality problem, as it primarily affects the shelf life and flavor of beer. Hazes are caused by suspended insoluble particles of colloidal or larger size that can be perceived visually or by instruments.
  • 4.2K
  • 06 Jan 2022
Topic Review
History of South Asian Domes
Islamic rule over northern and central India brought with it the use of domes constructed with stone, brick and mortar, and iron dowels and cramps. Centering was made from timber and bamboo. The use of iron cramps to join together adjacent stones was known in pre-Islamic India, and was used at the base of domes for hoop reinforcement. The synthesis of styles created by this introduction of new forms to the Hindu tradition of trabeate construction created a distinctive architecture. Domes in pre-Mughal India have a standard squat circular shape with a lotus design and bulbous finial at the top, derived from Hindu architecture. Because the Hindu architectural tradition did not include arches, flat corbels were used to transition from the corners of the room to the dome, rather than squinches. In contrast to Persian and Ottoman domes, the domes of Indian tombs tend to be more bulbous.
  • 4.2K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
List of Minerals (Complete)
Mineralogy is an active science in which minerals are discovered or recognised on a regular basis. Use of old mineral names is also discontinued, for example when a name is no longer considered valid. Therefore, a list of recognised mineral species is never complete. Minerals are distinguished by various chemical and physical properties. Differences in chemical composition and crystal structure distinguish the various species. Within a mineral species there may be variation in physical properties or minor amounts of impurities that are recognized by mineralogists or wider society as a mineral variety. The International Mineralogical Association (IMA) is the international group that recognises new minerals and new mineral names. However, minerals discovered before 1959 did not go through the official naming procedure. Some minerals published previously have been either confirmed or discredited since that date. This list contains a mixture of mineral names that have been approved since 1959 and those mineral names believed to still refer to valid mineral species (these are called "grandfathered" species). Presently, each year about 90-110 new mineral species (the sum of all mutations c. 120/year) are officially approved by the Commission on New Minerals, Nomenclature and Classification (CNMNC) of the International Mineralogical Association. The IMA/CNMNC administrates c. 6,500 names, and (As of January 2018), the Handbook of Mineralogy lists 4,507 species. (As of March 2018), the IMA Database of Mineral Properties/ Rruff Project lists 5,312 valid species (IMA/CNMNC) of a total of 5,525 minerals. There are 1,289 Pre-IMA minerals. (As of April 2011), the Webmineral.com website lists 2,722 published and approved (IMA/CNMNC) minerals, 81 discredited minerals (IMA/CNMNC status; Michael Fleischer discredited around thousand species in his lifetime), 2,691 synonyms and 123 "not approved" names. (As of November 2018), the IMA - CNMNC Master List of Minerals lists 5,413 valid minerals, including c. 1,166 pre-IMA minerals (grandfathered), c. 272 approved minerals but without a published description yet and c. 99 questionable minerals. Due to the length of this list, it is divided into alphabetical groups. The minerals are sorted by name.
  • 4.2K
  • 02 Nov 2022
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