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Topic Review

Enlightenment in Buddhism

The English term enlightenment is the western translation of the abstract noun bodhi, (/ˈboʊdi/; Sanskrit: बोधि; Pali: bodhi), the knowledge or wisdom, or awakened intellect, of a Buddha. The verbal root budh- means "to awaken," and its literal meaning is closer to "awakening." Although the term buddhi is also used in other Indian philosophies and traditions, its most common usage is in the context of Buddhism. The term "enlightenment" was popularised in the Western world through the 19th century translations of Max Müller. It has the western connotation of general insight into transcendental truth or reality. The term is also being used to translate several other Buddhist terms and concepts, which are used to denote (initial) insight (prajna (Sanskrit), wu (Chinese), kensho and satori(Japanese)); knowledge (vidhya); the "blowing out" (Nirvana) of disturbing emotions and desires and the subsequent freedom or release (vimukti); and the attainment of supreme Buddhahood (samyak sam bodhi), as exemplified by Gautama Buddha. What exactly constituted the Buddha's awakening is unknown. It may probably have involved the knowledge that liberation was attained by the combination of mindfulness and dhyāna, applied to the understanding of the arising and ceasing of craving. The relation between dhyana and insight is a core problem in the study of Buddhism, and is one of the fundamentals of Buddhist practice. In the western world the concept of (spiritual) enlightenment has taken on a romantic meaning. It has become synonymous with self-realization and the true self and false self, being regarded as a substantial essence being covered over by social conditioning., , ,

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28 Oct 2022

Topic Review Peer Reviewed

Bergamot Oil: Botany, Production, Pharmacology

Bergamot essential oil (BEO) is the result of the mechanical manipulation (cold pressing) of the exocarp (flavedo) of the hesperidium of Citruslimon (L.) Osbeck Bergamot Group (synonym Citrus × bergamia Risso & Poit.), resulting in the bursting of the oil cavities embedded in the flavedo and the release of their contents. It is chemically dominated by monoterpene hydrocarbons (i.e., limonene), but with significant percentages of oxygenated monoterpenes (i.e., linalyl acetate) and of non-volatile oxygen heterocyclic compounds (i.e., bergapten).

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13 Apr 2022

Topic Review

A fire engine, also known in some places as a fire truck or fire lorry, is a road vehicle (usually a truck) that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters to an incident as well as carrying equipment for firefighting operations. Some fire engines have specialised functions, such as wildfire suppression and aircraft rescue and firefighting, and may also carry equipment for technical rescue. Many fire engines are based on commercial vehicle chassis that are further upgraded and customised for firefighting requirements. They are normally fitted with sirens and emergency vehicle lighting, as well as communication equipment such as two-way radios and mobile computer technology. The terms fire engine and fire truck are often used interchangeably to a broad range of vehicles involved in firefighting; however, in some fire departments they refer to separate and specific types of vehicle.

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12 Oct 2022

Topic Review

GameMaker Studio

GameMaker Studio (formerly Animo until 1999, Game Maker until 2011, GameMaker until 2012, and GameMaker: Studio until 2017) is a cross-platform game engine developed by YoYo Games. GameMaker accommodates the creation of cross-platform and multi-genre video games using a custom drag-and-drop visual programming language or a scripting language known as Game Maker Language, which can be used to develop more advanced games that could not be created just by using the drag and drop features. GameMaker was originally designed to allow novice computer programmers to be able to make computer games without much programming knowledge by use of these actions. Recent versions of software also focus on appealing to advanced developers.

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24 Oct 2022

Topic Review

The Heartland Institute

The Heartland Institute is an American conservative and libertarian public policy think tank founded in 1984 and based in Arlington Heights, Illinois. The Institute conducts work on issues including education reform, government spending, taxation, healthcare, tobacco policy, global warming, hydraulic fracturing, information technology, and free-market environmentalism. In the 1990s, the Heartland Institute worked with the tobacco company Philip Morris to attempt to discredit the health risks of secondhand smoke and to lobby against smoking bans.:233–34 Since the 2000s, the Heartland Institute has been a leading promoter of climate change denial. It rejects the scientific consensus on climate change, and says that policies to fight it would be damaging to the economy.

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30 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Detection of Beta-Glucan

This entry provides a comprehensive review of the current literature about biological properties and available methods for the detection of beta-glucans. It shares the experience of the Nanotechnology Characterization Laboratory with the detection of beta-glucans in nanotechnology-based drug products. This entry summarizes and discusses five different approaches currently applied for the data interpretation of beta-glucan tests with respect to the acceptability (or lack thereof) of the beta-glucan levels in pharmaceutical products.

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03 Nov 2020

Topic Review

Digital Preservation of Cultural Heritage

The intensifying effects of climate change are becoming one of the main threats to cultural heritage, posing risks of degradation or destruction. Climate change is bringing complexity and uncertainty to ensuring the resilience of cultural heritage, and among risk mitigation measures digitalisation is regarded as a promising tool. However, the infrastructure required for the digitalisation process exerts significant pressures on the environment contributing to climate deterioration.

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06 Jun 2022

Topic Review

Solar Energy Potential and Solar Irrigation in Pakistan

Pakistan faces water scarcity and high operational costs for traditional irrigation systems, hindering agricultural productivity. Solar-powered irrigation systems (SPIS) can potentially provide a sustainable and affordable solution, but face technical, financial and policy barriers to adoption.

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06 May 2023

Topic Review

Rodrigues (French: Île Rodrigues [il ʁɔdʁiɡ]; Creole: Rodrig) is a 108 km2 (42 sq mi) autonomous outer island of the Republic of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean, about 560 km (350 mi) east of Mauritius. It is part of the Mascarene Islands, which include Mauritius and Réunion. Rodrigues is of volcanic origin and is surrounded by coral reef, and some tiny uninhabited islands lie just off its coast. The island used to be the tenth District of Mauritius; it gained autonomous status on 10 December 2002, and it is governed by the Rodrigues Regional Assembly. The capital of the island is Port Mathurin. Its inhabitants are Mauritian citizens. (As of 2014), the island's population was about 41,669, according to Statistics Mauritius. Most of the inhabitants are of African descent. Its economy is based mainly on fishing, farming, handicraft and a developing tourism sector. The island (together with Agaléga and Saint Brandon) forms part of the larger territory of the Republic of Mauritius with the President as head of state and the Chief Commissioner as head of government.

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11 Nov 2022

Topic Review

NdFeB Permanent Magnet Uses

Rare earth element (REE) permanent magnets (NdFeB) are a critical element in a vast and growing number of industrial applications. In consumer electronics, a broad category encompassing computer, CD, and DVD hard drives, in addition to the ubiquitous cell phones, the nominal NdFeB magnet content may be small, but the global market share for this sector accounts for almost 30% of NdFeB demand, due to a large and continually increasing consumer base. It is estimated that wind turbines that primarily employ permanent magnets will add roughly 110 GW annually of on- and off-shore capability over the next few years. Electric vehicles (EVs) and E-bicycles (EBs) equipped with permanent magnet motors comprise the transportation contribution. Permanent magnet motors have garnered nearly 100% of the market share among EV manufacturers worldwide. Industrial, professional service, and personal robots, most using permanent magnets, are also included in the projected global need for rare earths, particularly Nd and Dy.

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16 Oct 2023

Topic Review

Traumatic Bonding

Trauma bonds (also referred to as traumatic bonds) are emotional bonds with an individual (and sometimes, with a group) that arise from a recurring, cyclical pattern of abuse perpetuated by intermittent reinforcement through rewards and punishments. The process of forming trauma bonds is referred to as trauma bonding or traumatic bonding. A trauma bond usually involves a victim and a perpetrator in a uni-directional relationship wherein the victim forms an emotional bond with the perpetrator. This can also be conceptualized as a dominated-dominator or an abused-abuser dynamic. Two main factors are involved in the establishment of a trauma bond: a power imbalance and intermittent reinforcement of good and bad treatment, or reward and punishment. Trauma bonding can occur in the realms of romantic relationships, parent-child relationships, incestuous relationships, cults, hostage situations, sex trafficking (especially that of minors), or tours of duty among military personnel. Trauma bonds are based on terror, domination, and unpredictability. As a trauma bond between an abuser and a victim strengthens and deepens, it leads to conflicting feelings of alarm, numbness, and grief, that show up in a cyclical pattern. More often than not, victims in trauma bonds do not have agency and autonomy, and don't have an individual sense of self either. Their self-image is a derivative and an internalization of the abuser's conceptualization of them. Trauma bonds have severe detrimental effects on the victim not only while the relationship persists, but beyond that as well. Some long-term impacts of trauma bonding include but are not limited to remaining in abusive relationships, having adverse mental health outcomes like low self-esteem, negative self image, and increased likelihood of depression and bipolar disorder, and perpetuating a trans-generational cycle of abuse. Victims who traumatically bond with their victimizers are often unable to leave these relationships or are only able to do so with significant duress and difficulty. Even among those who do manage to leave, many go back to the abusive relationship due to the pervasiveness of the learned trauma bond.

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02 Nov 2022

Topic Review

A sex organ (or reproductive organ) is any part of an animal's body that is involved in sexual reproduction. The reproductive organs together constitute the reproductive system. The testis in the male, and the ovary in the female, are called the primary sex organs. All others are called secondary sex organs, divided between the external sex organs—the genitals or genitalia, visible at birth in both sexes—and the internal sex organs. Mosses, ferns, and some similar plants have gametangia for reproductive organs, which are part of the gametophyte. The flowers of flowering plants produce pollen and egg cells, but the sex organs themselves are inside the gametophytes within the pollen and the ovule. Coniferous plants likewise produce their sexually reproductive structures within the gametophytes contained within the cones and pollen. The cones and pollen are not themselves sexual organs.

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04 Nov 2022

Topic Review

Zen (Microarchitecture)

Zen is the codename for a computer processor microarchitecture from AMD, and was first used with their Ryzen series of CPUs in February 2017. The first Zen-based preview system was demonstrated at E3 2016, and first substantially detailed at an event hosted a block away from the Intel Developer Forum 2016. The first Zen-based CPUs codenamed "Summit Ridge" reached the market in early March 2017, Zen-derived Epyc server processors launched in June 2017 and Zen-based APUs arrived in November 2017. Zen is a clean sheet design that differs from the long-standing Bulldozer architecture. Zen-based processors use a 14 nm FinFET process, are reportedly more energy efficient, and can execute significantly more instructions per cycle. SMT has been introduced, allowing each core to run two threads. The cache system has also been redesigned, making the L1 cache write-back. Zen processors use three different sockets: desktop and mobile Ryzen chips use the AM4 socket, bringing DDR4 support; the high-end desktop Zen-based Threadripper chips support quad-channel DDR4 RAM and offer 64 PCIe 3.0 lanes (vs 24 lanes), using the TR4 socket; and Epyc server processors offer 128 PCI 3.0 lanes and octal-channel DDR4 using the SP3 socket. But not all Socket AM4 CPUs are based on Zen microarchitecture (the 7th gen APUs and Athlon X4s are based on Excavator microarchitecture). Zen is based on a SoC design. The memory, PCIe, SATA, and USB controllers are incorporated into the same chip as the processor cores. This has advantages in bandwidth and power, at the expense of chip complexity and die area. This SoC design allows the Zen microarchitecture to scale from laptops and small-form factor mini PCs to high-end desktops and servers.

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11 Nov 2022

Topic Review

Single-Crystal Nickel-Cobalt-Manganese Cathode Research

The booming electric vehicle industry continues to place higher requirements on power batteries related to economic-cost, power density and safety. The positive electrode materials play an important role in the energy storage performance of the battery. The nickel-rich NCM (LiNixCoyMnzO2 with x + y + z = 1) materials have received increasing attention due to their high energy density, which can satisfy the demand of commercial-grade power batteries. Prominently, single-crystal nickel-rich electrodes with s unique micron-scale single-crystal structure possess excellent electrochemical and mechanical performance, even when tested at high rates, high cut-off voltages and high temperatures.

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27 Dec 2022

Topic Review

Kizuna AI (Japanese: キズナアイ), or AI Kizuna in non-Japanese order, is a Japan ese virtual YouTuber and self-proclaimed artificial intelligence. As of 2019, she operates three YouTube channels, "A.I.Channel", "A.I.Games", and "A.I.Channel China." Kizuna claims to be the world's first Virtual YouTuber, though the first channel to use a CG avatar for vlogging purposes on YouTube was the channel of English-Japanese Ami Yamato, who debuted her first video on 2011. and later the adoption of a similar concept by Mattel, which involved the use of a virtual personality for a 2015 advertisement campaign. On 29 November 2016, Kizuna started posting videos on her first YouTube channel, "A.I.Channel". A second channel, "A.I. Games," was opened in March 2017 for gaming-related content. A third channel, "A.I.Channel China", launched in June 2019 for a Chinese audience. Many speculate that Kizuna was created using the MikuMikuDance software, and given facial expression and actions using motion capture technology. Kizuna's video content is similar to many other YouTubers, consisting primarily of discussions, Q&A videos, and more traditional "Let's Play" videos. Because Kizuna only communicates in Japanese, fans contribute translations for her videos, and there exists entire unofficial communities built around these translators, filling the void of an official English community. Kizuna has also performed at the various Anime Conventions, and has also worked with many game companies.

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20 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Civilians under international humanitarian law are "persons who are not members of the armed forces" and are not "combatants if they [do not] carry arms openly and respect the laws and customs of war". It is slightly different from a non-combatant, as some non-combatants are not civilians (for example, military chaplains attached to the belligerent party or military personnel serving with a neutral country). Civilians in the territories of a party to an armed conflict are entitled to certain privileges under the customary laws of war and international treaties such as the Fourth Geneva Convention. The privileges that they enjoy under international law depends on whether the conflict is an internal one (a civil war) or an international one. In some nations, uniformed members of civilian police or fire departments colloquially refer to members of the public as civilians.

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29 Nov 2022

Topic Review

Existing Reinforcement Concepts for 3D Printed Concrete

3D printed concrete (3DPC) technology is relatively new, and it still has many challenges to overcome if it is going to replace, at least in part, conventional concrete construction. One of the difficulties is the lack of proper reinforcement for printing building scale structures. Different ideas proposed to reinforce 3D printed concrete can be categorized based on the material (e.g., steel, thermoplastic, FRP, and other materials) or stage to place reinforcement (pre-installed, in-process, and post-installed reinforcement). However, limited available test data and even fewer examples of the use of the proposed reinforcement concepts in actual construction have retarded the development of this advanced technology. Before developing some novel concepts, looking back to review what has been achieved in this regard is a necessary step to move forward. This section will discuss the recent attempts to reinforce 3D printed concrete based on different stages to place the reinforcement.

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28 Mar 2022

Topic Review

Earwax, also known by the medical term cerumen, is a brown, orange, red, yellowish or gray waxy substance secreted in the ear canal of humans and other mammals. It protects the skin of the human ear canal, assists in cleaning and lubrication, and provides protection against bacteria, fungi, and water. Earwax consists of dead skin cells, hair, and the secretions of cerumen by the ceruminous and sebaceous glands of the outer ear canal. Major components of earwax are long chain fatty acids, both saturated and unsaturated, alcohols, squalene, and cholesterol. Excess or compacted cerumen is the buildup of ear wax causing a blockage in the ear canal and it can press against the eardrum or block the outside ear canal or hearing aids, potentially causing hearing loss.

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07 Nov 2022

Topic Review

Kādambari is a romantic novel in Sanskrit. It was substantially composed by Bāṇabhaṭṭa in the first half of the 7th century CE, who did not survive to see it through completion. The novel was completed by Banabhatta's son Bhushanabhatta, according to the plan laid out by his late father. It is conventionally divided into Purvabhaga (earlier part) written by Banabhatta, and Uttarabhaga (latter part) by Bhushanabhatta. (An alternate tradition gives the son's name as Pulindabhatta.) The standard editions of the original Sanskrit text are by Peterson and Kane. There are translations into English by Kale, Layne and Ridding; and an abridgement into Gujarati by Bhalan (edited by Keshavlal Dhruv). This novel has an extremely intricate plot which is difficult to summarize concisely. Its central thread is that of a romantic attachment (and eventual union) between the hero Chandrapeeda and the heroine Kadambari. However, there are several competing subplots; indeed, the heroine does not make her appearance until past the midpoint. Many of the characters appear in multiple incarnations, some as humans and some as demigods or animals. The narration proceeds in a succession of nested frames; a large part of it is a retelling by a parrot of a story which was told to it by a sage. The latter story also contains several instances of one character relating a sub-story to another character. The plot has probably been adapted from the story of King Sumanas from Gunadhya's Brihatkatha (a conjectural collection of stories in the extinct Paishachi language). This story also appears in Somadeva's Kathasaritsagara (which is believed to be a Sanskrit precis of Gunadhya's work). This work can be plausibly claimed to be one of the first novels in the world; making due allowance for the ambiguities of such a classification. In fact, two modern Indian languages (Kannada and Marathi) use 'kadambari' as a generic term for a romance or a novel. Apart from the Kadambari, Banabhatta is also the author of Harshacharita, a biography of his patron king Harshavardhana. It is this circumstance which allows one to date the author with a reasonable degree of certainty.

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14 Oct 2022

Topic Review

The Fiat CR.42 Falco ("Falcon", plural: Falchi) was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in Italy's Regia Aeronautica both before and during the Second World War. The CR.42 was an evolutionary design of Fiat’s earlier CR.32 fighter, featuring a more powerful supercharged Fiat A.74R1C.38 air-cooled radial engine and aerodynamic improvements to its relatively clean exterior surfaces. The aircraft proved to be relatively agile in flight, a factor that had been attributed to its very low wing loading and a sometimes decisive tactical advantage. RAF Intelligence praised its exceptional maneuverability, further noting that "the plane was immensely strong", though it was technically outclassed by faster, more heavily armed monoplanes. While primarily used as a fighter, various other roles were adopted for some variants of the type, such as the CR.42CN dedicated night fighter model, the CR.42AS ground attack aircraft, and the CR.42B Biposto twin-seat trainer aircraft. During May 1939, the CR.42 entered service with the Regia Aeronautica; it was the last of the Fiat biplane fighters to enter front line service. By 10 June 1940, the date when Italy entered the Second World War, roughly 300 of the type had been delivered, which were initially tasked with defending Italy's cities and key military installations. By the end of 1940, the Falco had been involved in combat on various fronts, including the Battle of France, the Battle of Britain, Malta, North Africa, and Greece. By the end of the war, Italian CR.42s had been used on further fronts, including Iraq, the Eastern Front and the Italian mainland. Following the signing of the Italian armistice with the Allies on 8 September 1943, the type was primarily relegated to use as a trainer by the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force , while some Italian CR.42s were seized by the Germans and used by the Luftwaffe to perform ground attack missions. In addition to its service in Italy, the CR.42 was produced and entered service in smaller numbers with the air forces of several nations, including Belgium, Sweden and Hungary. By the end of production, in excess of 1,800 CR.42s has been constructed, making it the most numerous Italian aircraft to be used during the Second World War. Aviation author Przemyslaw Skulski has claimed that the fighter had performed at its best during its service with the Hungarian Air Force, specifically during its deployment against Soviet forces on the Eastern Front of the war, where it reportedly achieved a kill to loss ratio of 12 to 1.

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18 Nov 2022

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