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Topic Review
Dr. Dipankar Chakraborti: A Legend of Arsenic Research
This encyclopedia provides a brief biography of a legendary scientist Dr. Dipankar Chakraborti. Dr. Chakraborti pioneered arsenic research in the Ganga Meghna Brahmaputra Basin and dedicated his entire life to researching and serving arsenic-affected communities in India and Bangladesh. 
  • 3.8K
  • 22 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Plectranthus Scutellarioides
Plectranthus scutellarioides, commonly known as coleus, is a species of flowering plant in the family Lamiaceae (the mint or deadnettle family), native to southeast Asia through to Australia. Typically growing to 60–75 cm (24–30 in) tall and wide, it is a bushy, woody-based evergreen perennial, widely grown for the highly decorative variegated leaves found in cultivated varieties. Another common name is painted nettle, reflecting its relationship to deadnettles (Lamium species), which are in the same family. (True nettles and their close kin are in the family Urticaceae.) The synonyms Coleus blumei and Solenostemon scutellarioides are also widely used names for this species.
  • 3.8K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Environmental Orientation and Environment Commitment
Environmental orientation reflects the extent to which employees recognize the legitimacy of environmental issues and the impact that the firm has on those issues. It is an essential part of the strategic disposition of any organization that translates into business operations and how operating in an environmentally sustainable way is perceived by different members of the organization. Environmental commitment practices ranged from having a formal environmental plan to a dedicated board or committee looking after the environmental issues. Drivers of environmental commitment can be identified on the continuum of internal to external drivers. The environmental orientation is one of the drivers of environmental commitment by firms as it can prompt the organizational leaders to take pro-environmental initiatives. When environmentalism is part of corporate identity, environmental commitment becomes a moral obligation.
  • 3.8K
  • 04 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Noise Removal Filter for LiDAR Point Clouds
Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) is a critical sensor for autonomous vehicle systems, providing high-resolution distance measurements in real-time. However, adverse weather conditions such as snow, rain, fog, and sun glare can affect LiDAR performance, requiring data preprocessing.
  • 3.8K
  • 24 May 2023
Topic Review
Jackson Family
The Jackson family is an important and influential American family of singers that has garnered prominence in the music industry, originated from Gary, Indiana. Performing as members of The Jackson 5 and as solo artists, the children of Joseph Walter and Katherine Esther Jackson were very successful in the field of popular music from the late 1960s onwards. As a group, the eldest sons Jackie, Tito, Jermaine, Marlon, Michael, and later with the inclusion of Randy. The members who managed to be solo icons in music are Michael Jackson and Janet Jackson. The Jackson 5 became known as the "First Family of Soul" (a title first held by the Five Stairsteps). The continued success of Michael and Janet's careers as solo artists led the Jacksons to become known as the "Royal Family of Pop". All nine of the Jackson siblings have gold records to their credits with La Toya holding the distinction of being the first Jackson sister to attain one (awarded by France's SNEP for "Reggae Night", a song she co-wrote for Jimmy Cliff), and now to Janet Jackson for being the first black woman to receive the Billboard Icon Award. The Jackson family has been the subject of controversy linked to the Jordan Chandler Case. But the most controversial facts of Jackson's private life are accusations made by his sons against family patriarch Joseph Jackson claiming that he was harassed by his father as a child. Despite these circumstances and other problems, the Jacksons continued to be one of the most influential families in the United States and in recent years some family members have been honored for their work; in 1997 The Jackson 5 was inducted to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Michael would follow the group to the hall in 2001. The Jacksons, Michael and Janet all received stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1980, 1984 and 1990 respectively. Joseph was recognized as "the best musical businessman of all time" by the city of Cleveland in 2002. In 2009 a new series from A&E entitled The Jacksons: A Family Dynasty premiered documenting the Jackson brothers dealing with the sudden loss of Michael and preparing for a Jackson 5 Reunion tour. The most popular member of the Jackson family was Michael Jackson, known as the King of Pop and died in June 2009, due to a cardiac arrest.
  • 3.8K
  • 01 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Design and Operation Mode of Zigzag Air Classifier
The zigzag (ZZ) classifier is a sorting and classification device with a wide range of applications (e.g. recycling, food industry). Due to the possible variation of geometry and process settings, the apparatus is used for various windows of operation due to the specifications of the separation (e.g. cut sizes from 100 µm to several decimetres, compact and fluffy materials as well as foils).
  • 3.8K
  • 27 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Heavy Metals and Metalloids
The contamination of soil by heavy metals and metalloids is a worldwide problem due to the accumulation of these compounds in the environment, endangering human health, plants, and animals. Heavy metals and metalloids are normally present in nature, but the rise of industrialization has led to concentrations higher than the admissible ones. They are non-biodegradable and toxic, even at very low concentrations. Several techniques have been developed over the years: - physical remediation (e.g., washing, thermal desorption, solidification), - chemical remediation (e.g., adsorption, catalysis, precipitation/solubilization, electrokinetic methods), - biological remediation (e.g., biodegradation, phytoremediation, bioventing), and combined remediation (e.g., electrokinetic–microbial remediation; washing–microbial degradation).
  • 3.8K
  • 20 May 2021
Biography
Robert Lawrence Kuhn
Robert Lawrence Kuhn[1] (born 1944) is a public intellectual, international corporate strategist and investment banker. He has a doctorate in neuroscience and is the author and editor of over 25 books. He is a recipient of the China Reform Friendship Medal, China's highest award; he is a long-time adviser to China's leaders and the Chinese government, to multinational corporations on China strat
  • 3.8K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
History of Life
The history of life on Earth traces the processes by which living and fossil organisms evolved, from the earliest emergence of life to the present day. Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago (abbreviated as Ga, for gigaannum) and evidence suggests that life emerged prior to 3.7 Ga. Although there is some evidence of life as early as 4.1 to 4.28 Ga, it remains controversial due to the possible non-biological formation of the purported fossils. The similarities among all known present-day species indicate that they have diverged through the process of evolution from a common ancestor. Only a very small percentage of species have been identified: one estimate claims that Earth may have 1 trillion species. However, only 1.75–1.8 million have been named and 1.8 million documented in a central database. These currently living species represent less than one percent of all species that have ever lived on Earth. The earliest evidence of life comes from biogenic carbon signatures and stromatolite fossils discovered in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks from western Greenland. In 2015, possible "remains of biotic life" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. In March 2017, putative evidence of possibly the oldest forms of life on Earth was reported in the form of fossilized microorganisms discovered in hydrothermal vent precipitates in the Nuvvuagittuq Belt of Quebec, Canada, that may have lived as early as 4.28 billion years ago, not long after the oceans formed 4.4 billion years ago, and not long after the formation of the Earth 4.54 billion years ago. Microbial mats of coexisting bacteria and archaea were the dominant form of life in the early Archean Epoch and many of the major steps in early evolution are thought to have taken place in this environment. The evolution of photosynthesis, around 3.5 Ga, eventually led to a buildup of its waste product, oxygen, in the atmosphere, leading to the great oxygenation event, beginning around 2.4 Ga. The earliest evidence of eukaryotes (complex cells with organelles) dates from 1.85 Ga, and while they may have been present earlier, their diversification accelerated when they started using oxygen in their metabolism. Later, around 1.7 Ga, multicellular organisms began to appear, with differentiated cells performing specialised functions. Sexual reproduction, which involves the fusion of male and female reproductive cells (gametes) to create a zygote in a process called fertilization is, in contrast to asexual reproduction, the primary method of reproduction for the vast majority of macroscopic organisms, including almost all eukaryotes (which includes animals and plants). However the origin and evolution of sexual reproduction remain a puzzle for biologists though it did evolve from a common ancestor that was a single celled eukaryotic species. Bilateria, animals having a left and a right side that are mirror images of each other, appeared by 555 Ma (million years ago). Algae-like multicellular land plants are dated back even to about 1 billion years ago, although evidence suggests that microorganisms formed the earliest terrestrial ecosystems, at least 2.7 Ga. Microorganisms are thought to have paved the way for the inception of land plants in the Ordovician period. Land plants were so successful that they are thought to have contributed to the Late Devonian extinction event. (The long causal chain implied seems to involve the success of early tree archaeopteris (1) drew down CO2 levels, leading to global cooling and lowered sea levels, (2) roots of archeopteris fostered soil development which increased rock weathering, and the subsequent nutrient run-off may have triggered algal blooms resulting in anoxic events which caused marine-life die-offs. Marine species were the primary victims of the Late Devonian extinction.) Ediacara biota appear during the Ediacaran period, while vertebrates, along with most other modern phyla originated about 525 Ma during the Cambrian explosion. During the Permian period, synapsids, including the ancestors of mammals, dominated the land, but most of this group became extinct in the Permian–Triassic extinction event 252 Ma. During the recovery from this catastrophe, archosaurs became the most abundant land vertebrates; one archosaur group, the dinosaurs, dominated the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods. After the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event 66 Ma killed off the non-avian dinosaurs, mammals increased rapidly in size and diversity. Such mass extinctions may have accelerated evolution by providing opportunities for new groups of organisms to diversify.
  • 3.8K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Sexual Identity
Sexual identity is how one thinks of oneself in terms of to whom one is romantically or sexually attracted. Sexual identity may also refer to sexual orientation identity, which is when people identify or dis-identify with a sexual orientation or choose not to identify with a sexual orientation. Sexual identity and sexual behavior are closely related to sexual orientation, but they are distinguished, with identity referring to an individual's conception of themselves, behavior referring to actual sexual acts performed by the individual, and sexual orientation referring to romantic or sexual attractions toward persons of the opposite sex or gender, the same sex or gender, to both sexes or more than one gender, or to no one. Historical models of sexual identity have tended to view its formation as a process undergone only by sexual minorities, while more contemporary models view the process as far more universal and attempt to present sexual identity within the larger scope of other major identity theories and processes.
  • 3.8K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Steady State Model
In cosmology, the steady state model is an alternative to the Big Bang theory of the evolution of our universe. In the steady state model, the density of matter in the expanding universe remains unchanged due to a continuous creation of matter, thus adhering to the perfect cosmological principle, a principle that asserts that the observable universe is basically the same at any time as well as at any place. While the steady state model enjoyed some popularity in the mid-20th century (though less popularity than the Big Bang theory), it is now rejected by the vast majority of cosmologists, astrophysicists and astronomers, as the observational evidence points to a hot Big Bang cosmology with a finite age of the universe, which the steady state model does not predict.
  • 3.8K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Avoidant Personality Disorder
Avoidant personality disorder (AvPD) is a Cluster C personality disorder in which the main coping mechanism of those affected is avoidance of feared stimuli. Those affected display a pattern of severe social anxiety, social inhibition, feelings of inadequacy and inferiority, extreme sensitivity to negative evaluation and rejection, and avoidance of social interaction despite a strong desire for intimacy. People with AvPD often consider themselves to be socially inept or personally unappealing and avoid social interaction for fear of being ridiculed, humiliated, rejected, or disliked. They often avoid becoming involved with others unless they are certain they will be liked. Childhood emotional neglect (in particular, the rejection of a child by one or both parents) and peer group rejection are associated with an increased risk for its development; however, it is possible for AvPD to occur without any notable history of abuse or neglect.
  • 3.8K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Airbus Beluga XL
The Airbus BelugaXL (A330-743L) is a large transport aircraft based on the Airbus A330-200F built by Airbus to replace the original Airbus Beluga in the movement of oversized aircraft components like wings. The aircraft made its first flight on 19 July 2018, and received its type certification on 13 November 2019. The BelugaXL entered service with Airbus Transport on 9 January 2020.
  • 3.8K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Tropical Monsoon Climate
An area of tropical monsoon climate (occasionally known as a tropical wet climate or a tropical monsoon and trade-wind littoral climate) is a type of climate that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification category "Am". Tropical monsoon climates have monthly mean temperatures above 18 °C (64 °F) in every month of the year and a dry season. :200–1 Tropical monsoon climates is the intermediate climate between the wet Af (or tropical rainforest climate) and the drier Aw (or tropical savanna climate). A tropical monsoon climate, however, has its driest month seeing on average less than 60 mm, but more than [math]\displaystyle{ 100-\left ( \frac{Total\ Annual\ Precipitation\ (mm)}{25} \right ) }[/math]. This latter fact is in direct contrast to a tropical savanna climate, whose driest month sees less than 60 mm of precipitation and also less than [math]\displaystyle{ 100-\left ( \frac{Total\ Annual\ Precipitation\ (mm)}{25} \right ) }[/math] of average monthly precipitation. In essence, a tropical monsoon climate tends to either see more rainfall than a tropical savanna climate or have less pronounced dry seasons. Additionally, a tropical monsoon climate tends to see less variance in temperatures during the course of the year than a tropical savanna climate. This climate has a driest month which nearly always occurs at or soon after the "winter" solstice for that side of the equator.
  • 3.8K
  • 03 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Christian Left
The Christian left is a range of center-left and left-wing Christian political and social movements that largely embrace social justice viewpoints and uphold a social doctrine or social gospel. Given the inherent diversity in international political thought, the term Christian left can have different meanings and applications in different countries. While there is much overlap, the Christian left is distinct from liberal Christianity, meaning not all Christian leftists are liberal Christians and vice versa. Christian anarchism, Christian communism and Christian socialism are subsects of the socialist Christian left, although it also includes more moderate Christian left-liberal and social-democratic viewpoints.
  • 3.8K
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Salinity Stress in Plants
Plant growth and development is adversely affected by different kind of stresses. One of the major abiotic stresses, salinity, causes complex changes in plants by influencing the interactions of genes. 
  • 3.8K
  • 05 Feb 2021
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Elevator Technology Improvements: A Snapshot
Efficient vertical transportation is vital to a skyscraper’s functional operation and the convenience and satisfaction of its tenants. This review complements the author’s previously published research by updating the readers on innovative hardware and software-based solutions. It lays out, organizes, and combines extensive and scattered material on numerous aspects of elevator design in a straightforward and non-technical narrative. Rope-less elevators, the MULTI, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and extended reality technologies are some of the developments and advancements this article examines. The analysis also contextualizes current technical developments by reviewing how they are used in significant projects such as the One World Trade Center in New York City. Lastly, the paper examines innovative technologies, such as holographic elevator buttons and ultraviolet rays that disinfect elevators, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
  • 3.8K
  • 04 May 2023
Topic Review
Lyra
Lyra is a constellation in the northern celestial hemisphere known for its prominent star Vega, one of the brightest stars in the sky. Represented as a lyre, a musical instrument from Greek mythology, Lyra is rich in celestial objects. Lyra is bordered by Vulpecula to the south, Hercules to the west, Draco to the north, and Cygnus to the east.
  • 3.8K
  • 15 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Location-Based Service
A location-based service (LBS) is a general term denoting software services which utilize geographic data and information to provide services or information to users. LBS can be used in a variety of contexts, such as health, indoor object search, entertainment, work, personal life, etc. Commonly used examples of location based services include navigation software, social networking services, location-based advertising, and tracking systems. LBS can also include mobile commerce when taking the form of coupons or advertising directed at customers based on their current location. They include personalized weather services and even location-based games. LBS is critical to many businesses as well as government organizations to drive real insight from data tied to a specific location where activities take place. The spatial patterns that location-related data and services can provide is one of its most powerful and useful aspects where location is a common denominator in all of these activities and can be leveraged to better understand patterns and relationships. Banking, surveillance, online commerce, and many weapon systems are dependent on LBS. Access policies are controlled by location data and/or time-of-day constraints, or a combination thereof. As such, an LBS is an information service and has a number of uses in social networking today as information, in entertainment or security, which is accessible with mobile devices through the mobile network and which uses information on the geographical position of the mobile device. This concept of location based systems is not compliant with the standardized concept of real-time locating systems (RTLS) and related local services, as noted in ISO/IEC 19762-5 and ISO/IEC 24730-1. While networked computing devices generally do very well to inform consumers of days old data, the computing devices themselves can also be tracked, even in real-time. LBS privacy issues arise in that context, and are documented below.
  • 3.8K
  • 25 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Breguet 14
The Breguet 14 was a French biplane bomber and reconnaissance aircraft of the First World War. It was built in very large numbers and production continued for many years after the end of the war. Apart from its widespread usage, the Breguet 14 is known for being the first mass-produced aircraft to use large amounts of metal, rather than wood, in its structure. This allowed the airframe to be lighter than a wooden airframe of the same strength, in turn making the aircraft relatively fast and agile for its size; in combat situations, it was able to outrun many of the contemporary fighters of the day. The Breguet 14's strong construction allowed it to sustain considerable damage, in addition to being easy to handle and possessing favourable performance. The type has often been considered to have been one of the best aircraft of the war.
  • 3.8K
  • 14 Nov 2022
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