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Topic Review
Molecular Breeding in Plants
Plant breeding is a long and tedious process involving the generation of large populations through controlled crosses and the final selection of top individuals, the future new varieties. This process can take between 5 years in the case of horticultural crops to 15 years in the case of perennial fruit crops or 25 years in forest species. Plant breeding is an applied science, insofar as it is focused on solving specific problems, such as productivity, resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses, fruit quality, postharvest performance and sensorial attributes. In this context, a critical decision is the choice of genotypes that are used as parents. Additionally, the management, phenotyping and selection process of these seedlings are the main factors limiting the generation of new cultivars. In order to improve efficiency and sturdiness of plant breeding programs in relation to parent and seedling selection, the implementation of molecular tools is an essential requirement, including development of Marker Assisted Selection (MAS) strategies. On the other hand, we are facing a new molecular-biological perspective based on new methodologies that are affecting the genetics theory in addition to the definition of gene and Central Dogma of Molecular Biology (CDMB). This new molecular perspective, open new possibilities to improve the use of molecular tools in plant breeding. The goal of this review is the discussion about the new perspective of Plant Breeding in the context of the present Postgenomic era.
  • 3.6K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Biography
Max Tegmark
Max Erik Tegmark[1] (born 5 May 1967) is a Swedish-American physicist, cosmologist and machine learning researcher. He is a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the scientific director of the Foundational Questions Institute. He is also a co-founder of the Future of Life Institute and a supporter of the effective altruism movement, and has received research grants from Elon
  • 3.6K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Land Administration and Blockchain Technology
Transparency of processes is very crucial across all institutions. In land administration processes, this is particularly important given the multi-stakeholder involvement. This paper argues that transparency of land administration processes involves carrying out and sharing up-to-date information on ownership, value, and the use of land and all of its associated resources among related institutions, right holders and other stakeholders, including third parties, as well as, acting on the information in an open manner. To achieve this in Ghana, blockchain technology has been identified as a complementary tool to the Ghanaian land administration system. Blockchain technology refers to a fully distributed crypto-graphical system that captures and stores a consistent, immutable and linear event log of the transactions between networked actors. The study identifies that given the potentials of blockchain technology which include; decentralization of transaction to all connected stakeholders, the immutability of records, hashing of records that allows for quick access to both historical and current land transactions' data, as well as the blockchain smart contract among others, land administration processes of land tenure, land valuation, land use planning, and land development will benefit from openness, and transparency, and human error elimination. It will also eliminate fraud, and double sales of land among other land challenges identified in the Ghanaian land sector.  The study proposes that for real-time land up-date in land information across all the land sector divisions; land valuation division, land title registration, survey and mapping division, and the public and vested land management division, a permisionless public blockchain architecture be adopted for the Ghanaian land system. This is because, in comparison to the other blockchain architecture types, the permisionless public blockchain allows more transparency, decentralization, openness, integration, and also adheres to privacy and data protection laws. This study and its results are particularly important not only to the Ghanaian land sector and its stakeholders, but to all other land administration systems in the sub-Saharan Africa region given the similarities in land administration across the region. In the Ghanaian context however, the study's findings if implemented will affect the institutional relations and shared authorities between all stakeholders which include government agencies, local chiefs and individual landowners. This is because, land decisions and land data will not become shared responsibility of all stakeholders and not dependent on just some few stakeholders. A successful implementation of blockchain in Ghana's land administration will however depend on negotiations and consensus amongst the different land stakeholder, education of all stakeholders on the technology, and its impacts, as well as standardization in the land administration processes across the different land divisions. This is because, where there is no such standardization, there is a high possibility of inconsistencies and irregularities in the processes which can affect the efficient working of the blockchain system.
  • 3.6K
  • 07 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Improvement of Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.)
Chilli (Capsicum annuum L.) is an herbaceous crop and plays an important role as common spices and vegetables. Pepper (Capsicum spp.) is one of the most cost-effective and agricultural vegetables in the world.
  • 3.6K
  • 10 Nov 2021
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Misinformation about COVID-19: Psychological Insights
While the precise conceptualization of the term misinformation remains a subject of debate, the current entry defines misinformation as any type of information which is misleading or false, regardless of intent. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen the rapid and widespread sharing of misinformation on a global scale, which has had detrimental effects on containment efforts and public health. This entry offers psychological insights to better our understanding of what makes people susceptible to believing and sharing misinformation and how this can inform interventions aimed at tackling the issue.
  • 3.6K
  • 13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Silver Nanoparticles for Chronic Wound Management
Infections are the primary cause of death from burns and diabetic wounds. The clinical difficulty of treating wound infections with conventional antibiotics has progressively increased and reached a critical level, necessitating a paradigm change for enhanced chronic wound care. The most prevalent bacterium linked with these infections is Staphylococcus aureus, and the advent of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus has posed a substantial therapeutic challenge. Most existing wound dressings are ineffective and suffer from constraints such as insufficient antibacterial activity, toxicity, failure to supply enough moisture to the wound, and poor mechanical performance. Using ineffective wound dressings might prolong the healing process of a wound. To meet this requirement, nanoscale scaffolds with their desirable qualities, which include the potential to distribute bioactive agents, a large surface area, enhanced mechanical capabilities, the ability to imitate the extracellular matrix (ECM), and high porosity, have attracted considerable interest. The incorporation of nanoparticles into nanofiber scaffolds constitutes a novel approach to “nanoparticle dressing” that has acquired significant popularity for wound healing. Due to their remarkable antibacterial capabilities, silver nanoparticles are attractive materials for wound healing. 
  • 3.6K
  • 22 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Wearable Biosensors
Recent advances in lab-on-a-chip technology establish solid foundations for wearable biosensors. These newly emerging wearable biosensors are capable of non-invasive, continuous monitoring by miniaturization of electronics and integration with microfluidics. The advent of flexible electronics, biochemical sensors, soft microfluidics, and pain-free microneedles have created new generations of wearable biosensors that explore brand-new avenues to interface with the human epidermis for monitoring physiological status. However, these devices are relatively underexplored for sports monitoring and analytics, which may be largely facilitated by the recent emergence of wearable biosensors characterized by real-time, non-invasive, and non-irritating sensing capacities.
  • 3.6K
  • 18 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Natural Convection
Convection is single or multiphase fluid flow that occurs spontaneously due to the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoyancy). When the cause of the convection is unspecified, convection due to the effects of thermal expansion and buoyancy can be assumed. Convection may also take place in soft solids or mixtures where particles can flow. Convective flow may be transient (such as when a multiphase mixture of oil and water separates) or steady state (see Convection cell). The convection may be due to gravitational, electromagnetic or fictitious body forces. Heat transfer by natural convection plays a role in the structure of Earth's atmosphere, its oceans, and its mantle. Discrete convective cells in the atmosphere can be identified by clouds, with stronger convection resulting in thunderstorms. Natural convection also plays a role in stellar physics. Convection is often categorised or described by the main effect causing the convective flow, e.g. Thermal convection. Convection cannot take place in most solids because neither bulk current flows nor significant diffusion of matter can take place.
  • 3.6K
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Weight
In science and engineering, the weight of an object is the force acting on the object due to gravity. Some standard textbooks define weight as a vector quantity, the gravitational force acting on the object. Others define weight as a scalar quantity, the magnitude of the gravitational force. Others define it as the magnitude of the reaction force exerted on a body by mechanisms that keep it in place: the weight is the quantity that is measured by, for example, a spring scale. Thus, in a state of free fall, the weight would be zero. In this sense of weight, terrestrial objects can be weightless: ignoring air resistance, the famous apple falling from the tree, on its way to meet the ground near Isaac Newton, would be weightless. The unit of measurement for weight is that of force, which in the International System of Units (SI) is the newton. For example, an object with a mass of one kilogram has a weight of about 9.8 newtons on the surface of the Earth, and about one-sixth as much on the Moon. Although weight and mass are scientifically distinct quantities, the terms are often confused with each other in everyday use (i.e. comparing and converting force weight in pounds to mass in kilograms and vice versa). Further complications in elucidating the various concepts of weight have to do with the theory of relativity according to which gravity is modeled as a consequence of the curvature of spacetime. In the teaching community, a considerable debate has existed for over half a century on how to define weight for their students. The current situation is that a multiple set of concepts co-exist and find use in their various contexts.
  • 3.6K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Minix 3
MINIX 3 is a small, Unix-like operating system. It is published under a BSD-3-Clause[lower-alpha 1] license and is a successor project to the earlier versions, MINIX 1 and 2. The project's main goal is for the system to be fault-tolerant by detecting and repairing its faults on the fly, with no user intervention. The main uses of the system are envisaged to be embedded systems and education. (As of 2017), MINIX 3 supports IA-32 and ARM architecture processors. It can also run on emulators or virtual machines, such as Bochs, VMware Workstation, Microsoft Virtual PC, Oracle VirtualBox, and QEMU. A port to PowerPC architecture is in development. The distribution comes on a live CD and does not support live USB installation. MINIX 3 is believed to have inspired the Intel Management Engine (ME) OS found in Intel's Platform Controller Hub, starting with the introduction of ME 11, which is used with Skylake and Kaby Lake processors. It was debated that MINIX could have been the most widely used OS on x86/AMD64 processors, with more installations than Microsoft Windows, Linux, or macOS, because of its use in the Intel ME. The project has been dormant since 2018, and the latest release is 3.4.0 rc6 from 2017, although the MINIX 3 discussion group is still active.
  • 3.6K
  • 07 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Storage of Cereals in Warehouses
Storage of Cereals in Warehouses refers to the methods of how people restore the cereals. In this entry, we depict the development history and basic storage information. For decades, the use of various synthetic pesticides has been the key factor in the proper and long-term storage of cereals. Unfortunately, we are faced with non-acceptable data regarding the effects of synthetic pesticides. Due to this, further steps have been made in order to take measures to reduce the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 50% by 2030 and to reduce the use of more dangerous pesticides by 50% by 2030. The concept of integrated pest management has been promoted as a dynamic and flexible approach leading to the reduction of chemical pesticide usage and their negative effects on the environment. 
  • 3.6K
  • 20 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Hollow-Core Photonic Crystal Fibers
This entry briefly introduces hollow-core photonic crystal fibers (HC-PCF), and mainly discusses their applications in  fiber gas Raman lasers (FGRL) at 1.7μm band. A 1.7 μm pulsed laser plays an important role in bioimaging, gas detection, and so on. FGRLs based on HC-PCFs provide a novel and effective method for fiber lasers operating at 1.7 μm. Compared with traditional methods, FGRLs have more advantages in generating high-power 1.7 μm pulsed lasers.
  • 3.6K
  • 08 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Human-Robot Collaboration
Human-Robot Collaboration is the study of collaborative processes in human and robot agents work together to achieve shared goals. Many new applications for robots require them to work alongside people as capable members of human-robot teams. These include robots for homes, hospitals, and offices, space exploration and manufacturing. Human-Robot Collaboration (HRC) is an interdisciplinary research area comprising classical robotics, human-computer interaction, artificial intelligence, process design, layout planning, ergonomics, cognitive sciences, and psychology. Industrial applications of human-robot collaboration involve Collaborative Robots, or cobots, that physically interact with humans in a shared workspace to complete tasks such as collaborative manipulation or object handovers.
  • 3.6K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Hindu Eschatology
Hindu eschatology is linked in the Vaishnavite tradition to the figure of Kalki, or the tenth and last avatar of Vishnu names of the Supreme Being in Hinduism and before the age draws to a close, and Harihara simultaneously dissolves and regenerates the universe. The current period is Kali Yuga, the last of four Yuga that make up the current age. It started just after Krishna left the earth in human form, in almost 3102 BCE or 5123 years from 2021. Each period has seen a progressive decline in morality, to the point that in Kali Yuga quarrel and hypocrisy are norm. In Hinduism, time is cyclic, consisting of cycles or "kalpas". Each kalpa lasts for 4.32 billion years and is followed by a pralaya (dissolution) of equal length, which together make a period of one full day and night of Brahma's 100 360-day year lifespan, who lives for 311 trillion, 40 billion years. The cycle of birth, growth, decay, and renewal at the individual level finds its echo in the cosmic order, yet is affected by the vagaries of divine intervention in Vaishnavism. Some Shaivites hold the view that he is incessantly destroying and creating the world.
  • 3.6K
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Antifoaming Agent for Lubricating Oil
In the process of using lubricating oil, it is inevitable that bubbles will be produced, which can not only accelerate the oil’s oxidation and shorten the oil change cycle but also reduce its fluidity and lubricity, aggravate the wear of mechanical parts and produce an air lock that interrupts the oil pump supply and causes an oil shortage accident.
  • 3.6K
  • 18 Apr 2023
Topic Review
The Impact of Climate Change on Egyptian Livestock
Egypt is one of the hottest countries in the world, and extreme climate events are becoming more frequent, which is consistent with the warming of the planet. The impact of this warming on ecosystems is severe, including on livestock production systems. Under Egyptian conditions, livestock already suffer heat stress periods in summer. The predicted increases in temperature as result of climate change will affect livestock production by reducing growth and milk production because of appetite suppression and conception rate reductions and will increase animal welfare concerns. In severe cases, these effects can result in death.
  • 3.6K
  • 05 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Russia under Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Putin has served three terms and is currently in a fourth as President of Russia (2000–2004, 2004–2008, 2012–2018 and May 2018 to present) and was Acting President from 1999 to 2000, succeeding Boris Yeltsin after Yeltsin's resignation. Putin was also Prime Minister for three months in 1999 and served a full term from 2008 to 2012. During Putin's presidency, he has been a member of the Unity party and the United Russia party. He is also affiliated with the People’s Front, a group of supporters that Putin organized in 2011 to help improve the public's perception of United Russia. His political ideology, priorities and policies are sometimes referred to as Putinism (Russian: путинизм). Putin has enjoyed very high domestic approval ratings and in 2007 was Time magazine's Person of the Year. In 2015, he was designated No. 1 in Time 100, Time magazine's list of the top 100 most influential people in the world. In 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016, he was designated No. 1 on the Forbes list of The World’s Most Powerful People. The Russian economy and standard of living grew rapidly during the early period of Putin's regime, fueled largely by a boom in the oil industry. However, lower oil prices and sanctions for Russia's annexation of Crimea led to recession and stagnation in 2015 that has persisted into the present day.. Political freedoms have been sharply curtailed, leading to widespread condemmnation from human rights groups.
  • 3.6K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
O3b MEO
O3b MEO is a satellite constellation in Medium Earth orbit (MEO) designed to provide low-latency broadband connectivity to remote locations for mobile network operators and internet service providers, maritime, aviation, and government and defence. Originally O3b, the name was changed in September 2020 to more clearly distinguish these satellites from the forthcoming O3b mPOWER constellation. O3b stood for "other three billion", or the other three billion people at the time that did not have stable internet access. The constellation was initially built, owned and operated by O3b Networks, which became a wholly owned subsidiary of SES S.A. in 2016 and ownership and operation of the constellation passed to SES Networks, a division of SES. The O3b MEO constellation began offering service in March 2014.
  • 3.6K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Applications of Lysozyme
Lysozyme (or muramidase or N-acetylmuramic acid hydrolase E.C. 3.2.1.17) is a protein that exerts its enzymatic activity through the hydrolysis of the β-1,4-glycosidic bonds between N-acetylmuramic acid (NAM) and N-acetylglucosamide (NAG) in the polysaccharide backbone of the peptidoglycans of the Gram-positive bacterial cell wall. Peptidoglycan is composed of polysaccharide chains cross-linked by short peptides. The polysaccharide chains contain alternate units of NAM and NAG.
  • 3.6K
  • 24 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Bacteriophage Tail Fiber Interaction with Host Surface Receptor
Bacteriophages (phages), as natural antibacterial agents, are being rediscovered because of the growing threat of multi- and pan-drug-resistant bacterial pathogens globally. Most phages package their genome in the proteinaceous capsid (or head) and have a tail attached to the capsid. Tailed double-stranded DNA bacteriophages belonging to the class Caudoviricetes (Cauda means “tail” in Latin) are the most prevalent (~96% of all known phages). Based on tail morphology, they are further classified into three morphotypes: myovirus, siphovirus, and podovirus. Myophages (e.g., T4, T2, Mu, S16, and φKZ) have long, rigid, contractile tails with a sheath around a central tube; siphophages (e.g., λ, T5, HK97, and SPP1) possess long, flexible, non-contractile tails; and podophages (e.g., T7, T3, P22, and φ29) have short, non-contractile tails. Of these, myophages possess the most complex tail architectures with the greatest number of proteins involved in tail assembly and function.
  • 3.6K
  • 20 Oct 2022
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