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Topic Review
Aminoacyl-tRNA Synthetases
Aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (aaRSs) are a family of essential and universal ‘house-keeping’ enzymes responsible for catalyzing the esterification of amino acids to their cognate tRNAs.
  • 3.4K
  • 09 Mar 2021
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
The Potential for Cellulose Deconstruction in Fungal Genomes
Fungal cellulolytic enzymes are carbohydrate active enzymes (CAzymes) essential for the deconstruction of the plant cell wall. Cellulolytic activity is described in some glycoside hydrolases (GH-cellulases) and in auxiliary activities (AA-cellulases) families. Across environments, these enzymes are mostly produced by some fungi and some bacteria. Cellulolytic fungi secrete these enzymes to deconstruct polysaccharides into simple and easy to metabolize oligo- and mono-saccharides. The fungal ability to degrade cellulose result from their repertoire of CAZymes-encoding genes targeting many substrates (e.g., xylan, arabinose). Over the past decade, the increased number of sequenced fungal genomes allowed the sequence-based identification of many new CAZyme-encoding genes. Together, the predicted cellulolytic enzymes constitute the fungal potential for cellulose deconstruction. As not all fungi have the same genetic makeup, identifying the potential for cellulose deconstruction across different lineages can help identify the various fungal strategies to access and degrade cellulose (conserved vs. variable genomic features) and highlight the evolution of cellulase-encoding genes. Here, the potential for cellulose deconstruction identified across publicly accessible, and published, fungal genomes is discussed. 
  • 3.4K
  • 24 May 2022
Topic Review
Molecular Components of Grape Seeds and Grape Marc
Nutritional interventions may highly contribute to the maintenance or restoration of human health. Grapes (Vitis vinifera) are one of the oldest known beneficial nutritional components of the human diet. Their high polyphenol content has been proven to enhance human health beyond doubt in statistics-based public health studies, especially in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and cancer.
  • 3.4K
  • 28 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Internet of Beer
Today Internet of Things (IoT) is a widespread definition indicating a set of “smart objects” (smart devices) connected to and through the internet. Through the connection, information is observed, recorded, analyzed, and transferred, in a context in which “things” talk to each other and then carry out consequent actions.
  • 3.4K
  • 15 Apr 2024
Topic Review
Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities
The Woodcock–Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities is a set of intelligence tests first developed in 1977 by Richard Woodcock and Mary E. Bonner Johnson (although Johnson's contribution is disputed). It was revised in 1989, again in 2001, and most recently in 2014; this last version is commonly referred to as the WJ IV. They may be administered to children from age two right up to the oldest adults (with norms utilizing individuals in their 90s). The previous edition WJ III was praised for covering "a wide variety of cognitive skills".
  • 3.4K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Biodiesel Production from Animal Fats
Animal fats, usually found as waste from slaughterhouses, meat processing industry, and cooking facilities, constitute some of the most relevant waste with costly treatment because environmental regulations are quite strict. Part of such costs may be reduced through the generation of biodiesel that constitutes a valid renewable source of energy because it is biodegradable, non-toxic and has a good combustion emission profile. Furthermore, biodiesel can be blended up to 20% with fossil diesel for its use in many countries. Up to 70% of the total cost of biodiesel majorly depends on the cost of the raw materials used, which can be reduced using animal fat waste because they are cheaper than vegetable oil waste. Transesterification with alkaline catalysis is still preferred at industrial plants producing biodiesel. However, recent developments in technologies for process intensification like ultrasound, microwave, and different types of reactors have been successfully applied in transesterification and improved biodiesel production. Better efficiency has been achieved with new heterogeneous catalysts and nanocatalysts that can be easily recovered, regenerated and reused, and immobilized lipases with increased stability and resistance to alcohol denaturation. Also new adsorbents for increased oxidation stability of biodiesel. All these developments are promising for industrial use in near future.
  • 3.4K
  • 27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Euphorbia neriifolia Linn.
Medicinal plants have considerable potential as antimicrobial agents due to the presence of secondary metabolites. Researchers aim to summarize the classification, morphology, and ethnobotanical uses of Euphorbia neriifolia L. and its derived phytochemicals with the recent updates on the pharmacological properties against emerging infectious diseases, mainly focusing on bacterial, viral, fungal, and parasitic infections. 
  • 3.4K
  • 14 Jul 2022
Topic Review
IBM Systems Network Architecture
Systems Network Architecture (SNA) is IBM's proprietary networking architecture, created in 1974. It is a complete protocol stack for interconnecting computers and their resources. SNA describes formats and protocols and is, in itself, not a piece of software. The implementation of SNA takes the form of various communications packages, most notably Virtual Telecommunications Access Method (VTAM), the mainframe software package for SNA communications.
  • 3.4K
  • 28 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Jilly Juice
Jilly Juice is a quack pseudomedicine in the form of a fermented drink that is falsely claimed by its proponents to be able to cure an assortment of conditions, including cancer and autism spectrum disorders, as well as regenerate missing limbs, reverse the effects of aging, and "cure" homosexuality. No studies have proven any of these claims, nor has the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the recipe. The juice, composed of water, salt, and fermented cabbage or kale, is falsely claimed to expunge Candida (a yeast) and parasitic worms. Scientific evidence has shown that this treatment is not only ineffective, but is also toxic with potentially deadly adverse effects.[lower-alpha 1] Jilly Juice was conceived by Jillian Mai Thi Epperly, who has no medical or scientific background. She has garnered media scrutiny for her baseless claims that Jilly Juice can help treat medical conditions, and petitions and other efforts have been made to ban the product and its promotion from social media. Followers of Epperly have been dubbed members of a "poop cult", and by 2017, had formed a now-defunct Facebook group made up of over 58,000 members. In 2018, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned Epperly that it is against the law to advertise a product's health benefits without proper scientific support.
  • 3.4K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Finger Millet Production in Ethiopia
Finger millet (Eleusine coracana (L.) Gaertn) is a highly nutritious crop, predominantly grown in the semi-arid tropics of the world. The crop has medicinal value to human beings due to its human health benefits and being rich in calcium, iron and dietary fiber and gluten-free. Ethiopia is the center of the genetic diversity of the crop. However, the productivity of finger millet in the country is low (<2.4 tons ha−1) compared with its potential yield (6 tons ha−1). The yield gap in Ethiopia is due to a range of biotic and abiotic stresses and socio-economic constraints that are yet to be systemically documented and prioritized to guide future production and improved variety development and release. The objective of this study was to document finger millet production opportunities, constraints and farmer-preferred traits in Ethiopia as a guide to variety design in improvement programs. 
  • 3.4K
  • 13 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Clustal
Clustal is a series of widely used computer programs used in bioinformatics for multiple sequence alignment. There have been many versions of Clustal over the development of the algorithm that are listed below. The analysis of each tool and its algorithm are also detailed in their respective categories. Available operating systems listed in the sidebar are a combination of the software availability and may not be supported for every current version of the Clustal tools. Clustal Omega has the widest variety of operating systems out of all the Clustal tools.
  • 3.4K
  • 06 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Cat Behavior and Cat–Human Interactions: Brief Introduction
This entry summarised what is known about domestic cat behaviour and cat-human relations and what still needs to be examined, listing unanswered questions and hypotheses. Below is a selection of the topics covered in the original review. An English version of reference "50" (in French) may be requested and e-mailed legally (by contract) from the author by individuals as long as the original reference will be cited in French.
  • 3.4K
  • 28 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Functional Polymer Materials for Energy Applications
This entry provides insight into the recent energy applications of polymers.
  • 3.4K
  • 15 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Plug-in Electric Vehicles in Japan
The fleet of light-duty plug-in electric vehicles in Japan totaled about 303,000 highway legal plug-in electric vehicles in circulation at the end of 2019, consisting of 152,320 all-electric passenger cars, 141,680 plug-in hybrids, and 8,720 light-commercial vehicles. The rate of growth of the Japanese plug-in segment slowed from 2013, with annual sales falling behind Europe, the U.S. and China since then. The segment market share fell from 0.68% in 2014 to 0.59% in 2016. Then the market share increased to 1.2% in 2017, and fell to 1.1% in 2018, and to 0.9% in 2019. Norway surpassed Japan as the country with the third largest plug-in car stock in use in 2019. The decline in plug-in car sales reflects the Japanese government and the major domestic carmakers decision to adopt and promote hydrogen fuel cell vehicles instead of plug-in electric vehicles, although the first commercially produced hydrogen fuel cell automobiles began in 2015. (As of April 2018), the Nissan Leaf all-electric car ranked as the all-time top selling plug-in electric vehicle in the country, with over 100,000 units sold since December 2010. Ranking second is the Mitsubishi Outlander P-HEV with 34,830 units delivered through August 2016, followed by the Toyota Prius PHV with 22,100 units sold through April 2016. (As of December 2012), Japan was the country with the highest ratio of quick charging points to electric vehicles (EVSE/EV), with a ratio of 0.030 (As of December 2012). The country's charging infrastructure included 1,381 public quick-charge stations and around 300 non-domestic slow charger points. The Japanese government has set up a target to deploy 2 million slow chargers and 5,000 fast charging points by 2020.
  • 3.4K
  • 04 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Sea Buckthorn
Sea buckthorn is a dioecious and anemophilous plant, the pollination of female blossoms is possible by wind. It withstands well on poor soils and is able to tolerate extreme temperatures ranging from −40 °C to +40 °C. Since it has low requirements on growing conditions, it behaves invasively if it grows in low humid, alluvial gravel, wet landslips, and riverside.
  • 3.4K
  • 20 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Horned Lizard
The horned lizard (genus Phrynosoma) is a distinctive group of reptiles within the family Phrynosomatidae, known for their flattened, toad-like bodies, short tails, and characteristic cranial horns. Often referred to as "horned toads" or "horny toads," these lizards are native to North and Central America and are noted for their unique morphological adaptations, cryptic coloration, and defensive behaviors, including the rare ability to squirt blood from their eyes.
  • 3.4K
  • 18 Aug 2025
Topic Review
Physaliidae
The Portuguese man o' war (Physalia physalis), also known as the man-of-war, bluebottle, blue bottle jellyfish, or floating terror is a marine hydrozoan found in the Atlantic Ocean and the Indian Ocean. It is considered to be the same species as the Pacific man o' war, which is found mainly in the Pacific Ocean. The Portuguese man o' war is the only species in the genus Physalia, which in turn is the only genus in the family Physaliidae. It has numerous venomous microscopic nematocysts which deliver a painful sting powerful enough to kill fish, and has been known to occasionally kill humans. Although it superficially resembles a jellyfish, the Portuguese man o' war is in fact a siphonophore. Like all siphonophores, it is a colonial organism, made up of many smaller units called zooids. All zooids in a colony are genetically identical, but fulfill specialized functions such as feeding and reproduction, and together allow the colony to operate as a single individual.
  • 3.4K
  • 27 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Collective Construction of a Concept
Collective construction of a concept can be understood as the negotiation of a meaning represented in the form of written definitions in a collaborative way. Although it can be understood as a reductionist view, these verbal externalizations will be necessary for a group of people to collectively construct a concept. 
  • 3.4K
  • 11 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Vegetable Wastes and Byproducts
Agri-food industries generate enormous amounts of fruit and vegetable processing wastes, which opens up an important research area aimed towards minimizing and managing them eciently to support zero wastes and/or circular economy concept. These wastes remain underutilized owing to a lack of appropriate processing technologies vital for their ecient valorization, especially for recovery of health beneficial bioactives like dietary fibers. Dietary fiber finds wide applications in food and pharmaceutical industries and holds high promise as a potential food additive and/or as a functional food ingredient to meet the techno-functional purposes important for developing health-promoting value-added products. Based on this, the present review has been designed to support ‘zero waste’ and ‘waste to wealth’ concepts. In addition, the focus revolves around providing updated information on various sustainability challenges incurred towards valorization of fruit and vegetable wastes for extraction of health promoting dietary fibers.
  • 3.4K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Smart Helmet in Applied Sciences
A smart helmet is a wearable device that has attracted attention in various fields, especially in applied sciences, 
  • 3.4K
  • 11 Jun 2021
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