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Biography
Arthur B. C. Walker Jr.
Arthur Bertram Cuthbert Walker Jr. (August 24, 1936 – April 29, 2001) was a solar physicist and a pioneer of EUV/XUV optics. He is most noted for having developed normal incidence multilayer XUV telescopes to photograph the solar corona. Two of his sounding rocket payloads, the Stanford/MSFC Rocket Spectroheliograph Experiment and the Multi-Spectral Solar Telescope Array, recorded the first fu
  • 3.3K
  • 08 Dec 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
The Balancing Act of Repurposing Feature Films and TV Series for University Teaching
Contemporary educators have increasingly recognised the diversity of their student population and, hence, have attempted to use multimodal teaching methods for additional student learning benefits. One popular example is repurposing film and TV content for higher education pedagogies. However, integrating these materials into teaching effectively often proves more complex than lecturers might anticipate. This entry investigates the merits and challenges of using FF/TV in teaching to determine the factors that impact development of an effective FF/TV pedagogy for student learning, through an interdisciplinary review of the existing literature, followed by a qualitative survey and semi-structured interviews with lecturers across disciplines at Australian universities. Using visual literacy theory, cognitive load theory, and dual coding theory, data analysis reveals that the pros and cons of integrating film and TV in teaching are in fact interconnected, and the main role of the teacher is to pedagogically balance them. Evidence-based and theory-grounded suggestions for application are detailed throughout the discussions.
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  • 11 Mar 2024
Topic Review
Chlorinated Aliphatic Hydrocarbons
Chlorinated aliphatic hydrocarbons (CAHs) are ubiquitous contaminants whose presence in groundwater has persisted for many decades, mainly due to the physical-chemical characteristics of these compounds. In particular, CAHs belong to Dense Non-Aqueous Phase Liquids (DNAPLs), for which contamination scenarios differ significantly from Light NAPLs scenarios, where the separate phase floats at the top of the water table due to its lower density than water.
  • 3.3K
  • 28 Sep 2021
Topic Review
Nafion-Based Membrane
Nafion, a perfluorosulfonic acid proton exchange membrane (PEM), has been widely used in direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) to serve as a proton carrier, methanol barrier, and separator for the anode and cathode. A significant drawback of Nafion in DMFC applications is the high anode-to-cathode methanol fuel permeability that results in over 40% fuel waste.
  • 3.3K
  • 20 May 2022
Topic Review
Sotai
Sotai or Sotai-hō (操体法, Sōtai-hō) is a Japan ese form of muscular or movement therapy invented by Keizo Hashimoto (1897–1993), a Japanese medical doctor from Sendai. The term So-tai (操体) is actually the opposite of the Japanese word for exercise: Tai-so (体操). Dr. Hashimoto conceived Sotai as an antidote to the forceful and regimented exercises of Japan, that anyone could practice easily to restore balance and health. Sotai is different from regular exercise because it distinguishes between balanced movements that are natural and beneficial and those that are unnatural and cause strains and physical distortions. The aim of Sotai is to help the body restore and maintain its natural balance. Dr. Hashimoto developed a model of treatment based on restoring structural balance that is claimed to work with the breath and movements toward comfort (or away from pain). He developed Sotai Therapy from traditional East Asian medicine (acupuncture, moxibustion, bone setting (Sekkotsu), Seitai Jutsu) in concert with his knowledge of modern medicine. Sotai Therapy is intended to be a method of neuromuscular reeducation and unwinding muscular holding patterns. According practitioners, Sotai Therapy balances the nervous and muscular systems. Its central principle is backtracking movement or "reverse-motion" treatment. The idea is that structural distortions can be returned to a more normal condition by moving the body in the comfortable direction. Using the effects of an isometric contraction followed by a sudden relaxation (post-isometric relaxation) can normalise the strained condition.
  • 3.3K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Antioxidant and Potential Antitumor Activity of Aronia Berries
Aronia berry (black chokeberry) is a shrub native to North America, of which the fresh fruits are used in the food industry to produce different types of dietary products. The fruits of Aronia melanocarpa (Aronia berries) have been found to show multiple bioactivities potentially beneficial to human health, including antidiabetic, anti-infective, antineoplastic, antiobesity, and antioxidant activities, as well as heart-, liver-, and neuroprotective effects. 
  • 3.3K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Gaseous and Liquid Fuel Cook-Stove
Clean and efficient cook-stoves and fuels are essential to address energy demand and ensure safe cooking for billions of people across the globe. Currently, nearly 2651 million people in developing countries (Africa—910 million, Asia—1674 million, Central and South America—57 million, and Middle East—10 million) are without clean cooking facilities.
  • 3.3K
  • 03 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Vitamin D in Long COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has quickly become a global pandemic. Reports from different parts of the world indicate that a significant proportion of people who have recovered from COVID-19 are suffering from various health problems collectively referred to as “long COVID-19”. Common symptoms include fatigue, shortness of breath, cough, joint pain, chest pain, muscle aches, headaches, and so on. Vitamin D is an immunomodulatory hormone with proven efficacy against various upper respiratory tract infections. Vitamin D can inhibit hyperinflammatory reactions and accelerate the healing process in the affected areas, especially in lung tissue. Moreover, vitamin D deficiency has been associated with the severity and mortality of COVID-19 cases, with a high prevalence of hypovitaminosis D found in patients with COVID-19 and acute respiratory failure. However, no evidence has been found to support a role of vitamin D supplementation in reducing symptoms of long-COVID-19. On the other hand, having a higher vitamin D level before SARS-CoV-2 infection or raising it rapidly at the first symptoms of infection can significantly reduce the risk and severity of COVID-19.
  • 3.3K
  • 29 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Radio-Absorbing Materials and Technologies for Their Production
Radio waves cover a fairly wide spectrum of the frequency range (the range of waves used is from ultra-long to millimeter; the range is from centimeters and meters to thousands of kilometers) and are harmonic signals modulated in amplitude and frequency. The main source of powerful electromagnetic radiation is an antenna that radiates a flow of electromagnetic energy in a directionally or non-directionally into the surrounding space.
  • 3.3K
  • 17 Aug 2022
Topic Review
Luxury Yacht
A Luxury yacht (also super-yacht, large yacht and mega-yacht) is a very expensive, privately owned, professionally crewed sailing or motor yacht. There is no industry-wide standard for the difference between super-yacht and mega-yacht. The only legal distinction is between yachts above 24 metres (79 ft) and below, as in some countries those above 24 meters must have a permanent crew onboard. This term began to appear at the beginning of the 20th century, when wealthy individuals constructed large private yachts for personal pleasure, such as Charles Henry Fletcher's Jemima F. III, at 111 feet, the largest motor-powered yacht in the world in 1908. More examples of early luxury motor yachts include the Cox & King yachts, Charles L. Seabury and Company's yachts, M/Y (motor yacht) Christina O, and M/Y Savarona.
  • 3.3K
  • 21 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Atlas of Piezoelectric Energy Harvesters in Oceanic Applications
Piezoelectric energy harvesters provide many different application scenarios by having flexibility in their structures, coupling modes, sizes and so on.
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  • 21 Mar 2022
Topic Review
Zinc and Dog Food
Zinc is an essential trace element, required for enzymatic, structural, and regulatory functions. As body reserves are scarce, an adequate zinc status relies on proper dietary supply and efficient homeostasis. Several biomarkers have been proposed that enable the detection of poor zinc status, but more sensitive and specific ones are needed to detect marginal deficiencies. The zinc content of commercial dry dog foods has great variability, with a more frequent non-compliance with the maximum authorized limit than with the nutritional requirement. The bioavailability of dietary zinc also plays a crucial role in ensuring an adequate zinc status. 
  • 3.3K
  • 21 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Weaponization of Finance
The term weaponization of finance refers to the foreign policy strategy of using incentives (access to capital markets) and penalties (varied types of sanctions) as tools of coercive diplomacy. The term was first coined by political scientists Ian Bremmer and Cliff Kupchan. It became one of the main themes of the Eurasia Group’s Top Risks 2015 report. It is a reference to the new ways in which the United States is using its influence to affect global outcomes. Rather than rely on traditional elements of America’s security advantage – including US-led alliances such as NATO and multi-lateral institutions such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund – Washington is now ‘weaponizing finance’ by limiting access to the US marketplace and US banks as an instrument of its foreign and security policy.
  • 3.3K
  • 29 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Transit-Oriented Development
Transit-oriented Development (TOD) is an urban design model that aims at integrating land use and multimodal transport systems around compact, mixed-use transit villages located around transit stations. TOD is envisioned as a sustainable development model in response to the updated environmental and ecological debate on the contemporary global challenge of climate change in response to city planning and urban design.
  • 3.3K
  • 26 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Daisy Trees (Asteraceae) in Mexico
Mexico is floristically the fourth most species-rich country in the world, and Asteraceae is the most diverse vascular plant family in this country. The species exhibits a wide range of growth forms, but the tree-like habit, appropriately named daisy trees, is heavily underestimated, even though slightly different tree definitions are handled. Very little is known about their precise species number or conservation status in Mexico, so we update here the list of known Mexican daisy tree species, summarize their very diverse uses, present a general panorama of their present and future distribution, and discuss their conservation status. 
  • 3.3K
  • 06 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Functional Mechanisms of Coding and Non-Coding Region SNPs
Cancer ranks as the second leading cause of death worldwide, and, being a genetic disease, it is highly heritable. Over the past few decades, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified many risk-associated loci harboring hundreds of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Some of these cancer-associated SNPs have been revealed as causal, and the functional characterization of the mechanisms underlying the cancer risk association has been illuminated in some instances.
  • 3.3K
  • 12 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Automatic Crop Harvesting
Agriculture 4.0 is transforming farming livelihoods thanks to the development and adoption of technologies such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotics, traditionally used in other productive sectors. Soft robotics and soft grippers in particular are promising approaches to lead to new solutions in this field due to the need to meet hygiene and manipulation requirements in unstructured environments and in operation with delicate products. Soft grippers are those end-effectors that use materials and actuation methods that are soft, flexible and compliant and that enable the holding of an object to be manipulated. In this context, soft technologies can be defined as the set of theories, techniques and procedures that enable key functions of soft robotic grippers, such as actuation, gripping and shape control methods.
  • 3.3K
  • 28 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Impact of Gliricidia sepium on Crop Performance
Gliricidia sepium (Jacq.) Walp is a well-known agroforestry leguminous tree that provides multiple benefits in different agroecological zones. Its apparent versatility is seen in improving animal feed, cleaning environmental wastes, and healing inflammations. It was also found to have significant benefits in agroforestry due to its ability to enhance soil fertility through nitrogen fixation and green manure. 
  • 3.3K
  • 26 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Cactus
A cactus (plural cacti, cactuses, or less commonly, cactus) is a member of the plant family Cactaceae, a family comprising about 127 genera with some 1750 known species of the order Caryophyllales. The word cactus derives, through Latin, from the Ancient Greek word κάκτος (káktos), a name originally used by Theophrastus for a spiny plant whose identity is now not certain. Cacti occur in a wide range of shapes and sizes. Although some species live in quite humid environments, most cacti live in habitats subject to at least some drought. Many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth. Because of this, cacti show many adaptations to conserve water. For example, almost all cacti are succulents, meaning they have thickened, fleshy parts adapted to store water. Unlike many other succulents, the stem is the only part of most cacti where this vital process takes place. Most species of cacti have lost true leaves, retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. As well as defending against herbivores, spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing some shade. In the absence of true leaves, cacti's enlarged stems carry out photosynthesis. Cacti are native to the Americas, ranging from Patagonia in the south to parts of western Canada in the north—except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which also grows in Africa and Sri Lanka. Cactus spines are produced from specialized structures called areoles, a kind of highly reduced branch. Areoles are an identifying feature of cacti. As well as spines, areoles give rise to flowers, which are usually tubular and multipetaled. Many cacti have short growing seasons and long dormancies and are able to react quickly to any rainfall, helped by an extensive but relatively shallow root system that quickly absorbs any water reaching the ground surface. Cactus stems are often ribbed or fluted, which allows them to expand and contract easily for quick water absorption after rain, followed by retention over long drought periods. Like other succulent plants, most cacti employ a special mechanism called "crassulacean acid metabolism" (CAM) as part of photosynthesis. Transpiration, during which carbon dioxide enters the plant and water escapes, does not take place during the day at the same time as photosynthesis, but instead occurs at night. The plant stores the carbon dioxide it takes in as malic acid, retaining it until daylight returns, and only then using it in photosynthesis. Because transpiration takes place during the cooler, more humid night hours, water loss is significantly reduced. Many smaller cacti have globe-shaped stems, combining the highest possible volume for water storage with the lowest possible surface area for water loss from transpiration. The tallest free-standing cactus is Pachycereus pringlei, with a maximum recorded height of 19.2 m (63 ft), and the smallest is Blossfeldia liliputiana, only about 1 cm (0.4 in) in diameter at maturity. A fully grown saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) is said to be able to absorb as much as 200 U.S. gallons (760 l; 170 imp gal) of water during a rainstorm. A few species differ significantly in appearance from most of the family. At least superficially, plants of the genera Leuenbergeria, Rhodocactus and Pereskia resemble other trees and shrubs growing around them. They have persistent leaves, and when older, bark-covered stems. Their areoles identify them as cacti, and in spite of their appearance, they, too, have many adaptations for water conservation. Leuenbergeria is considered close to the ancestral species from which all cacti evolved. In tropical regions, other cacti grow as forest climbers and epiphytes (plants that grow on trees). Their stems are typically flattened, almost leaf-like in appearance, with fewer or even no spines, such as the well-known Christmas cactus or Thanksgiving cactus (in the genus Schlumbergera). Cacti have a variety of uses: many species are used as ornamental plants, others are grown for fodder or forage, and others for food (particularly their fruit). Cochineal is the product of an insect that lives on some cacti. Many succulent plants in both the Old and New World – such as some Euphorbiaceae (euphorbias) – are also spiny stem succulents and because of this are sometimes incorrectly referred to as "cactus".
  • 3.3K
  • 14 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Socialist Party USA
The Socialist Party USA, officially the Socialist Party of the United States of America (SPUSA), is a multi-tendency democratic socialist party in the United States . The SPUSA was founded in 1973 as a successor to the Socialist Party of America, which had been renamed Social Democrats, USA a year before. The party is officially committed to multi-tendency democratic socialism. Along with its predecessor, the Socialist Party USA has received varying degrees of support when its candidates have competed against those from the Republican and Democratic parties. The SPUSA advocates for complete independence from the Democratic Party. Self-described as opposing all forms of oppression, specifically capitalism and authoritarian forms of communism, the party advocates for the creation of a "radical democracy that places people's lives under their own control—a non-racist, classless, feminist, socialist society [... in which] the people own and control the means of production and distribution through democratically-controlled public agencies, cooperatives, or other collective groups [...] full employment is realized for everyone who wants to work [...] workers have the right to form unions freely, and to strike and engage in other forms of job actions [...] production of society is used for the benefit of all humanity, not for the private profit of a few". Headquartered at the A.J. Muste Institute, the SPUSA's National Office is located at 168 Canal Street in the Chinatown neighborhood of New York City. The party has four chartered state organizations in California, Michigan, Maine and New Jersey as well as twenty eight chartered locals throughout the country. In October 2015, the Socialist Party USA nominated Mimi Soltysik for President and Angela Nicole Walker for Vice President.
  • 3.3K
  • 15 Nov 2022
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