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Topic Review
Halāl Salami
The quality assessment and authentication of ḥalāl products are issues raising a growing interest in European Community Countries (France, Sweden, Germany, Greece, Spain, Italy), in Switzerland, in Russia and other countries in the world (Asia, the UK, South and North America). Considering that top producers of ḥalāl products (including meat) are countries where Muslims are a minority, future research should take into consideration ḥalāl standards, immigration and integration of qualified Muslim workers.
  • 2.9K
  • 16 Aug 2020
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Application of Machine Learning Models in Social Sciences: Managing Nonlinear Relationships
The increasing complexity of social science data and phenomena necessitates using advanced analytical techniques to capture nonlinear relationships that traditional linear models often overlook. This chapter explores the application of machine learning (ML) models in social science research, focusing on their ability to manage nonlinear interactions in multidimensional datasets. Nonlinear relationships are central to understanding social behaviors, socioeconomic factors, and psychological processes. Machine learning models, including decision trees, neural networks, random forests, and support vector machines, provide a flexible framework for capturing these intricate patterns. The chapter begins by examining the limitations of linear models and introduces essential machine learning techniques suited for nonlinear modeling. A discussion follows on how these models automatically detect interactions and threshold effects, offering superior predictive power and robustness against noise compared to traditional methods. The chapter also covers the practical challenges of model evaluation, validation, and handling imbalanced data, emphasizing cross-validation and performance metrics tailored to the nuances of social science datasets. Practical recommendations are offered to researchers, highlighting the balance between predictive accuracy and model interpretability, ethical considerations, and best practices for communicating results to diverse stakeholders. This chapter demonstrates that while machine learning models provide robust solutions for modeling nonlinear relationships, their successful application in social sciences requires careful attention to data quality, model selection, validation, and ethical considerations. Machine learning holds transformative potential for understanding complex social phenomena and informing data-driven psychology, sociology, and political science policy-making.
  • 2.9K
  • 28 Nov 2024
Topic Review
Federated Learning and Blockchain
The Internet of Things (IoT) compromises multiple devices connected via a network to perform numerous activities. The large amounts of raw user data handled by IoT operations have driven researchers and developers to provide guards against any malicious threats. Blockchain is a technology that can give connected nodes means of security, transparency, and distribution. IoT devices could guarantee data centralization and availability with shared ledger technology. Federated learning (FL) is a new type of decentralized machine learning (DML) where clients collaborate to train a model and share it privately with an aggregator node.
  • 2.9K
  • 30 Aug 2023
Topic Review
Immunotherapy in Breast Cancer
Breast cancer is a cancer that develops from breast tissue. Symptoms of breast cancer may include a breast lump, a change in the shape of the breast, sunken skin, fluid leaking from the nipple, new sunken nipple, or red or scaly patches on the skin. Distant spread may present with bone pain, swollen lymph nodes, shortness of breath, or yellowing of the skin. Breast cancer is very complex and includes several subtypes with distinct pathological features. Most of the immunotherapy efforts have focused on the most immunogenic subtypes: triple-negative breast cancer and HER2-positive breast cancer.
  • 2.9K
  • 12 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Murano Glass
Murano glass is made on the Venetian island of Murano, which has been a glassmaking center for over 700 years. It is also sometimes referred to as Venetian glass. Today Murano is known for its art glass, but it has a long history of innovations in glassmaking in addition to its artistic fame—and was Europe's first major glassmaking center. During the 1400s, Murano glassmakers created cristallo—which was almost transparent and considered the finest glass in the world. Murano glassmakers also developed a white-colored glass (milk glass called lattimo) that looked like porcelain. They later became Europe's finest makers of mirrors. Originally, Venice was controlled by the Eastern Roman Empire, but it eventually became an independent city state. It flourished as a trading center and seaport. Its connections with the Middle East helped its glassmakers gain additional skills, as glassmaking was more advanced in countries such as Syria and Egypt. Although Venetian glassmaking existed as far back as the 8th Century, it became concentrated in Murano by law beginning 1291. Since glass factories often caught fire, this removed much of the possibility of a major fire disaster for the city. Murano glassmakers developed secret recipes and methods for making glass, and the concentration of Venice's glassmaking on the island of Murano enabled better control of those secrets. Murano became Europe's elite glassmaking center, peaking in popularity in the 15th and 16th centuries. Venice's dominance in trade along the Mediterranean Sea created a wealthy merchant class that was a strong connoisseur of the arts. This helped establish demand for art glass and more innovations. The spread of glassmaking talent in Europe eventually diminished the importance of Venice and its Murano glassmakers. A defeat by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1797, and occupation, caused more hardship for Murano's glassmaking industry. Murano glassmaking began a revival in the 1920s. Today, Murano and Venice are tourist attractions, and Murano is home to numerous glass factories and a few individual artists' studios. Its Museo del Vetro (Glass Museum) in the Palazzo Giustinian contains displays on the history of glassmaking as well as glass samples ranging from Egyptian times through the present day.
  • 2.9K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Intellectual Disability
Intellectual disability (ID), also known as general learning disability and formerly mental retardation (MR), is a generalized neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significantly impaired intellectual and adaptive functioning. It is defined by an IQ under 70, in addition to deficits in two or more adaptive behaviors that affect everyday, general living. Intellectual functions are defined under DSM-V as reasoning, problem‑solving, planning, abstract thinking, judgment, academic learning, and learning from instruction and experience, and practical understanding confirmed by both clinical assessment and standardized tests. Adaptive behavior is defined in terms of conceptual, social, and practical skills involving tasks performed by people in their everyday lives. Once focused almost entirely on cognition, the definition now includes both a component relating to mental functioning and one relating to an individual's functional skills in their daily environment. As a result of this focus on the person's abilities in practice, a person with an unusually low IQ may still not be considered to have an intellectual disability. Intellectual disability is subdivided into syndromic intellectual disability, in which intellectual deficits associated with other medical and behavioral signs and symptoms are present, and non-syndromic intellectual disability, in which intellectual deficits appear without other abnormalities. Down syndrome and fragile X syndrome are examples of syndromic intellectual disabilities. Intellectual disability affects about 2 to 3% of the general population. Seventy-five to ninety percent of the affected people have mild intellectual disability. Non-syndromic, or idiopathic cases account for 30 to 50% of these cases. About a quarter of cases are caused by a genetic disorder, and about 5% of cases are inherited from a person's parents. Cases of unknown cause affect about 95 million people (As of 2013).
  • 2.9K
  • 20 Oct 2022
Topic Review
SLNs/NLCs Preparation Method
Solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs) and nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) are alternatives to other colloidal drug delivery systems, such as liposomes, emulsions, and polymeric nanoparticles. They have been produced using numerous methods.
  • 2.9K
  • 20 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori
Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a Gram-negative bacterium that colonizes the gastric mucosa and is associated with various gastrointestinal disorders. H. pylori is a pervasive pathogen, infecting nearly 50% of the world’s population, and presents a substantial concern due to its link with gastric cancer, ranking as the third most common cause of global cancer-related mortality. 
  • 2.9K
  • 07 Feb 2024
Topic Review
Endophytic Fungi
An extensive literature search was performed to review current knowledge about endophytic fungi isolated from plants included in the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) dossier. The selected genera of plants were Acacia, Albizia, Bauhinia, Berberis, Caesalpinia, Cassia, Cornus, Hamamelis, Jasminus, Ligustrum, Lonicera, Nerium, and Robinia. A total of 120 fungal genera have been found in plant tissues originating from several countries. Bauhinia and Cornus showed the highest diversity of endophytes, whereas Hamamelis, Jasminus, Lonicera, and Robinia exhibited the lowest. The most frequently detected fungi were Aspergillus, Colletotrichum, Fusarium, Penicillium, Phyllosticta, and Alternaria. Plants and plant products represent an inoculum source of several mutualistic or pathogenic fungi, including quarantine pathogens. Thus, the movement of living organisms across continents during international trade represents a serious threat to ecosystems and biosecurity measures should be taken at a global level.
  • 2.9K
  • 19 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Underwater Connectors
Underwater connectors are very essential and complex components of deep-sea engineering equipment and their design and manufacture have apparent multidisciplinary characteristics. Wet-mateable connectors (WMCs) represent the highest level of technology in this field, and only a very few countries in the world can produce WMCs. So, WMCs are likely to be a constraining factor to some maritime powers that might try to achieve breakthroughs in this field, constraining the innovation-driven development of deep-sea equipment.
  • 2.9K
  • 19 Aug 2021
Topic Review
Management of Municipal Solid Waste Management
Municipal solid waste (MSW) management has become a major concern for developing countries. The physical and chemical aspects of MSW management and infrastructure need to be analyzed critically to solve the existing socio-economic problem. Depending on the socio-economic framework of a country, several MSW management procedures have been established, including landfilling, thermal treatment, and chemical treatment. Most of the MSW produced in underdeveloped and developing countries such as Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan is dumped into open landfills, severely affecting the environment. Waste-to-Energy (WTE) projects based on thermal treatments, e.g., incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification, can be feasible alternatives to conventional technologies. 
  • 2.9K
  • 26 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Ajativada
Ajātivāda is the fundamental philosophical doctrine of the Advaita Vedanta philosopher Gaudapada. According to Gaudapada, the Absolute is not subject to birth, change and death. The Absolute is aja, the unborn eternal. The empirical world of appearances is considered unreal, and not absolutely existent. Gaudapada's perspective is based on the Mandukya Upanishad, applying the philosophical concept of "ajāta" to the inquiry of Brahman, showing that Brahman wholly transcends the conventional understanding of being and becoming. The concept is also found in Madhyamaka Buddhism, as the theory of nonorigination.
  • 2.9K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Human Schistosomiasis in Nigeria
Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is a major parasitic disease caused by blood flukes (trematode worms) of the genus Schistosoma that live in fresh waterways in tropical and subtropical zones. Over 200 million people are infected globally, 90% of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa. Nigeria has the highest burden of schistosomiasis in this region. Elimination programmes have focused on human infections, with limited attention on infections in livestock that could be transmissible to humans, i.e. zoonotic schistosomiasis. This is now recognized as a risk factor for increased transmission and recrudescence of infection of more than one schistosome species, as well as of potential hybrid variants. Members of farming communities who herd grazing cattle, goats and sheep in proximity to rivers containing Bulinus freshwater snails that are the intermediate host of asexual lifecycle stages are particularly at risk of becoming infected through daily contact with contaminated water.
  • 2.9K
  • 21 Feb 2023
Topic Review
City Car
A city car (also known as urban car or a mini) is a small car designed to be used primarily in urban areas and conurbations. The term is used along with other terms for small cars including subcompact in North America. The Euro NCAP calls all small cars superminis. The European Commission refers to A-segment (Utility/city class: entry level small passenger car). In Japan , the kei car is a specific type of small car. The term microcar is loosely used for very small cars, some of which overlap city car classification.
  • 2.9K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Germplasm Resources and Distribution of Oaks in China
Oaks (Quercus spp.) are a major component of subtropical and temperate forests in the Northern Hemisphere. There are approximately 464 species, and they are dominant tree species in ecosystems. Oaks have a long history of cultivation in Europe, North America, and other continents. They are also cultivated and distributed in most provinces of China.
  • 2.9K
  • 16 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Algae as Potential Bio-Pesticides
The term algae encompasses a wide range of photosynthetic organisms that are found primarily in freshwater and marine environments, although certain representatives can thrive in terrestrial niches, either on their own or by developing symbiotic relationships with other organisms.
  • 2.9K
  • 10 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Cyber–Physical System
Seeking to meet the need for the integration of new sources of energy, the entry and integration of new technologies into the grid, global concerns about the environment, diversification of the energy matrix, and the growing consumption of energy, the electrical system is in the process of modernizing its operation, planning, maintenance, communication, management, and control. Therefore, the power system is gradually transforming into SGs, and consequently, the vulnerabilities of this new system become the target of cyberattacks.
  • 2.9K
  • 21 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Entropy and Banks' Income Diversification
We collected data pertaining to Chinese listed commercial banks from 2008 to 2016 and found that the competition between banks is becoming increasingly fierce. Commercial banks have actively carried out diversification strategies for greater returns, and the financial reports show that profits are increasingly coming from the non-interest income benefits of diversification strategies. However, diversification comes with risk. We built a panel threshold model and investigated the effect of income diversification on a bank’s profitability and risk. Diversification was first measured by the Herfindahl–Hirschman index (HHI), and the results show that there is a nonlinear relationship between diversification and profitability or risk does exist. We introduced an interesting index based on the entropy to test the robustness of our model and found that a threshold effect exists in both our models, which is statistically significant. We believe the combination of the entropy index (ENTI) and the HHI enables more efficient study of the relationship between diversification and profitability or risk more efficiently. Bankers and their customers have increasingly been interested in income diversification, and they value risk as well. We suggest that banks of different sizes should adopt the corresponding diversification strategy to achieve sustainable development.
  • 2.9K
  • 02 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Seaweed Polysaccharide Based Products/Materials
Among the various natural polymers, polysaccharides are one of the oldest biopolymers present on the earth. They play a very crucial role in the survival of both animals and plants. Due to the presence of hydroxyl functional groups in most of the polysaccharides, it is easy to prepare their chemical derivatives. Several polysaccharide derivatives are widely used in a number of industrial applications. The polysaccharides such as cellulose, starch, chitosan, etc. have several industrial applications but due to some distinguished characteristic properties, seaweed polysaccharides are preferred in a number of applications.
  • 2.9K
  • 17 Sep 2021
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
SARS-CoV-2 Associated Pulmonary Pathology
Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a novel entry in the betacoronaviridae group of coronaviruses. This is the second member of this group, and the third of the family overall to emerge in the last 20 years, which has caused significant health concerns due to the clinical severity and spread of the disease it causes—coronavirus disease identified in 2019 (COVID-19). While initially emerging as a respiratory disease, and while most cases experience symptoms predominantly from this system, SARS-CoV-2 has emerged as a multisystem pathogen. From a pathomorphological point of view, the severity of changes in the respiratory system can be summed up as diffuse alveolar damage—desquamation of the alveolar epithelium with exudative and proliferative changes—pulmonary hyaline membranes, Clara cell hyperplasia, squamous cell metaplasia, and fibrosis. The second most prominent way the disease affects the lung is through endotheliitis—damage to the endothelial cells of the pulmonary vasculature, predominantly affecting the medium and large caliber blood vessels that cause the well-established clinical phenomenon of thrombosis/thromboembolism of the pulmonary vasculature. As the spread of the disease continues with the emergence of new variants and the number of cases continues to grow, including a large percentage of recurrent cases, it is essential to remember that the viral effects are not only acute but, due to the proliferative phenomena, can produce chronic sequelae. Therefore, in the background of dwindling publication interest, it is critical to focus on the histopathological aspects of the pulmonary disease, with the goal of better understanding the effects of the virus on the organism and identifying probable future complications after infection.
  • 2.9K
  • 08 Oct 2022
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