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Topic Review
Samasource
Samasource employs low-income workers in developing countries to classify data, among other tech work. Samasource mission is to expand opportunity for low-income individuals through the digital economy. One of the first organizations to engage in impact sourcing, Samasource trains workers in basic computer skills and pays a local living wage for their labor. Additionally, Samasource provides health and wellness education, professional skills development, a scholarship program to assist with continuing education costs, and a program to provide micro loans and mentorship to aspiring entrepreneurs. Some of Samasource's clients include Walmart, Google, General Motors and Microsoft. Samasource has offices in San Francisco, California , New York, The Hague, Costa Rica, Montreal , Nairobi, Kenya, Kampala, Uganda and Gulu, Uganda. The organization currently owns and operates delivery centers in Nairobi and Gulu, Uganda, and partners with additional delivery centers in India . Samasource previously had paid workers in Haiti, Pakistan , Ghana, and South Africa .
  • 2.8K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Aromatic Water Pollutants
In recent years, the intensification of human activities including rapid urbanization, industrialization, population, and economic growth, led to an increase in waste production and energy demand. Most importantly such activities pose concerns for health, energy security and climate changes. Hazardous volatile organic compounds, VOC, and aromatic organic compounds, AOC, are being generated from the activities of many vital industries like mining and petrochemicals. They are instrumental in the economic growth of many countries and their products are regarded as privileges to modern communities. Nevertheless, they are toxic and carcinogenic thus, these wastes have been classified as “hazardous”. The simultaneous treatment of organic pollutants and energy recovery is an attractive solution to reduce pollution in water, air, and soil as well as provide alternative clean energy sources. Hydrogen could be generated from organic pollutants in water through photocatalysis. Photocatalysis refers to the oxidation and reduction, redox, reactions on semiconductor surfaces, mediated by the valence band holes and conduction band electrons, which are generated by the absorption of ultraviolet or visible light radiation. Compared to traditional oxidation processes, photocatalytic redox reaction operates at ambient conditions without a high temperature or high pressure, and many recalcitrant organic contaminants can be degraded without the addition of chemical oxidants, hence it is fully green process. Among the various photocatalysts, TiO2, as the most widely employed “golden” photocatalyst, has been largely used in photocatalysis, due to its chemical stability, nontoxicity, and low cost. In the last two decades, TiO2 photocatalysis has expanded very quickly, having undergone various development‐related energy issues and environmental issues, such as direct solar H2O splitting into H2 and the decomposition of pollutants in air and H2O at low concentrations. Although great progress has been made in TiO2 photocatalysis, much remains unknown, which raises an interesting challenge not only for engineers but also for basic scientists. a typical photocatalytic reaction in TiO2 photocatalysis contains many fundamental processes, including charge carrier formation, separation, relaxation, trapping, transfer, recombination, and transportation.
  • 2.8K
  • 24 May 2021
Topic Review
ODB (C++)
ODB is an object-relational mapping (ORM) system for the C++ language. It allows an application developer to persist C++ objects to a relational database without having to deal with tables, columns, or SQL and without manually writing any mapping code. ODB supports C++98/03 and C++11 language standards and comes with optional profiles for Boost and Qt which allow an application developer to seamlessly use value types (data-time, string, binary, uuid, etc.), containers, and smart pointers from these libraries in persistent C++ classes. ODB is free software and is dual-licensed under the GPL and a proprietary license. One notable difference between ODB and other ORM implementations for C++ is its automatic generation of the database mapping code and, optionally, the database schema from the C++ headers that declare the classes. This task is performed by the ODB compiler. The ODB compiler is a real C++ compiler except that instead of producing assembly or machine code, it generates portable C++ which can in turn be compiled by any C++ compiler. The ODB compiler uses the GCC compiler front-end for C++ parsing and is implemented using the new GCC plugin architecture. The ODB compiler also provides comprehensive support for database schema evolution, including fully automatic schema migration, support for immediate and gradual data migration, as well as support for soft model changes. The latter feature allows one to work with multiple schema versions using the same C++ classes. The other components of the ODB system include the common runtime library (libodb) and the database-specific runtime libraries (for example, libodb-mysql). The common runtime library defines object-oriented database interfaces that are used by the application developer to perform various database operations on persistent objects. The database-specific runtimes implement these interfaces for concrete database systems and provide support functionality for the generated database mapping code. To achieve high performance, low overhead, and reliability ODB does not use common database APIs, such as ODBC, to access the relational database. Rather, each database-specific runtime library uses low-level, native C APIs that are specific to each database. ODB currently supports the MySQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server databases. Bulk/batch operations are supported for Oracle and SQL Server. The application can also use multiple databases (for example, MySQL, SQLite, etc.) at the same time. Multi-database support comes in the static and dynamic flavors with the latter allowing the application to dynamically load the database support code for individual database if and when necessary. ODB is not a framework. There is no common base type that all persistent classes should derive from nor are there any restrictions on the data member types in persistent classes. Existing classes can be made persistent with a few or no modifications. ODB is also flexible in the level of insulation it provides to the application developer. It can either completely hide the relational nature of the underlying database or expose some of the details as required.
  • 2.8K
  • 28 Nov 2022
Topic Review
How Genes Work
Most genes contain the information needed to make functional molecules called proteins. Proteins do most of the work in cells and are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body's tissues and organs.
  • 2.8K
  • 24 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Smart Sensing Chair for Sitting Posture Monitoring
Smart sensing chairs, equipped with advanced sensor technologies such as Force Sensing Resistors (FSRs), show significant potential in mitigating the negative health impacts of incorrect sitting postures, which can lead to spinal misalignment and musculoskeletal disorders. Research emphasizes the use of sophisticated machine learning techniques, including Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs) and Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs), for classifying sitting postures. Notably, these advanced models do not always outperform traditional models due to the limitations of the training datasets, which often lack sufficient diversity in representing different human body types and health conditions. This finding underscores the critical need for datasets that more accurately reflect the demographic and physiological diversity of users. Additionally, this research highlights a significant opportunity for innovation in user feedback mechanisms within smart sensing chairs, suggesting that enhanced interactive features could improve posture correction efforts and overall user health outcomes.
  • 2.8K
  • 13 May 2024
Topic Review
North Magnetic Pole
The North Magnetic Pole is a wandering point on the surface of Earth's Northern Hemisphere at which the planet's magnetic field points vertically downwards (in other words, if a magnetic compass needle is allowed to rotate about a horizontal axis, it will point straight down). There is only one location where this occurs, near (but distinct from) the Geographic North Pole and the Geomagnetic North Pole. The North Magnetic Pole moves over time according to magnetic changes and flux lobe elongation in the Earth's outer core. In 2001, it was determined by the Geological Survey of Canada to lie west of Ellesmere Island in northern Canada at 81°18′N 110°48′W / 81.3°N 110.8°W / 81.3; -110.8 (Magnetic North Pole 2001). It was situated at 83°06′N 117°48′W / 83.1°N 117.8°W / 83.1; -117.8 (Magnetic North Pole 2005 est) in 2005. In 2009, while still situated within the Canadian Arctic at 84°54′N 131°00′W / 84.9°N 131°W / 84.9; -131 (Magnetic North Pole 2009), it was moving toward Russia at between 55 and 60 km (34 and 37 mi) per year. As of 2019, the pole is projected to have moved beyond the Canadian Arctic to 86°26′52.8″N 175°20′45.06″E / 86.448°N 175.34585°E / 86.448; 175.34585 (Magnetic North Pole 2019 est). Its southern hemisphere counterpart is the South Magnetic Pole. Since Earth's magnetic field is not exactly symmetrical, the North and South Magnetic Poles are not antipodal, meaning that a straight line drawn from one to the other does not pass through the geometric center of Earth. Earth's North and South Magnetic Poles are also known as magnetic dip poles, with reference to the vertical "dip" of the magnetic field lines at those points.
  • 2.8K
  • 17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Neolithic Subpluvial
The Neolithic Subpluvial, or the Holocene Wet Phase, was an extended period (from about 7500–7000 BCE to about 3500–3000 BCE) of wet and rainy conditions in the climate history of northern Africa. It was both preceded and followed by much drier periods. The Neolithic Subpluvial was the most recent of a number of periods of "Wet Sahara" or "Green Sahara", during which the Sahara region was much moister and supported a richer biota and human population than the present-day desert.
  • 2.8K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Emotional and Behavioral Disorders
Emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD; also known as behavioral and emotional disorders) refer to a disability classification used in educational settings that allows educational institutions to provide special education and related services to students who have displayed poor social and/or academic progress. The classification is often given to students after conducting a Functional Behavior Analysis. These students need individualized behavior supports such as a Behavior Intervention Plan, to receive a free and appropriate public education. Students with EBD may be eligible for an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) and/or accommodations in the classroom through a 504 Plan.
  • 2.8K
  • 11 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Digital Village Technology Architecture System
A digital village is the process of using information technology and digital technology to make targeted transformations, based on the needs and characteristics of the village, and ultimately to achieve a change in the development model of the village. The digital village technology architecture system constructed herein is divided into four levels: infrastructure system, village brain, application support system and application service system. 
  • 2.8K
  • 23 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Marine Safety in Relation to Human Errors
As in any industry exposed to risk, human and organizational factors are the main stakes of maritime safety. Understanding the causes and risks of maritime accidents is integral to the sustainability of shipping. The investigation of marine accidents is a crucial tool for their identification in areas related to operations and ships.
  • 2.8K
  • 16 Jun 2023
Topic Review
Technological Trends and Engineering Issues on Vertical Farms
Vertical farming has emerged as a promising solution to cope with increasing food demand, urbanization pressure, and limited resources and to ensure sustainable year-round urban agriculture. Vertical farming is a modern agricultural approach that offers exceptional space efficiency, in contrast to conventional farming methods that often result in water wastage and land degradation. The key advantages of vertical farming include the recirculation of freshwater to minimize waste, the optimization of growth conditions for steady year-round harvests, and the ability to sidestep seasonal limitations. These urban-based farms employ advanced technologies to reduce costs by decreasing the need for transportation and labor expenses. 
  • 2.8K
  • 18 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Phthalic Acid Esters
Phthalic acid esters (PAEs) are a class of lipophilic chemicals widely used as plasticizers and additives to improve various products’ mechanical extensibility and flexibility. At present, synthesized PAEs, which are considered to cause potential hazards to ecosystem functioning and public health, have been easily detected in the atmosphere, water, soil, and sediments; PAEs are also frequently discovered in plant and microorganism sources, suggesting the possibility that they might be biosynthesized in nature.
  • 2.8K
  • 29 Jul 2021
Topic Review
Guttation and Growth of Bamboo Shoots
Guttation is the process of exudating droplets from the tips, edges, and adaxial and abaxial surfaces of the undamaged leaves. Guttation is a natural and spontaneous biological phenomenon that occurs in a wide variety of plants. Despite its generally positive effect on plant growth, many aspects of this cryptic process are unknown.
  • 2.8K
  • 10 Jan 2022
Topic Review
Cantonal Rebellion
Script error: No such module "Infobox military conflict". The Cantonal rebellion was a cantonalist insurrection that took place during the First Spanish Republic between July 1873 and January 1874. Its protagonists were the "intransigent" federal Republicans, who wanted to establish immediately the Federal Republic from the bottom-up without waiting for the Constituent Cortes to draft and approve the new Federal Constitution, as defended by the president of the Executive Power of the Republic Francisco Pi y Margall, a Proudhonian Mutualist supported by the "centrist" and "moderate" sectors of the Federal Democratic Republican Party. Pi y Margall was the principal translator of Proudhon's works, according to George Woodcock "These translations were to have a profound and lasting effect on the development of Spanish anarchism after 1870, but before that time Proudhonian ideas, as interpreted by Pi, already provided much of the inspiration for the federalist movement which sprang up in the early 1860s." According to the Encyclopædia Britannica "During the Spanish revolution of 1873, Pi y Margall attempted to establish a decentralized, or “cantonalist,” political system on Proudhonian lines." The rebellion began on July 12, 1873 in Cartagena - although three days earlier the Alcoy Petroleum Revolution had broken out at the initiative of the Spanish section of the International Workers Association (AIT) - spreading in the following days through the regions of Valencia, Murcia and Andalusia. In these areas, cantons were formed, whose federation would constitute the base of the Spanish Federal Republic. The political theory on which the cantonal movement was based was the "pactist" federalism of Francisco Pi y Margall against whose government the "intransigent" federal republicans (paradoxically) rose up against. When the policy of the Pi y Margall government failed to combine persuasion with repression to end the insurrection, the government that replaced him chaired by the "moderate" Nicolás Salmerón did not hesitate to employ the army led by generals Arsenio Martínez Campos and Manuel Pavia to crush the rebellion, a policy that accentuated the next government of the also "moderate" Emilio Castelar, who, after suspending the sessions of the Cortes, began the siege of Cartagena, the last stronghold of the rebellion. Cartagena would not fall into the hands government until January 12, a week after the coup of Pavia that ended the federal Republic giving way to the dictatorship of Serrano. Although the cantonal rebellion was considered a "separatist" movement by the Government of the Republic, the current historiography highlights that the rebellion only sought to reform the structure of the state, without ever wanting to break the unity of Spain.
  • 2.8K
  • 24 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Benzodiazepine Dependence
Benzodiazepine dependence defines a situation in which one has developed one or more of either tolerance, withdrawal symptoms, drug seeking behaviors, such as continued use despite harmful effects, and maladaptive pattern of substance use, according to the DSM-IV. In the case of benzodiazepine dependence, however, the continued use seems to be associated with the avoidance of unpleasant withdrawal reaction rather than from the pleasurable effects of the drug. Benzodiazepine dependence develops with long-term use, even at low therapeutic doses, without the described dependence behavior. Addiction consists of people misusing or craving the drug not to relieve withdrawal symptoms, but to experience its euphoric or intoxicating effects. It is necessary to distinguish between addiction to and abuse of benzodiazepines and physical dependence on them. The increased GABA inhibition on the neural systems caused by benzodiazepines is counteracted by the body's development of tolerance to the drug's effects; the development of tolerance occurs as a result of neuroadaptations, which result in decreased GABA activity and increased excitability of the glutamate system; these adaptations occur as a result of the body trying to overcome the central nervous system depressant effects of the drug to restore homeostasis. When benzodiazepines are stopped, these neuroadaptations are "unmasked" leading to hyper-excitability of the nervous system and the appearance of withdrawal symptoms. Therapeutic dose dependence is the largest category of people dependent on benzodiazepines. These individuals typically do not escalate their doses to high levels and generally use their medication as intended by their prescriber. Smaller groups include patients escalating their dosage to higher levels and drug misusers as well. Tolerance develops within days or weeks to the anticonvulsant, hypnotic, muscle relaxant and after 4 months there is little evidence that benzodiazepines retain their anxiolytic properties. Some authors, however, disagree and feel that benzodiazepines retain their anxiolytic properties. Long-term benzodiazepine treatment may remain necessary in certain clinical conditions. Numbers of benzodiazepine prescriptions have been declining, due primarily to concerns of dependence. In the short term, benzodiazepines can be effective drugs for acute anxiety or insomnia. With longer-term use, other therapies, both pharmacological and psychotherapeutic, become more effective. This is in part due to the greater effectiveness over time of other forms of therapy, and also due to the eventual development of pharmacological benzodiazepine tolerance.
  • 2.8K
  • 18 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Artificial Intelligence Enabled Chemical Process Intensification
An overview of the application of AI techniques is provided, in particular machine learning, in chemical design, synthesis, and process optimization over the past years. The application of AI for structure-function relationship analysis, synthetic route planning, and automated synthesis is highly highlighted. 
  • 2.8K
  • 15 Feb 2023
Topic Review
Fermented Soybean-Derived Cheonggukjang Physiological Activities
Cheonggukjang (CGJ, fermented soybean paste), a traditional Korean fermented dish, has recently emerged as a functional food that improves blood circulation and intestinal regulation. Considering that excessive consumption of refined salt is associated with increased incidence of gastric cancer, high blood pressure, and stroke in Koreans, consuming CGJ may be desirable, as it can be made without salt, unlike other pastes. Soybeans in CGJ are fermented by Bacillus strains (B. subtilis or B. licheniformis), Lactobacillus spp., Leuconostoc spp., and Enterococcus faecium, which weaken the activity of putrefactive bacteria in the intestines, act as antibacterial agents against pathogens, and facilitate the excretion of harmful substances. 
  • 2.8K
  • 03 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Escherichia coli Shiga Toxins
Escherichia coli (EHEC) and Shigella dysenteriae serotype 1 are enterohemorrhagic bacteria that induce hemorrhagic colitis. This, in turn, may result in potentially lethal complications, such as hemolytic uremic syndrome (HUS), which is characterized by thrombocytopenia, acute renal failure, and neurological abnormalities. Both species of bacteria produce Shiga toxins (Stxs), a phage-encoded exotoxin inhibiting protein synthesis in host cells that are primarily responsible for bacterial virulence.
  • 2.8K
  • 23 Jun 2021
Topic Review
Al-Shifa Pharmaceutical Factory
The Al-Shifa (الشفاء, Arabic for "healing") pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum North, Sudan, was constructed between 1992 and 1996 with components imported from Germany , India , Italy, Sweden, Switzerland , Thailand and the United States . It was opened on 12 July 1997 and bombed by the United States on 20 August 1998. The industrial complex was composed of four buildings. It was the largest pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum and employed over 300 workers, producing medicine both for human and veterinary use. The factory was destroyed in 1998 by a missile attack launched by the United States government, killing one employee and wounding eleven. The U.S. government claimed that the factory was used for the processing of VX nerve agent and that the owners of the plant had ties to the terrorist group al-Qaeda. These justifications for the bombing were disputed by the owners of the plant, the Sudanese government, and other governments. American officials later acknowledged "that the evidence that prompted President Clinton to order the missile strike on the Shifa plant was not as solid as first portrayed. Indeed, officials later said that there was no proof that the plant had been manufacturing or storing nerve gas, as initially suspected by the Americans, or had been linked to Osama bin Laden, who was a resident of Khartoum in the 1980s." The attack took place a week after the Monica Lewinsky scandal and two months after release of the film Wag the Dog, prompting some commentators to describe the attack as a distraction for the public from the scandal.
  • 2.8K
  • 14 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Vulnerabilities and Challenges in IoT-Enabled Smart Grids
Internet of Things (IoT) has appeared as one of the enabling technologies for smart energy grids by delivering abundant cutting-edge solutions in various domains, including critical infrastructures. As IoT-enabled devices continue to flourish, one of the major challenges is security issues, since IoT devices are connected through the Internet, thus making the smart grids vulnerable to a diverse range of cyberattacks. 
  • 2.8K
  • 25 Oct 2022
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