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Topic Review

The terms Muslim world and Islamic world commonly refer to the Islamic community, which is also known as the Ummah. This consists of all those who adhere to the religions beliefs and laws of Islam, or to societies where Islam is practiced. In a modern geopolitical sense, these terms refer to countries where Islam is widespread, although there are no agreed criteria for inclusion. The term Muslim-majority countries is an alternative often used for the latter sense. The history of the Muslim world spans about 1,400 years and includes a variety of socio-political developments, as well as advances in the arts, science, philosophy, and technology, particularly during the Islamic Golden Age. All Muslims look for guidance to the Quran and believe in the prophetic mission of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, but disagreements on other matters have led to the appearance of different religious schools of thought and sects within Islam. In the modern era, most of the Muslim world came under European colonial domination. The nation states that emerged in the post-colonial era have adopted a variety of political and economic models, and they have been affected by secular and as well as religious trends. (As of 2013), the combined GDP (nominal) of 49 Muslim majority countries was US$5.7 trillion, (As of 2016), they contributed 8% of the world's total. As of 2015, 1.8 billion or about 24.1% of the world population are Muslims. By the percentage of the total population in a region considering themselves Muslim, 91% in the Middle East-North Africa (MENA), 89% in Central Asia, 40% in Southeast Asia, 31% in South Asia, 30% in Sub-Saharan Africa, 25% in Asia–Oceania, around 6% in Europe, and 1% in the Americas. Most Muslims are of one of two denominations: Sunni Islam (85-90%) and Shia (10-15%), However, other denominations exist in pockets, such as Ibadi (primarily in Oman). About 13% of Muslims live in Indonesia, the largest Muslim-majority country; 31% of Muslims live in South Asia, the largest population of Muslims in the world; 20% in the Middle East–North Africa, where it is the dominant religion; and 15% in Sub-Saharan Africa and West Africa. Muslims are the overwhelming majority in Central Asia, the majority in the Caucasus and widespread in Southeast Asia. India is the country with the largest Muslim population outside Muslim-majority countries. Sizeable Muslim communities are also found in the Americas, China, and Europe. Islam is the fastest-growing major religion in the world.

9.3K
26 Oct 2022

Topic Review

The biological lipid membrane is the key element for the maintenance of cell architecture and physiology. Lipid membranes act as a barrier separating the inner cellular space from the outer environment and further helping in the transmission of signals across the cell boundary. The correct composition and structure of cell membranes define key pathophysiological aspects of cells.

9.3K
23 Dec 2020

Topic Review

"Smart cities" are a new type of city where stakeholders are jointly responsible for urban management. City Information Management (CIM) is an output tool for smart city planning and management, which assists in achieving the sustainable development of urban infrastructure, and promotes smart cities to achieve the goals of stable global economic development, sustainable environmental development, and improvement of people’s quality of life. Existing research has so far established that blockchain and BIM have great potential to enhance construction project performance.

9.3K
14 Mar 2021

Topic Review

Koh-i-Sultan is a volcano in Balochistan, Pakistan. It is part of the tectonic belt formed by the collision of India and Asia: specifically, a segment influenced by the subduction of the Arabian plate beneath the Asian plate and forming a volcanic arc which includes the Bazman and Taftan volcanoes in Iran. The volcano consists of three main cones, with heavily eroded craters running west-northwest and surrounded by a number of subsidiary volcanic centres. Its summit is 2,334 metres (7,657 ft) high, and the crater associated with the Miri cone has a smaller crater inside. The volcano is formed by andesite and dacite rocks, with fragmentary rocks prevailing over lava flows. The rocks have typical arc-volcano chemistry and composition, with a progression from andesite to dacite in the eruption products with younger age. Potassium-argon dating has indicated an age range from 5,900,000 to 90,000 years. Subsequent erosion has generated a large debris apron around the base of the volcano and carved rock formations which impressed early explorers; one well-known rock formation is Neza e Sultan. Geothermal activity and the emission of volcanic gases are ongoing, and the volcano has been prospected for the possibility of obtaining geothermal energy. The geothermal activity has resulted in widespread rock alteration and the formation of sulfur deposits, which were mentioned in a 1909 report and later mined. Koh-i-Sultan also has deposits of other minerals.

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04 Oct 2022

Topic Review

There are fewer than 250 living individuals of the critically endangered kakapo, a large, flightless parrot native to New Zealand. Every known living kakapo, except some young chicks, has been given a name by officials of the Kakapo Recovery Programme. Many of the older birds were given English-language names, but more recent chicks have been given Māori names. Some kakapo, such as Richard Henry and Moorhouse, are named after people who have provided assistance to the preservation efforts. A kakapo interactive family tree is available.

9.3K
17 Sep 2024

Topic Review

Anodizing is an electrochemical process by which the thickness of the natural oxide layer present on metals is increased. Anodizing is used to improve the corrosion and wear resistance of the substrate, to enhance the adhesion of coatings and for aesthetics reasons. The properties, chemistry and morphology of the resulting anodic oxide film depend on the anodizing parameters chosen.

9.3K
25 Jan 2021

Topic Review

Chimera (Mythology)

The Chimera (/kɪˈmɪərə/ or /kaɪˈmɪərə/, also Chimaera (Chimæra); Greek: Χίμαιρα, Chímaira "she-goat") was, according to Greek mythology, a monstrous fire-breathing hybrid creature of Lycia in Asia Minor, composed of the parts of more than one animal. It is usually depicted as a lion, with the head of a goat arising from its back, and a tail that might end with a snake's head, and was one of the offspring of Typhon and Echidna and a sibling of such monsters as Cerberus and the Lernaean Hydra. The term Chimera has come to describe any mythical or fictional animal with parts taken from various animals, or to describe anything composed of very disparate parts, or perceived as wildly imaginative, implausible, or dazzling. The sight of a Chimera was an omen for disaster.

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16 Nov 2022

Topic Review

Effects of Frankincense Compounds

Boswellia trees, found throughout the Middle East and parts of Africa and Asia, are the source of frankincense oil. Since antiquity, frankincense has been traded as a precious commodity, but it has also been used for the treatment of chronic disease, inflammation, oral health, and microbial infection.

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11 Jul 2022

Topic Review

Lobe-Finned Fish

Sarcopterygii (/ˌsɑːrkɒptəˈrɪdʒi.aɪ/; from grc σάρξ (sárx) 'flesh', and πτέρυξ (ptérux) 'wing, fins')—sometimes considered synonymous with Crossopterygii (from grc κροσσός (krossós) 'fringe')—is a taxon (traditionally a class or subclass) of the bony fishes whose members are known as lobe-finned fishes. The group Tetrapoda, a superclass including amphibians, reptiles (including dinosaurs and therefore birds), and mammals, evolved from certain sarcopterygians; under a cladistic view, tetrapods are themselves considered a group within Sarcopterygii. The known extant non-tetrapod sarcopterygians include two species of coelacanths and six species of lungfishes.

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21 Nov 2022

Topic Review

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES)

Deep eutectic solvent (DES) are a highly non-ideal mixture of two biodegradable components (HBA and HBD) associated with strong hydrogen bonding interactions.

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08 Mar 2022

Topic Review

Ascomycota is a phylum of the kingdom Fungi that, together with the Basidiomycota, forms the subkingdom Dikarya. Its members are commonly known as the sac fungi or ascomycetes. It is the largest phylum of Fungi, with over 64,000 species. The defining feature of this fungal group is the "ascus" (from grc ἀσκός (askós) 'sac, wineskin'), a microscopic sexual structure in which nonmotile spores, called ascospores, are formed. However, some species of the Ascomycota are asexual, meaning that they do not have a sexual cycle and thus do not form asci or ascospores. Familiar examples of sac fungi include morels, truffles, brewers' and bakers' yeast, dead man's fingers, and cup fungi. The fungal symbionts in the majority of lichens (loosely termed "ascolichens") such as Cladonia belong to the Ascomycota. Ascomycota is a monophyletic group (it contains all descendants of one common ancestor). Previously placed in the Deuteromycota along with asexual species from other fungal taxa, asexual (or anamorphic) ascomycetes are now identified and classified based on morphological or physiological similarities to ascus-bearing taxa, and by phylogenetic analyses of DNA sequences. The ascomycetes are of particular use to humans as sources of medicinally important compounds, such as antibiotics, for fermenting bread, alcoholic beverages and cheese. Penicillium species on cheeses and those producing antibiotics for treating bacterial infectious diseases are examples of ascomycetes. Many ascomycetes are pathogens, both of animals, including humans, and of plants. Examples of ascomycetes that can cause infections in humans include Candida albicans, Aspergillus niger and several tens of species that cause skin infections. The many plant-pathogenic ascomycetes include apple scab, rice blast, the ergot fungi, black knot, and the powdery mildews. Several species of ascomycetes are biological model organisms in laboratory research. Most famously, Neurospora crassa, several species of yeasts, and Aspergillus species are used in many genetics and cell biology studies.

9.2K
04 Nov 2022

Topic Review

In sociology, a group is a social entity composed of two or more individuals who interact with one another, share a sense of identity, and are bound by a common purpose or goal. These social groups can range from intimate and small-scale, such as families, to larger and more complex structures like organizations or communities. The study of groups in sociology provides insights into human social behavior, dynamics, and the influence of collective processes on individuals within the societal framework.

9.2K
25 Jan 2024

Topic Review

Preterism, a Christian eschatological view, interprets some (partial preterism) or all (full preterism) prophecies of the Bible as events which have already happened. This school of thought interprets the Book of Daniel as referring to events that happened from the 7th century BC until the first century AD, while seeing the prophecies of the Book of Revelation as events that happened in the first century AD. Preterism holds that Ancient Israel finds its continuation or fulfillment in the Christian church at the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70. The term preterism comes from the Latin praeter, which is a prefix denoting that something is "past" or "beyond". Adherents of preterism are known as preterists. Preterism teaches that either all (full preterism) or a majority (partial preterism) of the Olivet discourse had come to pass by AD 70. Historically, preterists and non-preterists have generally agreed that the Jesuit Luis de Alcasar (1554–1613) wrote the first systematic preterist exposition of prophecy Vestigatio arcani sensus in Apocalypsi (published in 1614) during the Counter-Reformation.

9.2K
11 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Meat extenders are non-meat substances with high protein contents used to partially substitue (or extend) the meat content in meat products. Initially devised to reduce costs (as meat is the most expensive ingredient in meat products) they can become now a useful strategy to develop more sustainable and healthier meat products.

9.2K
28 Aug 2020

Topic Review

Financial Crisis of 2007–08

The financial crisis of 2007–08, also known as the global financial crisis and the 2008 financial crisis, was a severe worldwide economic crisis considered by many economists to have been the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, to which it is often compared. It began in 2007 with a crisis in the subprime mortgage market in the United States , and developed into a full-blown international banking crisis with the collapse of the investment bank Lehman Brothers on September 15, 2008. Excessive risk-taking by banks such as Lehman Brothers helped to magnify the financial impact globally. Massive bail-outs of financial institutions and other palliative monetary and fiscal policies were employed to prevent a possible collapse of the world financial system. The crisis was nonetheless followed by a global economic downturn, the Great Recession. The Asian markets (China, Hong Kong, Japan, India, etc.) were immediately impacted and volatilized after the U.S. sub-prime crisis. The European debt crisis, a crisis in the banking system of the European countries using the euro, followed later. In 2010, the Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act was enacted in the US following the crisis to "promote the financial stability of the United States". The Basel III capital and liquidity standards were adopted by countries around the world.

9.2K
11 Nov 2022

Topic Review

History, Preparation, Characterization and Applications of Moisturizers

Moisturizers are one of the most widely used preparations in cosmetics and have been extensively used to soften the skin for consumers. Cosmetically, moisturizers make the skin smooth by the mechanism of increasing the water content in the stratum corneum, hence exerting its most vital action, which is moisturizing action and maintaining a normal skin pH.

9.2K
13 Jul 2022

Topic Review

Acer Aspire Laptops

Acer Aspire (stylized as Λspire or ΛSPIRE) is a series of personal computers by Acer Inc. aimed at the casual household user or for small business use. The Aspire series covers both desktop computers and laptops. Acer developed the series in order to cover from essentials to high performances. Many of the Aspire laptops, such as model 8920G, have built in Blu-ray drives, 5.1 audio outputs and transflective displays. Acer was the first to include these drives in laptops. Most Aspire laptops have water-resistant screens, such as the 1410 and the 5741 Z. In 2007, Acer introduced the Gemstone series that marked a milestone in the Acer Aspire line. As with many Windows laptops, different models may have different specification in different parts of the world.

9.2K
20 Oct 2022

Topic Review

The caret (/ˈkærɪt/) is a V-shaped grapheme, usually inverted and sometimes extended, used in proofreading and typography to indicate that additional material needs to be inserted at this point in the text. There is a similar mark, ^, that has a variety of uses in programming, mathematics and other contexts. The symbol was included in typewriters and computer printers so that circumflex accents could be overprinted on letters (as in ô or ŵ). The character became reused in computer languages for many other purposes, and over time its appearance was enlarged and lowered, making it unusable as an accent mark. This symbol is often called a "caret", but this page will call it a "circumflex" to distinguish it from a true caret. This circumflex is not to be confused with other chevron-shaped characters, such as the circumflex accent, the turned v or the logical AND, which may occasionally be called carets.

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09 Oct 2022

Topic Review

Strategies for Employee Retention in Hospitality Industry

Employee retention is contingent on employee satisfaction, which is comprised of four factors: sustainable positive work environment; sustainable growth opportunities; sustainable & effective communication; and sustainable & effective recruitment and selection practices.

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17 Jun 2022

Topic Review

Feminist Political Economy

Feminist political economy is a concept from feminist material scholarship. It connects market relations with domestic relations. It examines the roles of women, tensions related to women’s paid and unpaid work, how production and reproduction issues affect women, and the interactions at the micro, meso, and macro level contexts within women's lives.

9.2K
28 Oct 2020

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