Your browser does not fully support modern features. Please upgrade for a smoother experience.
Subject:
All Disciplines Arts & Humanities Biology & Life Sciences Business & Economics Chemistry & Materials Science Computer Science & Mathematics Engineering Environmental & Earth Sciences Medicine & Pharmacology Physical Sciences Public Health & Healthcare Social Sciences
Sort by:
Most Viewed Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Filter:
All Topic Review Biography Peer Reviewed Entry Video Entry
Topic Review
Cybersecurity in Industrial Revolution and Smart Cities
Cities have grown in development and sophistication throughout human history. Smart cities are the current incarnation of this process, with increased complexity and social importance. This complexity has come to involve significant digital components and has thus come to raise the associated cybersecurity concerns. Major security relevant events can cascade into the connected systems making up a smart city, causing significant disruption of function and economic damage.
  • 1.4K
  • 04 Jan 2023
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Doctoral Supervision: A Best Practice Review
A “doctoral student” is the term for a student undertaking the highest level of university degree (a doctorate). “Supervisor” is the term for the academic, or academics, who act as their guide. Unlike taught classroom-based degree courses, doctoral degrees in the UK are normally only, or mainly, focused upon a single intensive research study into a specific topic. Such degree courses facilitate the development of students into highly specialist autonomous researchers capable of independent thought. Typically, a blend of support is provided to each doctoral student which consists of an elective development program of research methods learning opportunities alongside dedicated supervisor support from one or more academic members of staff called “supervisors”. It is the expectation that each supervisor will act as a guide and mentor for the doctoral student, thereby enabling them to successfully complete their program of research. This entry relates primarily to the UK model of supervising a doctoral student. Doctoral programs in other countries may differ.
  • 1.4K
  • 05 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Coformer Utilization in Multicomponent Crystal Formation
Most recently discovered active pharmaceutical molecules and market-approved medicines are poorly soluble in water, resulting in limited drug bioavailability and therapeutic effectiveness. The application of coformers in a multicomponent crystal method is one possible strategy to modulate a drug’s solubility. A multicomponent crystal is a solid phase formed when several molecules of different substances crystallize in a crystal lattice with a certain stoichiometric ratio. 
  • 1.4K
  • 20 Jan 2023
Topic Review
Surface Modification in Surface Plasmon Resonance Assays
Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) comprises several surface-sensitive techniques that enable the trace and ultra-trace detection of various analytes through affinity pairing. 
  • 1.4K
  • 27 Apr 2023
Topic Review
Methanethiol: A Scent Mark of Cancer
Dysregulation of sulfur metabolism may result in elevated levels of volatile sulfur compounds (VSCs) in body fluids, breath, and/or excretions of cancer patients. Besides hydrogen sulfide (H2S), methanethiol is the predominant cancer-associated VSC and has been proposed as a promising biomarker for non-invasive cancer diagnosis. Gut bacteria are the major exogenous source of exposure to this foul-smelling toxic gas, with methanethiol-producing strains such as Fusobacterium nucleatum highly abundant in the gut microbiome of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients. Physiologically, methanethiol becomes rapidly degraded through the methanethiol oxidase (MTO) activity of selenium-binding protein 1 (SELENBP1). However, SELENBP1, which is considered a tumor suppressor, is often downregulated in tumor tissues, and this has been epidemiologically linked to poor clinical outcomes. In addition to impaired removal, an increase in methanethiol levels may derive from non-enzymatic reactions, such as a Maillard reaction between glucose and methionine, two metabolites enriched in cancer cells. High methionine concentrations in cancer cells may also result in enzymatic methanethiol production in mitochondria. Moreover, enzymatic endogenous methanethiol production may occur through methyltransferase-like protein 7B (METTL7B), which is present at elevated levels in some cancers, including CRC and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). In conclusion, methanethiol contributes to the "scent of cancer" as part of the cancer-associated signature combination of volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
  • 1.4K
  • 12 Oct 2023
Topic Review
Effect of Licorice on Oral Health
Licorice (Radix glycyrrhizae) is a plant root extract widely used in various applications, including cosmetics, food supplements, and traditional medicine. It has a long history of medicinal use in different cultures due to its diverse pharmacological properties. Licorice has traditionally been used for treating gastrointestinal problems, respiratory infections, cough, bronchitis, arthritis, and skin conditions. The potential therapeutic benefits of licorice for oral health have gained significant interest.
  • 1.4K
  • 20 Nov 2023
Topic Review
Appropriate Vestibular Stimulation in Children and Adolescents
The structural development of the vestibular part of the inner ear is completed by birth but its central connections continue to develop until adolescence. Their development is dependent on vestibular stimulation—vestibular experience. Studies have shown that vestibular function, modulated by experience and epigenetic factors, is not solely an instrument for body position regulation, navigation, and stabilization of the head and images but also influences cognition, emotion, the autonomous nervous system and hormones. 
  • 1.4K
  • 27 Dec 2023
Topic Review
Aberrant Circadian Rhythm in Huntington’s Disease
Huntington’s disease (HD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder characterized by abnormal progressive involuntary movements, cognitive deficits, sleep disturbances, and psychiatric symptoms. Notably, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA)-ergic neurons that express the vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) in the brain play a key role in the regulation of circadian rhythm and neuroplasticity. While an abnormal clock gene pathway has been associated with the inactivation of GABAergic VIP neurons, recent studies suggest the activation of this neuronal population in the brain positively contributes to neuroplasticity.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Dec 2022
Topic Review
Alzheimer′s Disease Really Start
While Alzheimer’s disease (AD) classical diagnostic criteria rely on clinical data from a stablished symptomatic disease, newer criteria aim to identify the disease in its earlier stages. For that, they incorporated the use of AD’s specific biomarkers to reach a diagnosis, including the identification of Aβ and tau depositions, glucose hypometabolism, and cerebral atrophy. These biomarkers created a new concept of the disease, in which AD’s main pathological processes have already taken place decades before we can clinically diagnose the first symptoms. Therefore, AD is now considered a dynamic disease with a gradual progression, and dementia is its final stage. With that in mind, new models were proposed, considering the orderly increment of biomarkers and the disease as a continuum, or the variable time needed for the disease’s progression. In 2011, the National Institute on Aging and the Alzheimer’s Association (NIA-AA) created separate diagnostic recommendations for each stage of the disease continuum—preclinical, mild cognitive impairment, and dementia. However, new scientific advances have led them to create a unifying research framework in 2018 that, although not intended for clinical use as of yet, is a step toward shifting the focus from the clinical symptoms to the biological alterations and toward changing the future diagnostic and treatment possibilities. 
  • 1.4K
  • 30 Oct 2020
Topic Review
Scanless and Detectorless Imaging System
Optical feedback interferometry is a versatile and robust technology for both sensing and imaging applications, available at all wavelengths were a semiconductor laser exists, from 270 nm to 120 μm. It can be easily adapted to fiber integrated systems and promises to be compatible also to silicon photonics.
  • 1.4K
  • 18 Nov 2020
Topic Review
Biofuels
As defined by the European Union, “Biofuels are liquid or gaseous transport fuels such as biodiesel and bioethanol which are made from biomass”. Bioethanol is the most common biofuel obtained by a fermentation process and can be run by using a variety of carbon sources.
  • 1.4K
  • 16 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Energy Metabolism and Glaucoma
Glaucoma, the leading cause of irreversible blindness, is a heterogeneous group of diseases characterized by progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and their axons and leads to visual loss and blindness. Risk factors for the onset and progression of glaucoma include systemic and ocular factors such as older age, lower ocular perfusion pressure, and intraocular pressure (IOP). Early signs of RGC damage comprise impairment of axonal transport, downregulation of specific genes and metabolic changes. The brain is often cited to be the highest energy-demanding tissue of the human body. The retina is estimated to have equally high demands. RGCs are particularly active in metabolism and vulnerable to energy insufficiency. Understanding the energy metabolism of the inner retina, especially of the RGCs, is pivotal for understanding glaucoma’s pathophysiology.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Comorbidities in Rheumatoid Arthritis
Comorbidities in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are often associated with poor health outcomes and increased mortality. Treatment decisions should consider these comorbidities due to known or suspected associations with certain drug classes. In clinical practice, it is critical to balance potential treatment benefit against the possible risks for comorbidities as well as the articular manifestations of RA. This entry summarises the current literature relating to prevalence and risk factors for the important comorbidities of cardiovascular disease, infections, lymphomas and nonmelanoma skin cancers in patients with RA. The impact on patient outcomes and the interplay between these comorbidities and the therapeutic options currently available, including tumour necrosis factor inhibitors and newer biological therapies, are also explored. As newer RA therapies are developed, and patients gain wider and earlier access to advanced therapies, in part due to the emergence of biosimilars, it is important to consider the prevention or treatment of comorbidities as part of the overall management of RA.
  • 1.4K
  • 17 Dec 2024
Topic Review
Vector Beam with Longitudinally Varying Polarization during Propagation
The vector optical beam with longitudinally varying polarization during propagation in free space has attracted significant attention in recent years. Compared with traditional vector optical beams with inhomogeneous distribution of polarization in the transverse plane, manipulating the longitudinal distribution of polarization provides a new dimension for the expansion of the applications of vector optical beams in volume laser machining, longitudinal detection, and in vivo micromanipulation. 
  • 1.4K
  • 29 Nov 2021
Topic Review
Long-Term Trends of Heat Stress for South Africa
Increasing air temperature coupled with high humidity due to ongoing climate change across most parts of South Africa is likely to induce and intensify heat exposure, particularly in densely populated areas. The adverse health implications, including heatstroke, are expected to be common and more severe during extreme heat and heat wave events.
  • 1.4K
  • 17 Dec 2021
Topic Review
Cows’ Milk Allergy-Associated Constipation
Constipation is a very common disorder, mostly functional in nature, that may persist for years in up to 35–52% of children. Food allergy prevalence, severity and persistence are increasing over time, and cows’ milk protein is the commonest food allergen recognised to affect gastrointestinal motility in children. There is mounting evidence of the role of cows’ milk (CM) allergy (CMA) in children with constipation.
  • 1.4K
  • 15 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Accum™ Technology
Compromised activity is a common impediment for biologics requiring endosome trafficking into target cells. In cancer cells, antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are trapped in endosomes or subsequently pumped extracellularly, leading to a reduction in intracellular accumulation. In subsets of dendritic cells (DCs), endosome-engulfed antigens face non-specific proteolysis and collateral damage to epitope immunogenicity before proteasomal processing and subsequent surface presentation. Accum™ is a novel biotechnology exemplifying, in its initial concept, the need to circumvent the biological challenges of ADCs.
  • 1.4K
  • 29 Jul 2022
Topic Review
Dapagliflozin as a Drug in Heart Failure
Dapagliflozin is a selective SGLT-2 inhibitor that reduces renal glucose absorption by inhibiting the SGLT-2 receptors present in the S1 region of the proximal kidney tubules.
  • 1.4K
  • 22 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Hyaluronic Acid for the Treatment of Gingival Recession
In periodontal surgery, hyaluronic acid exhibited better results in complete root coverage and mean root coverage when compared to the control group. Gingival recession reduction, clinical attachment level, and keratinized tissue gain were significantly increased compared to the control groups.
  • 1.4K
  • 25 Nov 2022
Topic Review
ER Stress and the Unfolded Protein Response
The endoplasmic reticulum (ER), a eukaryotic organelle, is the major site of protein biosynthesis. The disturbance of ER function by biotic or abiotic stress triggers the accumulation of misfolded or unfolded proteins in the ER. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is the best-studied ER stress response. This transcriptional regulatory system senses ER stress, activates downstream genes that function to mitigate stress, and restores homeostasis. In addition to its conventional role in stress responses, reports indicate that the UPR is involved in plant growth and development.
  • 1.4K
  • 09 Dec 2022
  • Page
  • of
  • 2728
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Reprints

>>
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Encyclopedia of Engineering
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of Medieval Royal Iconography
Academic Video Service
Feedback