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Topic Review
Plant Growth-Promoting Rhizobacteria
Plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPR) are soil bacteria living in the rhizosphere which, through the secretion of various regulatory molecules, are involved in promoting plant growth and development. They can be found associated with the roots (rhizosphere), with the leaves (phyllosphere), or within the plant (endosphere). The endophytes (PGPE) are generally the most effective in supporting growth; being inside the plant tissues, they can communicate with the host plant and exert their beneficial effect much more efficiently.
  • 6.1K
  • 28 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Electronic Skin
Mimicking skin sensorial properties, the development of “electronic skin” (e-skin) holds the promise of developing medical monitoring and highly sensitive prosthetic devices, biocompatible compliant medical implants, enhanced robotics, and more. The e-skin-related research field is a robust interdisciplinary approach, which combines micro-/nanoelectronics, material science, biotechnology, data transmission, and data processing technologies. The potential of epidermal electronics as biomimetic sensors, soft neural probes, prosthetics, implantable biomedical electronics, robotics, and a whole range of other skin-inspired devices show great potential to change the world. Its feasibility, however, relies on the desired e-skin characteristics such as flexibility, stretchability, self-healing ability, self-powering, biocompatibility, biodegradability and last, but not least, the reliability of large-scale manufacturing processes. 
  • 6.1K
  • 18 Oct 2021
Topic Review
Black Tiger (Animal)
A black tiger is a rare colour variant of the tiger and is not a distinct species or geographic subspecies.
  • 6.1K
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Chemical Extraction of Chitosan from Shrimp Shells
The extraction of chitin and chitosan from raw shrimp wastes through three major processes: demineralization, deproteinization, and deacetylation. Chitin can be recovered from shrimp shells by removing minerals and proteins under diluted acidic and alkaline treatment, followed by a concentrated alkaline treatment to remove acetyl groups and obtain chitosan.
  • 6.1K
  • 01 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Interferometry
Interferometry is a family of techniques in which waves, usually electromagnetic waves, are superimposed causing the phenomenon of interference in order to extract information. Interferometry is an important investigative technique in the fields of astronomy, fiber optics, engineering metrology, optical metrology, oceanography, seismology, spectroscopy (and its applications to chemistry), quantum mechanics, nuclear and particle physics, plasma physics, remote sensing, biomolecular interactions, surface profiling, microfluidics, mechanical stress/strain measurement, velocimetry, and optometry.:1–2 Interferometers are widely used in science and industry for the measurement of small displacements, refractive index changes and surface irregularities. In most interferometers, light from a single source is split into two beams that travel different optical paths, then combined again to produce interference, however, under the some circumstances two incoherent sources can also be interfered. The resulting interference fringes give information about the difference in optical path length. In analytical science, interferometers are used to measure lengths and the shape of optical components with nanometer precision; they are the highest precision length measuring instruments existing. In Fourier transform spectroscopy they are used to analyze light containing features of absorption or emission associated with a substance or mixture. An astronomical interferometer consists of two or more separate telescopes that combine their signals, offering a resolution equivalent to that of a telescope of diameter equal to the largest separation between its individual elements.
  • 6.1K
  • 17 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Silappatikaram
Silappatikāram (Tamil: சிலப்பதிகாரம், IPA: ʧiləppət̪ikɑːrəm, lit. "the Tale of an Anklet"), also referred to as Silappathikaram or Silappatikaram, is the earliest Hindu-Jain Tamil semi-legendary epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval (aciriyam) meter. The epic is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan. The Silappathikaram has more ancient roots in the Tamil bardic tradition, as Kannaki and other characters of the story are mentioned or alluded to in the Sangam literature such as in the Naṟṟiṇai and later texts such as the Kovalam Katai. It is attributed to a prince-turned-monk Iḷaṅkõ Aṭikaḷ, and was probably composed in the 5th or 6th century CE. The Silappatikaram is set in a flourishing seaport city of the early Chola kingdom. Kannaki and Kovalan are a newly married couple, in love, and living in bliss. Over time, Kovalan meets Matavi (Madhavi) – a courtesan. He falls for her, leaves Kannaki and moves in with Matavi. He spends lavishly on her. Kannaki is heartbroken, but as the chaste woman, she waits despite her husband's unfaithfulness. During the festival for Indra, the rain god, there is a singing competition. Kovalan sings a poem about a woman who hurt her lover. Matavi then sings a song about a man who betrayed his lover. Each interprets the song as a message to the other. Kovalan feels Matavi is unfaithful to him, and leaves her. Kannaki is still waiting for him. She takes him back. Kannagi and Kovalan leave the city and travel to Madurai of the Pandya kingdom. Kovalan is penniless and destitute. He confesses his mistakes to Kannagi. She forgives him and tells him the pain his unfaithfulness gave her. Then she encourages her husband to rebuild their life together and gives him one of her jeweled anklets to sell to raise starting capital. Kovalan sells it to a merchant, but the merchant falsely frames him as having stolen the anklet from the queen. The king arrests Kovalan and then executes him, without the due checks and processes of justice. When Kovalan does not return home, Kannagi goes searching for him. She learns what has happened. She protests the injustice and then proves Kovalan's innocence by throwing in the court the other jeweled anklet of the pair. The king accepts his mistake. Kannagi curses the king and curses the people of Madurai, tearing off her breast and throwing it at the gathered public. The king dies. The society that had made her suffer, suffers in retribution as the city of Madurai is burnt to the ground because of her curse. In the third section of the epic, gods and goddesses meet Kannagi and she goes to heaven with god Indra. The royal family of the Chera kingdom learns about her, resolves to build a temple with Kannagi as the featured goddess. They go to the Himalayas, bring a stone, carve her image, call her goddess Pattini, dedicate a temple, order daily prayers, and perform a royal sacrifice. The Silappathikaram is an ancient literary Jain masterpiece. It is to the Tamil culture what the Iliad is to the Greek culture, states R. Parthasarathy. It blends the themes, mythologies and theological values found in the Jain, Buddhist and Hindu religious traditions. It is a Tamil story of love and rejection, happiness and pain, good and evil like all classic epics of the world. Yet unlike other epics that deal with kings and armies caught up with universal questions and existential wars, the Silappathikaram is an epic about an ordinary couple caught up with universal questions and internal, emotional war. The Silappathikaram legend has been a part of the Tamil oral tradition. The palm-leaf manuscripts of the original epic poem, along with those of the Sangam literature, were rediscovered in monasteries in the second half of the 19th century by UV Swaminatha Aiyar – a pandit and Tamil scholar. After being preserved and copied in temples and monasteries in the form of palm-leaf manuscripts, Aiyar published its first partial edition on paper in 1872, the full edition in 1892. Since then the epic poem has been translated into many languages including English.
  • 6.1K
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review Peer Reviewed
Serum Albumin
Being one of the most abundant proteins in human and other mammals, albumin plays a crucial role in transporting various endogenous and exogenous molecules and maintaining of colloid osmotic pressure of the blood. It is not only the passive but also the active participant of the pharmacokinetic and toxicokinetic processes possessing a number of enzymatic activities. A free thiol group of the albumin molecule determines the participation of the protein in redox reactions. Its activity is not limited to interaction with other molecules entering the blood: of great physiological importance is its interaction with the cells of blood, blood vessels and also outside the vascular bed. This topic review contains data on the enzymatic, inflammatory and antioxidant properties of serum albumin. 
  • 6.1K
  • 13 Apr 2022
Topic Review
Bagging on Fruit Quality
Fruit bagging consists essentially of enclosing a young fruit in a food bag by capping the bag with a ribbon or a clamp on the fruit stalk. Isolating the fruit from the external environment protects it during development from mechanical or biotic damage, especially in regions where fruits are prone to attacks by fungi, bacteria, insects and even birds.
  • 6.1K
  • 18 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Cortisol and Cardiovascular System
The synthesis and secretion of cortisol are controlled by the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. Cortisol exhibits a proper 24-h circadian rhythm that affects the brain, the autonomic nervous system, the heart, and the vasculature that prepares the cardiovascular system for optimal function during these anticipated behavioral cycles.
  • 6.1K
  • 22 Jan 2021
Topic Review
Mechanism of CRISPR/Cas Based Detection
In the pace of time, numerous platforms for rapid nucleic acid (NA) detection have been developed; however, they may not be able to satisfy the ASSURED (Affordable, Sensitive, Specific, User-friendly, Rapid and Robust, Equipment-free and Deliverable to end-users) parameters set by the World Health of Organization at the same time. Recent studies have established that the CRISPR/Cas system possesses the potential to fulfil ASSURED criteria and demonstrated that it may be repurposed for the detection of contaminants, enzymes, proteins, analytes, and plant diseases, rather than being limited to clinical settings and nucleic acids. Several platforms have yet to be translated into clinical applications and must be brought into clinical settings from the laboratory. 
  • 6.0K
  • 08 Jun 2022
Topic Review
Google+
Google Plus (stylized as Google+) is an Internet-based social network that is owned and operated by Google. The service, Google's fourth foray into social networking, experienced strong growth in its initial years, although usage statistics have varied, depending on how the service is defined. Three Google executives have overseen the service, which has undergone substantial changes leading to a redesign in November 2015. On October 8, 2018, Google announced that it was shutting down Google+ for consumers, citing low user engagement and a software error, first reported by The Wall Street Journal , that potentially exposed the data of hundreds of thousands of users. Google indicated that Google+ would operate until August 2019, allowing users to download and migrate their information.
  • 6.0K
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
D-10 Tank Gun
The D-10 is a Soviet 100 mm tank gun developed in late World War II. It originally equipped the SU-100 tank destroyers and was later selected for the T-55 tank, equipping these as late as 1979. On the T-55 the D-10 continues to be in active service in many countries.
  • 6.0K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Biography
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams (11 March 1952 – 11 May 2001) was an English author, scriptwriter, essayist, humorist, satirist and dramatist. Adams was author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which originated in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold more than 15 million copies in his lifetime and generated a television series, several stage plays,
  • 6.0K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Transparent Conducting Oxides
A Transparent Conducting Oxides (TCO) is a wide band-gap semiconductor that has high concentration of free electrons in its conduction band.
  • 6.0K
  • 31 Mar 2021
Topic Review
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to people of the same sex. It "also refers to a person's sense of identity based on those attractions, related behaviors, and membership in a community of others who share those attractions." Along with bisexuality and heterosexuality, homosexuality is one of the three main categories of sexual orientation within the heterosexual–homosexual continuum. Scientists do not yet know the exact cause of sexual orientation, but they theorize that it is caused by a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, and environmental influences and do not view it as a choice. Although no single theory on the cause of sexual orientation has yet gained widespread support, scientists favor biologically-based theories. There is considerably more evidence supporting nonsocial, biological causes of sexual orientation than social ones, especially for males. There is no substantive evidence which suggests parenting or early childhood experiences play a role with regard to sexual orientation. While some people believe that homosexual activity is unnatural, scientific research shows that homosexuality is a normal and natural variation in human sexuality and is not in and of itself a source of negative psychological effects. There is insufficient evidence to support the use of psychological interventions to change sexual orientation. The most common adjectives for homosexual people are lesbian for females and gay for males, but the term gay also commonly refers to both homosexual females and males. The percentage of people who are gay or lesbian and the proportion of people who are in same-sex romantic relationships or have had same-sex sexual experiences are difficult for researchers to estimate reliably for a variety of reasons, including many gay and lesbian people not openly identifying as such due to prejudice or discrimination such as homophobia and heterosexism. Homosexual behavior has also been documented in many non-human animal species, though homosexual orientation is not significantly observed in other animals. Many gay and lesbian people are in committed same-sex relationships. These relationships are equivalent to heterosexual relationships in essential psychological respects. Homosexual relationships and acts have been admired, as well as condemned, throughout recorded history, depending on the form they took and the culture in which they occurred. Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a global movement towards freedom and equality for gay people, including the introduction of anti-bullying legislation to protect gay children at school, legislation ensuring non-discrimination, equal ability to serve in the military, equal access to health care, equal ability to adopt and parent, and the establishment of marriage equality.
  • 6.0K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Republicanism
Republicanism is a political ideology centred on citizenship in a state organized as a republic under which the people hold popular sovereignty. Many countries are "republics" in the sense that they are not monarchies. The word "republic" derives from the Latin noun-phrase res publica, which referred to the system of government that emerged in the 6th century BC following the expulsion of the kings from Rome by Lucius Junius Brutus and Collatinus. This form of government in the Roman state collapsed in the latter part of the 1st century BCE, giving way to what was a monarchy in form, if not in name. Republics re-occurred subsequently, with, for example, Renaissance Florence or early modern Britain. The concept of a republic became a powerful force in Britain's North American colonies, where it contributed to the American Revolution. In Europe, it gained enormous influence through the French Revolution and through the First French Republic of 1792–1804.
  • 6.0K
  • 12 Oct 2022
Topic Review
French Geodesic Mission
The French Geodesic Mission (also called the Geodesic Mission to Peru, Geodesic Mission to the Equator and the Spanish-French Geodesic Mission) was an 18th-century expedition to what is now Ecuador carried out for the purpose of measuring the roundness of the Earth and measuring the length of a degree of latitude at the Equator. The mission was one of the first geodesic (or geodetic) missions carried out under modern scientific principles, and the first major international scientific expedition.
  • 6.0K
  • 19 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Nicaea
Nicaea or Nicea (/naɪˈsiːə/; Greek: Νίκαια, Níkaia; Turkish: İznik) was an ancient city in northwestern Anatolia, and is primarily known as the site of the First and Second Councils of Nicaea (the first and seventh Ecumenical councils in the early history of the Christian Church), the Nicene Creed (which comes from the First Council), and as the capital city of the Empire of Nicaea following the Fourth Crusade in 1204, until the recapture of Constantinople by the Byzantines in 1261. The ancient city is located within the modern Turkish city of İznik (whose modern name derives from Nicaea's), and is situated in a fertile basin at the eastern end of Lake Ascanius, bounded by ranges of hills to the north and south. It is situated with its west wall rising from the lake itself, providing both protection from siege from that direction, as well as a source of supplies which would be difficult to cut off. The lake is large enough that it could not be blockaded from the land easily, and the city was large enough to make any attempt to reach the harbour from shore-based siege weapons very difficult. The ancient city is surrounded on all sides by 5 kilometres (3 mi) of walls about 10 metres (33 ft) high. These are in turn surrounded by a double ditch on the land portions, and also included over 100 towers in various locations. Large gates on the three landbound sides of the walls provided the only entrance to the city. Today the walls have been pierced in many places for roads, but much of the early work survives and, as a result, it is a major tourist destination.
  • 6.0K
  • 08 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Physical Information
Physical information is a form of information. In physics, it refers to the information of a physical system. Physical information is an important concept used in a number of fields of study in physics. For example, in quantum mechanics, the form of physical information known as quantum information is used in many descriptions of quantum phenomena, such as quantum observation, quantum entanglement and the causal relationship between quantum objects that carry out either or both close and long-range interactions with one another. In a general sense, information is that which resolves uncertainty, which is due to the fact that it describes the details of that which is associated with the uncertainty. The description itself is, however, divorced from any type of language. When clarifying the subject of information, care should be taken to distinguish between the following specific cases: As the above usages are all conceptually distinct from each other, overloading the word "information" (by itself) to denote (or connote) several of these concepts simultaneously can lead to confusion. Accordingly, this article uses more detailed phrases, such as those shown in bold above, whenever the intended meaning is not made clear by the context.
  • 6.0K
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Chemistry in Health Care
The importance of chemistry in nursing is evident in every aspect of patient care. From understanding drug interactions and diagnostic tools to interpreting biochemical data and embracing innovative technologies.
  • 6.0K
  • 31 Oct 2024
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