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Topic Review
Biography
Topic Review
Adaptive Clustering
The paper is devoted to an overview of multi-agent principles, methods, and technologies intended to adaptive real-time data clustering. The proposed methods provide new principles of self-organization of records and clusters, represented by software agents, making it possible to increase the adaptability of different clustering processes significantly. The paper also presents a comparative review of the methods and results recently developed in this area and their industrial applications. An ability of self-organization of items and clusters suggests a new perspective to form groups in a bottom-up online fashion together with continuous adaption previously obtained decisions. Multi-agent technology allows implementing this methodology in a parallel and asynchronous multi-thread manner, providing highly flexible, scalable, and reliable solutions. Industrial applications of the intended for solving too complex engineering problems are discussed together with several practical examples of data clustering in manufacturing applications, such as the pre-analysis of customer datasets in the sales process, pattern discovery, and ongoing forecasting and consolidation of orders and resources in logistics, clustering semantic networks in insurance document processing. Future research is outlined in the areas such as capturing the semantics of problem domains and guided self-organization on the virtual market.
3.9K
08 Feb 2021
Topic Review
Vacuum State
In quantum field theory, the quantum vacuum state (also called the quantum vacuum or vacuum state) is the quantum state with the lowest possible energy. Generally, it contains no physical particles. Zero-point field is sometimes used as a synonym for the vacuum state of an individual quantized field. According to present-day understanding of what is called the vacuum state or the quantum vacuum, it is "by no means a simple empty space". According to quantum mechanics, the vacuum state is not truly empty but instead contains fleeting electromagnetic waves and particles that pop into and out of existence. The QED vacuum of quantum electrodynamics (or QED) was the first vacuum of quantum field theory to be developed. QED originated in the 1930s, and in the late 1940s and early 1950s it was reformulated by Feynman, Tomonaga and Schwinger, who jointly received the Nobel prize for this work in 1965. Today the electromagnetic interactions and the weak interactions are unified (at very high energies only) in the theory of the electroweak interaction. The Standard Model is a generalization of the QED work to include all the known elementary particles and their interactions (except gravity). Quantum chromodynamics (or QCD) is the portion of the Standard Model that deals with strong interactions, and QCD vacuum is the vacuum of quantum chromodynamics. It is the object of study in the Large Hadron Collider and the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider, and is related to the so-called vacuum structure of strong interactions.
3.9K
17 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Waste Treatment Using Black Soldier Fly
Poor waste management has adverse impacts on the environment and human health. The recent years have seen increasing interest in using black soldier fly (BSF), Hermetia illucens, as an organic waste converter. Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) feed voraciously on various types of organic waste, including food wastes, agro-industrial by-products, and chicken and dairy manure, and reduce the initial weight of the organic waste by about 50% in a shorter period than conventional composting. The main components of the BSFL system are the larvero, where the larvae feed and grow, and the fly house, where the adults BSF live and reproduce.
3.9K
28 Apr 2022
Topic Review
E-Book
An electronic book, also known as an e-book or eBook, is a book publication made available in digital form, consisting of text, images, or both, readable on the flat-panel display of computers or other electronic devices. Although sometimes defined as "an electronic version of a printed book", some e-books exist without a printed equivalent. E-books can be read on dedicated e-reader devices, but also on any computer device that features a controllable viewing screen, including desktop computers, laptops, tablets and smartphones. In the 2000s, there was a trend of print and e-book sales moving to the Internet, where readers buy traditional paper books and e-books on websites using e-commerce systems. With print books, readers are increasingly browsing through images of the covers of books on publisher or bookstore websites and selecting and ordering titles online; the paper books are then delivered to the reader by mail or another delivery service. With e-books, users can browse through titles online, and then when they select and order titles, the e-book can be sent to them online or the user can download the e-book. By the early 2010s, e-books had begun to overtake hardcover by overall publication figures in the U.S. The main reasons for people buying e-books are possibly lower prices, increased comfort (as they can buy from home or on the go with mobile devices) and a larger selection of titles. With e-books, "[e]lectronic bookmarks make referencing easier, and e-book readers may allow the user to annotate pages." "Although fiction and non-fiction books come in e-book formats, technical material is especially suited for e-book delivery because it can be [electronically] searched" for keywords. In addition, for programming books, code examples can be copied. The amount of e-book reading is increasing in the U.S.; by 2014, 28% of adults had read an e-book, compared to 23% in 2013. This is increasing, because by 2014 50% of American adults had an e-reader or a tablet, compared to 30% owning such devices in 2013.
3.9K
30 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Nanocellulose
Nanocellulose can be used to improve the mechanical properties of cementitious materials if a proper dosage is used. Nanocellulose can be used as a type of viscosity-modifying agent (VMA) in cementitious materials. Nanocellulose with a proper dosage can reduce the shrinkage of cementitious materials, especially with a low water-to-cement (w/c) ratio. Four types of nanocelluloses, including cellulose nanocrystal, cellulose nanofibril, bacterial cellulose, and cellulose filament, have been used in cementitious materials.
3.9K
25 Dec 2020
Topic Review
Transnational Marriage
An international marriage, or transnational marriage, is a marriage between two people from different countries. A variety of special issues arise in marriages between people from different countries, including those related to citizenship and culture, which add complexity and challenges to these kinds of relationships. Culture and language differences are often encountered as obstacles, although there are exceptions. Where ethnic groups are divided between multiple sovereign states (irredentism or stateless nations) or places which once shared common citizenship are separated by borders of newly independent nations (decolonisation), transnational marriages do not necessarily imply different cultures. In an age of increasing globalization, where a growing number of people have ties to networks of people and places across the globe, rather than to a current geographic location, people are increasingly marrying across national boundaries. Transnational marriage is a by-product of the movement and migration of people.
3.9K
29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Hybrid
In biology, a hybrid is the offspring resulting from combining the qualities of two organisms of different breeds, varieties, species or genera through sexual reproduction. Hybrids are not always intermediates between their parents (such as in blending inheritance), but can show hybrid vigor, sometimes growing larger or taller than either parent. The concept of a hybrid is interpreted differently in animal and plant breeding, where there is interest in the individual parentage. In genetics, attention is focused on the numbers of chromosomes. In taxonomy, a key question is how closely related the parent species are. Species are reproductively isolated by strong barriers to hybridisation, which include genetic and morphological differences, differing times of fertility, mating behaviors and cues, and physiological rejection of sperm cells or the developing embryo. Some act before fertilization and others after it. Similar barriers exist in plants, with differences in flowering times, pollen vectors, inhibition of pollen tube growth, somatoplastic sterility, cytoplasmic-genic male sterility and the structure of the chromosomes. A few animal species and many plant species, however, are the result of hybrid speciation, including important crop plants such as wheat, where the number of chromosomes has been doubled. Human impact on the environment has resulted in an increase in the interbreeding between regional species, and the proliferation of introduced species worldwide has also resulted in an increase in hybridisation. This genetic mixing may threaten many species with extinction, while genetic erosion from monoculture in crop plants may be damaging the gene pools of many species for future breeding. A form of often intentional human-mediated hybridisation is the crossing of wild and domesticated species. This is common in both traditional horticulture and modern agriculture; many commercially useful fruits, flowers, garden herbs, and trees have been produced by hybridisation. One such flower, Oenothera lamarckiana, was central to early genetics research into mutationism and polyploidy. It is also more occasionally done in the livestock and pet trades; some well-known wild × domestic hybrids are beefalo and wolfdogs. Human selective breeding of domesticated animals and plants has resulted in the development of distinct breeds (usually called cultivars in reference to plants); crossbreeds between them (without any wild stock) are sometimes also imprecisely referred to as "hybrids". Hybrid humans existed in prehistory. For example, Neanderthals and anatomically modern humans are thought to have interbred as recently as 40,000 years ago. Mythological hybrids appear in human culture in forms as diverse as the Minotaur, blends of animals, humans and mythical beasts such as centaurs and sphinxes, and the Nephilim of the Biblical apocrypha described as the wicked sons of fallen angels and attractive women.
3.9K
24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Rock Art
The term ‘rock art’ defines non-utilitarian humanly made markings on natural rock surfaces, caused either by an additive (pictograms, made by the application of material) or a reductive process (petroglyphs, made by the removal of rock material). The former include rock paintings, pigment drawings, stencils, and beeswax figures; the latter term covers engravings, percussion petroglyphs, and finger flutings. Rock art occurs in nearly all countries. Its uneven distribution is attributable to differences in cultural conventions as well as a taphonomic attribute, i.e. a result of preservation bias. Prehistoric rock art represents by far the largest body of evidence we possess of humanity’s cultural, cognitive, and artistic beginnings. Through its relative permanence, it has profoundly influenced the beliefs and cultural conventions of subsequent societies up to the present. It is, therefore, an integral part of humanity's collective memory and the most significant surviving witness of our cultural evolution.
3.9K
07 Apr 2021
Topic Review
Sustainability Accounting
Sustainability accounting is expanding in the academic context and business practice. It has different meanings but few definitions, and this demonstrates a lack of conceptualization in this regard. The concept is often used as a synonymous of environmental accounting, social accounting, or non-financial accounting. According to Zvezdov and Schaltegger (2013), it “entails systems, methods, and processes of creating sustainability information for transparency, accountability, and decision-making purposes. This includes the identification of relevant sustainability issues of the company, the definition of indicators and measures, data collection, overall performance tracking and measurement, as well as the communication with […] internal and external information recipients.
3.9K
27 Oct 2020
Topic Review
BitTorrent
BitTorrent is a communication protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing (P2P), which enables users to distribute data and electronic files over the Internet in a decentralized manner. To send or receive files, users use a BitTorrent client on their Internet-connected computer. A BitTorrent client is a computer program that implements the BitTorrent protocol. BitTorrent clients are available for a variety of computing platforms and operating systems, including an official client released by Rainberry, Inc. Popular clients include μTorrent, Xunlei Thunder, Transmission, qBittorrent, Vuze, Deluge, BitComet and Tixati. BitTorrent trackers provide a list of files available for transfer and allow the client to find peer users, known as "seeds", who may transfer the files. Programmer Bram Cohen designed the protocol in April 2001, and released the first available version on 2 July 2001. On 15 May 2017, BitTorrent, Inc. (later renamed Rainberry, Inc.) released BitTorrent v2 protocol specification. libtorrent was updated to support the new version on 6 September 2020. BitTorrent is one of the most common protocols for transferring large files, such as digital video files containing TV shows and video clips, or digital audio files containing songs. (As of February 2013) BitTorrent was responsible for 3.35% of all worldwide bandwidth—more than half of the 6% of total bandwidth dedicated to file sharing. In 2019, BitTorrent was a dominant file sharing protocol and generated a substantial amount of Internet traffic, with 2.46% of downstream, and 27.58% of upstream traffic. (As of 2013), BitTorrent had 15–27 million concurrent users at any time. (As of January 2012), BitTorrent is utilized by 150 million active users. Based on this figure, the total number of monthly users may be estimated to more than a quarter of a billion (≈ 250 million). The use of BitTorrent may sometimes be limited by Internet Service Providers (ISPs), on legal or copyright grounds. Users may choose to run seedboxes or virtual private networks (VPNs) to circumvent these restrictions.
3.9K
01 Nov 2022
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