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:
Hottest Latest Alphabetical (A-Z) Alphabetical (Z-A)
Type:
All Topic Review Biography
Topic Review
Wet Nurses in Spanish Monarchy
In Spain, the wet nurse had a prominent place in the Court of Philip II (1540–1580), suckling princes. These wet nurses were treated as ladies, as they came from wealthy families related to royalty. The services of wet nurses from neighbouring localities to the court were used. They had to be of good appearance and in excellent health. They were hired because of the need for survival of the infants, children of Philip II. The functions of the four wives of Philip II were relegated to reproduction, childcare, family and monarchical duties. They used empirical medicine in the form of prescriptions for beauty, hygiene and feminine care. The wet nurses were the driving force that promoted the health of babies through breastfeeding.
  • 679
  • 28 Feb 2022
Topic Review
Wet Nanotechnology
Wet nanotechnology (also known as wet nanotech) involves working up to large masses from small ones. Wet nanotechnology requires water in which the process occurs. The process also involves chemists and biologists trying to reach larger scales by putting together individual molecules. While Eric Drexler put forth the idea of nano-assemblers working dry, wet nanotech appears to be the likely first area in which something like a nano-assembler may achieve economic results. Pharmaceuticals and bioscience are central features of most nanotech start-ups. Richard A.L. Jones calls nanotechnology that steals bits of natural nanotechnology and puts them in a synthetic structure biokleptic nanotechnology. He calls building with synthetic materials according to nature's design principles biomimetic nanotechnology. Using these guiding principles could lead to trillions of nanotech robots, that resemble bacteria in structural properties, entering a person's blood stream to do medical treatments.
  • 760
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Westinghouse Lamp Plant
Coordinates: 40°46′53″N 74°11′45″W / 40.78137°N 74.19592°W / 40.78137; -74.19592 The Westinghouse Lamp Plant located in Bloomfield, New Jersey, was one of the lamp manufacturing plants of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. The plant had a major involvement in supplying uranium metal for the world's first self-sustaining chain reaction in Chicago (Chicago Pile-1) in the early phase of the Manhattan Project to create the first atomic bomb.
  • 589
  • 24 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Westfailure
In 1999, international relations scholar Susan Strange introduced the term Westfailure in her posthumously published article entitled The Westfailure System. The term Westfailure is a portmanteau (West + failure) and a pun on the term Westphalian system. Commonly used in international politics, the Westphalian system refers to the system of state sovereignty that emerged from treaties signed during the 1648 Peace of Westphalia. Strange describes the Westphalian system as one that perpetuates non-intervention, the universal recognition of state sovereignty, and the "legitimate use of violence within a given territory." Put simply, the Westphalian system promotes a system where each individual state has the inalienable authority to govern their own internal affairs (laws, market, resources, etc.) without interference from other states or non-governmental actors. The principal aim of Strange's article is to highlight how this system of international governance is failing and does not "satisfy the long-term conditions of sustainability."
  • 1.3K
  • 30 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Western European Colonialism and Colonization
File:SierraLeoneHofstra3.1.tiff European colonialism and colonization was the policy or practice of acquiring full or partial political control over other societies and territories, creating a colony, occupying it with settlers, and exploiting it economically. Research suggests, the current conditions of postcolonial countries have roots in colonial actions and policies. For example, colonial policies, such as the type of rule implemented, the nature of investments, and identity of the colonizers, are cited as impacting postcolonial states. Examination of the state-building process, economic development, and cultural norms and mores shows the direct and indirect consequences of colonialism on the postcolonial states.
  • 2.1K
  • 04 Nov 2022
Topic Review
Western Diet, Insulin/IGF-I Signaling Pathway and Metabolic Syndrome
The metabolic syndrome is a cluster of overlapping conditions resulting in an increased incidence of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer. In the last few decades, prevalence of the metabolic syndrome in the Western world has reached epidemic proportions and this is likely due to alterations in diet and the environment as well as decreased physical activity. The Western diet and lifestyle (Westernization) plays an important etiological role in the pathogenesis of the metabolic syndrome  by exerting negative effects on activity of the insulin–insulin-like growth factor-I (insulin–IGF-I) system. Interventions that normalize/reduce activity of the insulin–IGF-I system may play a key role in the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome. For successful prevention, limitation, and treatment of the metabolic syndrome, the focus should be primarily on changing our diets and lifestyle in accordance with our genetic make-up, formed in adaptation to Paleolithic diets and lifestyles during a period of several million years of human evolution.
  • 695
  • 03 Mar 2023
Topic Review
Western Caribbean Zone
The Western Caribbean Zone is a region consisting of the Caribbean coasts of Central America, from Yucatán in Mexico to northern Colombia, and also the islands west of Jamaica. The zone emerged in the late sixteenth century as the Spanish failed to completely conquer many sections of the coast, and northern European powers supported opposition to Spain, sometimes through alliances with local powers. Unsubdued indigenous inhabitants of the region included some Maya polities, and other chiefdoms and egalitarian societies, especially in Belize, eastern Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica. In addition, the region was the refuge of several groups of runaway slaves, who formed independent settlements or intermixed with the indigenous societies. The combination of unsubdued indigenous people, outlaws (pirates in this case), and an absence of outside control made it similar in some aspects to the American West or the Wild West, as the western half of North America is often called. Its long engagement with the English-speaking Caribbean made it an ideal conduit for trade from both the English colonies of the Caribbean, especially Jamaica, but also North America, which had been trading in the zone since the eighteenth century at least. The relatively low population and strategic location attracted United States -based transportation companies to promote infrastructure projects from railroads to the Panama Canal in the zone, and conjointly with that to introduce large-scale fruit production toward the end of the nineteenth century, often bringing in labor from the English-speaking Caribbean to assist. Unique elements of the region, relative to the population of Central America in general, is the high percentage of people of whole or partial African descent, and its cultural connections to English and the English-speaking Caribbean through language and religion.
  • 328
  • 18 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Westerlies and Asian Monsoons in Middle of China
The westerly circulation and the monsoon circulation are the two major atmospheric circulation systems affecting the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere (NH), which have significant impacts on climate and environmental changes in the middle latitudes. However, until now, people’s understanding of the long-term paleoenvironmental changes in the westerly- and monsoon-controlled areas in China’s middle latitudes is not uniform, and the phase relationship between the two at different time scales is also controversial, especially the exception to the “dry gets drier, wet gets wetter” paradigm in global warming between the two. 
  • 282
  • 01 Mar 2024
Topic Review
West Timorese Farmers in Land Management
Facing the marginal land conditions of West Timor, adaptation efforts by farmers related to food production and planting activities have led to various local knowledge and practices, including the existence of agricultural commodities that are derived from natural selection, which have been ongoing for quite some time. 
  • 819
  • 02 Jun 2022
Topic Review
West Nile Virus
West Nile fever (WNF) is an arthropod-borne viral disease that is transmitted from birds to humans and animals by mosquitoes. Humans may develop a severe disease, which sometimes can be fatal. At the end of the 20th century, the first outbreak of WNF among humans in an urban environment in Eastern Europa and the United States was reported. The epidemics were characterized by the neurological form of the disease with fatal outcomes. WNF spread is driven by location and time, which means nearby locations and periods have similar patterns. Recognition of patterns of spread of disease is crucial for mitigation of disease and prevention. Regression analysis of the predictors of the infection and spatiotemporal analysis enables the detection of risk factors and measurement of their association with West Nile virus infection in humans and animals.
  • 584
  • 25 Oct 2021
  • Page
  • of
  • 5491
Featured Entry Collections
>>

Featured Books

>>
Encyclopedia of Social Sciences
Encyclopedia of COVID-19
Encyclopedia of Fungi
Encyclopedia of Digital Society, Industry 5.0 and Smart City
Video Production Service
Feedback