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Agency
Agency is the capacity of an actor to act in a given environment. It is independent of the moral dimension, which is called moral agency. In sociology, an agent is an individual engaging with the social structure. Notably, though, the primacy of social structure vs. individual capacity with regard to persons' actions is debated within sociology. This debate concerns, at least partly, the level of reflexivity an agent may possess. Agency may either be classified as unconscious, involuntary behavior, or purposeful, goal directed activity (intentional action). An agent typically has some sort of immediate awareness of their physical activity and the goals that the activity is aimed at realizing. In ‘goal directed action’ an agent implements a kind of direct control or guidance over their own behavior.
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  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Central Council of Church Bell Ringers
The Central Council of Church Bell Ringers (CCCBR) is an organisation founded in 1891 which represents ringers of church bells in the English style. It acts as a co-ordinating body for education, publicity and codifying change ringing rules, also for advice on maintaining and restoring full-circle bells. Within England, where the vast majority of English-style rings are located, most towers are affiliated through local ringing associations. The Central Council also publishes the bell ringers' weekly journal The Ringing World.
  • 609
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Guccifer 2.0
"Guccifer 2.0" is a persona which claimed to be the hacker(s) that hacked into the Democratic National Committee (DNC) computer network and then leaked its documents to the media, the website WikiLeaks, and a conference event. Some of the documents "Guccifer 2.0" released to the media appear to be forgeries cobbled together from public information and previous hacks, which had been mixed with disinformation. According to indictments in February 2018, the persona is operated by Russian military intelligence agency GRU. On July 13, 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller indicted 12 GRU agents for allegedly perpetrating the cyberattacks. The U.S. Intelligence Community concluded that some of the genuine leaks from "Guccifer 2.0" were part of a series of cyberattacks on the DNC committed by two Russian military intelligence groups, and that "Guccifer 2.0" is actually a persona created by Russian intelligence services to cover for their interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election. This conclusion is based on analyses conducted by various private sector cybersecurity individuals and firms, including CrowdStrike, Fidelis Cybersecurity, FireEye's Mandiant, SecureWorks, ThreatConnect, Trend Micro, and the security editor for Ars Technica. The Russian government denies involvement in the theft, and "Guccifer 2.0" denied links to Russia. WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said multiple parties had access to DNC emails and that there was "no proof" Russia was behind the attack. In March 2018, Special Counsel Robert Mueller took over investigation of Guccifer 2.0 from the FBI while it was reported that forensic determination had found the Guccifer 2.0 persona to be a "particular military intelligence directorate (GRU) officer working out of the agency's headquarters on Grizodubovoy Street in Moscow".
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  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Philosophical Reflections in the Naisadhacarita
Philosophical Reflections in the Naisadhacarita is the doctoral (Ph.D.) thesis of Harekrishna Meher done in Banaras Hindu University in 1981. It discusses philosophical ideas as reflected in the Sanskrit Mahakavya ‘Naisadhacaritam’ authored by the distinguished poet Sriharsa (12th century). This book (ISBN:9788185094212), first published in 1989 by Punthi Pustak Calcutta, is circulated worldwide. Naisadhacarita Mahakavya of poet Sriharsa enjoys a prominent position among the five great epics of Sanskrit literature. Also known as ‘Naishadha’ or ‘Naishadhiya’, this epic contains twenty-two cantos completed with 2827 verses. Its main theme is the story of love between Nala, the King of Nisadha country and Damayanti, the Princess of Vidarbha. The story of Nala and Damayanti is found in the Mahabharata of Vyasa and Kathasaritsagara of Somadeva. The episode of the epic has been taken from the Mahabharata. Poet Sriharsa has remodelled the story and has added the sentiment of love to it. 
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  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
FreedomWorks
FreedomWorks is a conservative and libertarian advocacy group based in Washington D.C., United States . FreedomWorks trains volunteers, assists in campaigns, and encourages them to mobilize, interacting with both fellow citizens and their political representatives. It is widely associated with the Tea Party movement.
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  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Post-office Box
A post-office box or post office box (commonly referred to as a P.O. box or a postal box) is a uniquely addressable lockable box located on the premises of a post office station. In some regions, particularly in Africa, there is no 'door to door' delivery of mail, for example, in Kenya. Consequently, renting a PO box has traditionally been the only way to receive mail in such countries. However, some, like Jordan, have introduced mail home delivery. Generally, post office boxes are rented from the post office either by individuals or by businesses on a basis ranging from monthly to annual, and the cost of rent varies depending on the box size. Central business district (CBD) PO boxes are usually more expensive than rural PO boxes. In the United States, the rental rate used to be uniform across the country. Now, however, a postal facility can be in any of seven fee groups by location; in addition, certain customers qualify for free box rental, usually because the Postal Service does not offer carrier-route delivery to their physical addresses. In the United Kingdom, Royal Mail PO boxes are often little more than pigeon-holes in the secure section of a sorting office and are accessible only by staff. In such cases, the renter of the PO box will be issued with a card showing the PO box number and delivery office name and must produce this to the desk staff when collecting mail. For an additional fee, the Royal Mail will deliver received items to the renter's geographical address. Some private companies (e.g., United Parcel Service (UPS) and commercial mail receiving agencies) also offer similar services of renting a mailbox in a public location. The difference with an official PO box is that mail sent there is addressed to a street address (along with the box number), instead of just addressed to "PO Box CSX".
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  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Horror Vacui
In physics, horror vacui, or plenism (/ˈpliːnɪzəm/), commonly stated as "nature abhors a vacuum", is a postulate attributed to Aristotle, who articulated a belief, later criticized by the atomism of Epicurus and Lucretius, that nature contains no vacuums because the denser surrounding material continuum would immediately fill the rarity of an incipient void. He also argued against the void in a more abstract sense (as "separable"), for example, that by definition a void, itself, is nothing, and following Plato, nothing cannot rightly be said to exist. Furthermore, insofar as it would be featureless, it could neither be encountered by the senses, nor could its supposition lend additional explanatory power. Hero of Alexandria challenged the theory in the first century CE, but his attempts to create an artificial vacuum failed. The theory was debated in the context of 17th-century fluid mechanics, by Thomas Hobbes and Robert Boyle, among others, and through the early 18th century by Sir Isaac Newton and Gottfried Leibniz.
  • 1.4K
  • 08 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Performance Indicator
A performance indicator or key performance indicator (KPI) is a type of performance measurement. KPIs evaluate the success of an organization or of a particular activity (such as projects, programs, products and other initiatives) in which it engages. Often success is simply the repeated, periodic achievement of some levels of operational goal (e.g. zero defects, 10/10 customer satisfaction), and sometimes success is defined in terms of making progress toward strategic goals. Accordingly, choosing the right KPIs relies upon a good understanding of what is important to the organization. What is deemed important often depends on the department measuring the performance – e.g. the KPIs useful to finance will differ from the KPIs assigned to sales. Since there is a need to understand well what is important, various techniques to assess the present state of the business, and its key activities, are associated with the selection of performance indicators. These assessments often lead to the identification of potential improvements, so performance indicators are routinely associated with 'performance improvement' initiatives. A very common way to choose KPIs is to apply a management framework such as the balanced scorecard. The importance of such performance indicators is evident in the typical decision-making process (e.g. in management of organisations). When a decision-maker considers several options, they must be equipped to properly analyse the status quo to predict the consequences of future actions. Should they make their analysis on the basis of faulty or incomplete information, the predictions will not be reliable and consequently the decision made might yield an unexpected result. Therefore, the proper usage of performance indicators is vital to avoid such mistakes and minimise the risk.
  • 1.4K
  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Bacteremia
Bacteremia (also bacteraemia) is the presence of bacteria in the blood. Blood is normally a sterile environment, so the detection of bacteria in the blood (most commonly accomplished by blood cultures) is always abnormal. It is distinct from sepsis, which is the host response to the bacteria. Bacteria can enter the bloodstream as a severe complication of infections (like pneumonia or meningitis), during surgery (especially when involving mucous membranes such as the gastrointestinal tract), or due to catheters and other foreign bodies entering the arteries or veins (including during intravenous drug abuse). Transient bacteremia can result after dental procedures or brushing of teeth. Bacteremia can have several important health consequences. The immune response to the bacteria can cause sepsis and septic shock, which has a high mortality rate. Bacteria can also spread via the blood to other parts of the body (which is called hematogenous spread), causing infections away from the original site of infection, such as endocarditis or osteomyelitis. Treatment for bacteremia is with antibiotics, and prevention with antibiotic prophylaxis can be given in high risk situations.
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  • 10 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Deleted in Colorectal Cancer
An Error has occurred retrieving Wikidata item for infobox Deleted in Colorectal Carcinoma, also known as DCC, is a protein which in humans is encoded by the DCC gene. DCC has long been implicated in colorectal cancer. While the official, full name of this gene is Deleted in Colorectal Carcinoma, it is almost universally called Deleted in Colorectal Cancer. The protein product of DCC is a single transmembrane receptor also known as DCC, and it has the same interchangeable name. Since it was first discovered in a colorectal cancer study in 1990, DCC has been the focus of a significant amount of research. DCC held a controversial place as a tumour suppressor gene for many years, and is well known as an axon guidance receptor that responds to netrin-1. More recently DCC has been characterized as a dependence receptor, and many hypotheses have been put forward that have revived interest in DCC's candidacy as a tumour suppressor gene, as it may be a ligand-dependent suppressor that is frequently epigenetically silenced.
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