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HandWiki is the world's largest wiki-style encyclopedia dedicated to science, technology and computing. It allows you to create and edit articles as long as you have external citations and login account. In addition, this is a content management environment that can be used for collaborative editing of original scholarly content, such as books, manuals, monographs and tutorials.

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Local Search (Internet)
Local search is the use of specialized Internet search engines that allow users to submit geographically constrained searches against a structured database of local business listings. Typical local search queries include not only information about "what" the site visitor is searching for (such as keywords, a business category, or the name of a consumer product) but also "where" information, such as a street address, city name, postal code, or geographic coordinates like latitude and longitude. Examples of local searches include "Hong Kong hotels", "Manhattan restaurants", and "Dublin car rental". Local searches exhibit explicit or implicit local intent. A search that includes a location modifier, such as "Bellevue, WA" or "14th arrondissement", is an explicit local search. A search that references a product or service that is typically consumed locally, such as "restaurant" or "nail salon", is an implicit local search. Local searches on Google Search typically return organic results prefaced with a 'local 3-pack', a list of three local results. More local results can be obtained by clicking on “more places” under the 3-pack. The list of results one obtains is also called the Local Finder. Search engines and directories are primarily supported by advertising from businesses that wish to be prominently featured when users search for specific products and services in specific locations. Google for instance, has developed local inventory ads and features ads in the local pack. Local search advertising can be highly effective because it allows ads to be targeted very precisely to the search terms and location provided by the user.
  • 1.6K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Human-Computer Interaction Institute
The Human-Computer Interaction Institute (HCII) is a department within the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is considered one of the leading centers of human-computer interaction research, and was named one of the top ten most innovative schools in information technology by Computer World in 2008. For the past three decades, the institute has been the predominant publishing force at leading HCI venues, most notably ACM CHI, where it regularly contributes more than 10% of the papers. Research at the institute aims to understand and create technology that harmonizes with and improves human capabilities by integrating aspects of computer science, design, social science, and learning science. Depending on the selected coursework that the student decides to take (in addition to some core classes), they are able to form a schedule specific to the field they are interested in. For example, if a student is specifically interested in pursuing a user experience design profession, they are able to choose courses that focus mainly on the design process behind applications. If the student is interested in product management or project management, they can select electives that encourage group work and cross-collaboration across majors so that they may learn some of the tasks of these professions. A list of courses and course descriptions is included below. HCII offers an HCI major for undergraduates, as well a master's degree and a PhD in HCI. Students from various academic backgrounds come together from around the world to participate in these programs. Students enter the program at various stages in their academic and professional careers, with various levels of experience. HCII research and educational programs span a full cycle of value creation. The cycle includes research on how people work, play, and communicate within groups, organizations, and social structures. It includes the design, creation, and evaluation of technologies and tools to support human and social activities.
  • 2.4K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Obsessive–Compulsive Personality Disorder
Obsessive–compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) is a cluster C personality disorder marked by an excessive need for orderliness, neatness, and perfectionism. Symptoms are usually present by the time a person reaches adulthood, and are visible in a variety of situations. The cause of OCPD is thought to involve a combination of genetic and environmental factors, namely problems with attachment. This is a distinct disorder from obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD), and the relation between the two is contentious. Some studies have found high comorbidity rates between the two disorders but others have shown little comorbidity. Both disorders may share outside similarities—rigid and ritual-like behaviors, for example. Attitudes toward these behaviors differ between people affected with either of the disorders: for people with OCD, these behaviors are egodystonic, unwanted and involuntary, being the product of anxiety-inducing and involuntary thoughts. On the other hand, for people with OCPD, they are egosyntonic; the person perceives them as rational and wanted, being the result of, for example, strong adherence to routines, a desire for control, or a need for perfection. OCPD is highly comorbid with other personality disorders, autism spectrum, eating disorders, anxiety, mood disorders, and substance use disorders. The disorder is the most common personality disorder in the United States, and is diagnosed twice as often in males as in females, however, there is evidence to suggest the prevalence between men and women is equal.
  • 1.7K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Media Pluralism
Media pluralism defines the state of having a plurality of voices, opinions and analyses on media system (internal pluralism) or the coexistence of different and diverse types of medias and media support (external pluralism). Media pluralism is often recognized by international organizations and non-governmental organizations as being an essential part of a democratic state, Reporters Without Borders considers "access to a plurality of editorial lines and analyses [as] essential for citizens to be able to confront ideas, to make their own informed choices and to conduct their life freely". Expanded access to the Internet and the digital switch-over has enabled an increased availability of media content, largely through sharing and user-generated content on social media, in addition to the digital channels to which individuals have access across television and radio. The diversity of content is however accompanied by what Hallin and Mancini call polarized pluralism in a media system. According to the World Trends Report, a sharper division in the way we use news is coming up due to the interaction between consumption habits, changing economic models and technical systems. This signifies that even if multiple kinds of information and programming are available, each segmented group may only ingest one branch of the whole. The increase of Internet penetration and reliance on online sources for news is thought of to producing siloed debates. At the infrastructural level, ‘zero rating’— in which Internet or mobile service providers allow users to access specific content or applications without counting towards the user’s data ‘cap’— expands in parallel to mobile uptakes, particularly in emerging countries. Traditional business models for the news media continue to be disrupted, leading to vertical and horizontal concentration and introduction of new types of ownership. Challenges to media funding introduce new types of economic models such as pay-walls and crowd-funding initiatives. Gender is a part of media pluralism and is characterized by the under-representation of women in the media workforce, in decision-making and in media content. People with disabilities are also under-represented in the media system.
  • 2.7K
  • 09 Oct 2022
Topic Review
Fire-vegetation Feedbacks and Alternative Stable States
The relationship between fire, vegetation, and climate create what is known as a fire regime. Within a fire regime, fire ecologists study the relationship between diverse ecosystems and fire; not only how fire affects vegetation, but also how vegetation affects the behavior of fire. The study of neighboring vegetations types that may be highly flammable and less flammable has provided insight into how these vegetation types can exist side by side, and are maintained by the presence or absence of fire events. Ecologists have studied these boundaries between different vegetation types, such as a closed canopy forest and a grassland, and hypothesized how climate, and soil fertility create these boundaries in vegetation types. Research in the field of pyrogeography shows how fire also plays an important role in the maintenance of dominant vegetation types, and how different vegetation types with distinct relationships to fire can exist side by side in the same climate conditions. These relationships can be described in conceptual models called fire-vegetation feedbacks, and alternative stable states.
  • 1.2K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Nvidia Quadro
Quadro is Nvidia's brand for graphics cards intended for use in workstations running professional computer-aided design (CAD), computer-generated imagery (CGI), digital content creation (DCC) applications, scientific calculations and machine learning. The GPU chips on Quadro-branded graphics cards are identical to those used on GeForce-branded graphics cards. Differences between the Quadro and GeForce cards include the use of ECC memory and enhanced floating point precision. These are desirable properties when the cards are used for calculations which, in contrast to graphics rendering, require reliability and precision. The Nvidia Quadro product line directly competes with AMD's Radeon Pro line of professional workstation cards.
  • 3.6K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Segmentation
Segmentation in biology is the division of some animal and plant body plans into a series of repetitive segments. This article focuses on the segmentation of animal body plans, specifically using the examples of the taxa Arthropoda, Chordata, and Annelida. These three groups form segments by using a "growth zone" to direct and define the segments. While all three have a generally segmented body plan and use a growth zone, they use different mechanisms for generating this patterning. Even within these groups, different organisms have different mechanisms for segmenting the body. Segmentation of the body plan is important for allowing free movement and development of certain body parts. It also allows for regeneration in specific individuals.
  • 8.3K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Humid Continental Climate
A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold in the northern areas) winters. Precipitation is usually distributed throughout the year. The definition of this climate regarding temperature is as follows: the mean temperature of the coldest month must be below −3 °C (26.6 °F) and there must be at least four months whose mean temperatures are at or above 10 °C (50 °F). In addition, the location in question must not be semi-arid or arid. The Dfb, Dwb and Dsb subtypes are also known as hemiboreal. Humid continental climates are generally found roughly between latitudes 40° N and 60° N, within the central and northeastern portions of North America, Europe, and Asia. They are much less commonly found in the Southern Hemisphere due to the larger ocean area at that latitude and the consequent greater maritime moderation. In the Northern Hemisphere some of the humid continental climates, typically in Hokkaido, Northern Honshu, Sakhalin island, Scandinavia, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland are heavily maritime-influenced, with relatively cool summers and winters being just below the freezing mark. More extreme humid continental climates found in northeast China , southern Siberia, the Canadian Prairies, and the Great Lakes region of the American Midwest and Central Canada combine hotter summer maxima and colder winters than the marine-based variety.
  • 11.5K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Carbon Nanotube Metal Matrix Composites
Carbon nanotube metal matrix composites (CNT-MMC) are an emerging class of new materials that are being developed to take advantage of the high tensile strength and electrical conductivity of carbon nanotube materials. Critical to the realization of CNT-MMC possessing optimal properties in these areas are the development of synthetic techniques that are (a) economically producible, (b) provide for a homogeneous dispersion of nanotubes in the metallic matrix, and (c) lead to strong interfacial adhesion between the metallic matrix and the carbon nanotubes. Since the development of CNT-MMC is still in the research phase, the current focus is primarily on improving these latter two areas.
  • 2.5K
  • 29 Sep 2022
Topic Review
Massive Parallel Sequencing
Massive parallel sequencing or massively parallel sequencing is any of several high-throughput approaches to DNA sequencing using the concept of massively parallel processing; it is also called next-generation sequencing (NGS) or second-generation sequencing. Some of these technologies emerged in 1994-1998 and have been commercially available since 2005. These technologies use miniaturized and parallelized platforms for sequencing of 1 million to 43 billion short reads (50-400 bases each) per instrument run. Many NGS platforms differ in engineering configurations and sequencing chemistry. They share the technical paradigm of massive parallel sequencing via spatially separated, clonally amplified DNA templates or single DNA molecules in a flow cell. This design is very different from that of Sanger sequencing—also known as capillary sequencing or first-generation sequencing—that is based on electrophoretic separation of chain-termination products produced in individual sequencing reactions.
  • 3.0K
  • 29 Sep 2022
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