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175,862 | A vexing question at the time was how a production reactor should be cooled. Taking a conservative view that every possible neutron must be preserved, the majority opinion initially favored cooling with helium, which would absorb very few neutrons. Szilard argued that if this was a concern, then liquid bismuth would be a better choice. He supervised experiments with it, but the practical difficulties turned out to be too great. In the end, Wigner's plan to use ordinary water as a coolant won out. When the coolant issue became too heated, Compton and the director of the Manhattan Project, Brigadier General Leslie R. Groves, Jr., moved to dismiss Szilard, who was still a German citizen, but the Secretary of War, Henry L. Stimson, refused to do so. Szilard was therefore present on December 2, 1942, when the first man-made self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was achieved in the first nuclear reactor under viewing stands of Stagg Field, and shook Fermi's hand. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=56359 | 175,770 |
758,642 | In most American cities, Progressives in the Efficiency Movement looked for ways to eliminate waste and corruption. They emphasized using experts in schools. For example, in the 1897 reform of the Atlanta schools, the school board was reduced in size, eliminating the power of ward bosses. The members of the school board were elected at-large, reducing the influence of various interest groups. The power of the superintendent was increased. Centralized purchasing allowed for economies of scale, although it also added opportunities for censorship and suppression of dissent. Standards of hiring and tenure in teachers were made uniform. Architects designed school buildings in which the classrooms, offices, workshops and other facilities related together. Curricular innovations were introduced. The reforms were designed to produce a school system for white students according to the best practices of the day. Middle-class professionals instituted these reforms; they were equally antagonistic to the traditional business elites and to working-class elements. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=9083795 | 758,236 |
94,567 | The body of a fish is divided into a head, trunk and tail, although the divisions between the three are not always externally visible. The skeleton, which forms the support structure inside the fish, is either made of cartilage, in cartilaginous fish, or bone in bony fish. The main skeletal element is the vertebral column, composed of articulating vertebrae which are lightweight yet strong. The ribs attach to the spine and there are no limbs or limb girdles. The main external features of the fish, the fins, are composed of either bony or soft spines called rays, which with the exception of the caudal fins, have no direct connection with the spine. They are supported by the muscles which compose the main part of the trunk. The heart has two chambers and pumps the blood through the respiratory surfaces of the gills and on round the body in a single circulatory loop. The eyes are adapted for seeing underwater and have only local vision. There is an inner ear but no external or middle ear. Low frequency vibrations are detected by the lateral line system of sense organs that run along the length of the sides of fish, and these respond to nearby movements and to changes in water pressure. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=674 | 94,526 |
426,443 | Quartz is one member of a family of crystals that experience the piezoelectric effect. The piezoelectric effect has found applications in high power sources, sensors, actuators, frequency standards, motors, etc., and the relationship between applied voltage and mechanical deformation is well known; this allows probing an acoustic resonance by electrical means. Applying alternating current to the quartz crystal will induce oscillations. With an alternating current between the electrodes of a properly cut crystal, a standing shear wave is generated. The Q factor, which is the ratio of frequency and bandwidth, can be as high as 10. Such a narrow resonance leads to highly stable oscillators and a high accuracy in the determination of the resonance frequency. The QCM exploits this ease and precision for sensing. Common equipment allows resolution down to 1 Hz on crystals with a fundamental resonant frequency in the 4 – 6 MHz range. A typical setup for the QCM contains water cooling tubes, the retaining unit, frequency sensing equipment through a microdot feed-through, an oscillation source, and a measurement and recording device. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1236075 | 426,234 |
111,833 | The Order of St. Anthony, whose members were known as Antonites, grew quickly, and hospitals spread through France, Germany, and Scandinavia and gained wealth and power as grateful patrons bestowed money and charitable goods on the hospitals. By the end of the Middle Ages, there were 396 settlements and 372 hospitals owned by the order, and pilgrimages to such hospitals became popular, as well as the donation of limbs lost to ergotism, which were displayed near shrines to the saint. These hagiotherapeutic centers were the first specialized European medical welfare systems, and the friars of the order were knowledgeable about treatment of ergotism and the horrifying effects of the poison. The sufferers would receive ergot-free meals, wines containing vasodilating and analgesic herbs, and applications of Antonites-balsalm, which was the first transdermal therapeutic system (TTS) in medical history. These medical recipes have been lost to time, though some recorded treatments still remain. After 1130, the monks were no longer permitted to perform operations, and so barber surgeons were employed to remove gangrenous limbs and treat open sores. Three barbers founded a hospital in Memmingen in 1214 and accepted those who were afflicted with the gangrenous form of ergotism. Patients were fed and housed, with the more able-bodied individuals acting as orderlies and assistants. Patients with the convulsive form of ergotism, or "ergotismus convulsivus", were welcomed for only nine days before they were asked to leave, as convulsive ergotism was seen as less detrimental. Though the sufferers often experienced irreversible effects, they most often returned to their families and resumed their livelihoods. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=262925 | 111,788 |
1,371,269 | No. 77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No. 81 Wing, and equipped with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II multi-role fighters. The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Pearce, Western Australia, in March 1942 and saw action in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, operating Curtis P-40 Kittyhawks. After the war, it re-equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs and deployed to Japan as part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force. The squadron was about to return to Australia when the Korean War broke out in June 1950, after which it joined United Nations forces supporting South Korea. It converted from Mustangs to Gloster Meteor jets between April and July 1951 and remained in Korea until October 1954, claiming five MiG-15s and over five thousand buildings and vehicles destroyed during the war for the loss of almost sixty aircraft, mainly to ground fire. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3573298 | 1,370,512 |
859,356 | A self-replicating machine is a type of autonomous robot that is capable of reproducing itself autonomously using raw materials found in the environment, thus exhibiting self-replication in a way analogous to that found in nature. The concept of self-replicating machines has been advanced and examined by Homer Jacobson, Edward F. Moore, Freeman Dyson, John von Neumann, Konrad Zuse and in more recent times by K. Eric Drexler in his book on nanotechnology, "Engines of Creation" (coining the term clanking replicator for such machines) and by Robert Freitas and Ralph Merkle in their review "Kinematic Self-Replicating Machines" which provided the first comprehensive analysis of the entire replicator design space. The future development of such technology is an integral part of several plans involving the mining of moons and asteroid belts for ore and other materials, the creation of lunar factories, and even the construction of solar power satellites in space. The von Neumann probe is one theoretical example of such a machine. Von Neumann also worked on what he called the universal constructor, a self-replicating machine that would be able to evolve and which he formalized in a cellular automata environment. Notably, Von Neumann's Self-Reproducing Automata scheme posited that open-ended evolution requires inherited information to be copied and passed to offspring separately from the self-replicating machine, an insight that preceded the discovery of the structure of the DNA molecule by Watson and Crick and how it is separately translated and replicated in the cell. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1600053 | 858,898 |
330,294 | In January 1938, three Ju 87 As from the Legion Condor arrived. Several problems became evident—the spatted undercarriage sank into muddy airfield surfaces, and the spats were temporarily removed. The maximum bomb load could only be carried if the gunner vacated his seat, therefore the bomb load was restricted to . These aircraft supported the Nationalist forces and carried out anti-shipping missions until they returned to Germany in October 1938. During the Catalonia Offensive in January 1939, the Junkers Ju 87 returned to Spain. On the morning of 21 January 1939, 34 Heinkel He 111, along with some escorts and three Ju 87B, attacked the Port of Barcelona, five days before the city was captured by the Nationalists. 29 Republican fighters were defending the city. There were more than 100 aircraft operating over the city and, while a Ju 87 was dive-bombing a ship, a Republican Polikarpov I-15 pilot, Francisco Alférez Jiménez, claimed it destroyed near El Vendrell, in Comarruga, but the Stuka was capable of landing on the beach without crashing. That was the only time a Stuka attacked the capital of Catalonia. On 24 January 1939, a group of Stukas prevented the destruction of a bridge near Barcelona by strafing the demolition engineers on Molins de Rei. During the attack the Republican ground defenders, equipped with a quadruple PM M1910 mounting, hit one pilot (Heinz Bohne) in both legs and the Stuka crashed, seriously injuring Bohne, and his machine gunner, Albert Conrad. Those two were the only Stuka casualties of the war. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=16590 | 330,119 |
1,269,438 | In 2018, the U.S. Mint had several candidate designs developed for the 2020 America the Beautiful National Park of American Samoa Quarter, which was in accordance with the act that authorized them. One of the designs features the familiar image of George Washington by John Flanagan, used on the quarter (heads) since 1932. The (tails) of the quarter features a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image represents the remarkable care and energy that this species puts into their offspring. This design is intended to promote awareness to the threatened status of this species due to habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only known park in the United States that is home to the Samoan fruit bat. The bats on the coins were designed by Richard Masters, who worked as Professor Emeritus at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh's Department of Art. The designs were selected by the Citizen's Coinage Advisory Committee (CCAC) and the Commission on Fine Art (CFA). The coin was released to the public in February 2020, and will be followed by four other America the Beautiful quarters for the remainder of 2020. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12539272 | 1,268,747 |
1,568,920 | Several experimental studies, which use heavy ion beams simulating space radiation, provide constructive evidence of the CNS risks from space radiation. First, exposure to HZE nuclei at low doses (<50 cGy) significantly induces neurocognitive deficits, such as learning and behavioral changes as well as operant reactions in the mouse and rat. Exposures to equal or higher doses of low-LET radiation (e.g., gamma or X rays) do not show similar effects. The threshold of performance deficit following exposure to HZE nuclei depends on both the physical characteristics of the particles, such as linear energy transfer (LET), and the animal age at exposure. A performance deficit has been shown to occur at doses that are similar to the ones that will occur on a Mars mission (<0.5 Gy). The neurocognitive deficits with the dopaminergic nervous system are similar to aging and appear to be unique to space radiation. Second, exposure to HZE disrupts neurogenesis in mice at low doses (<1 Gy), showing a significant dose-related reduction of new neurons and oligodendrocytes in the subgranular zone (SGZ) of the hippocampal dentate gyrus. Third, reactive oxygen species (ROS) in neuronal precursor cells arise following exposure to HZE nuclei and protons at low dose, and can persist for several months. Antioxidants and anti-inflammatory agents can possibly reduce these changes. Fourth, neuroinflammation arises from the CNS following exposure to HZE nuclei and protons. In addition, age-related genetic changes increase the sensitivity of the CNS to radiation. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=39761773 | 1,568,033 |
1,869,098 | He graduated with first class honors in Applied Science in 1878, then spent a year at the Yale Scientific School, where he studied German, French, and mineralogy. It was there that he met George Wessel Hawes (1848-1882) a pioneer American petrologist, who had worked with Harry Rosenbusch in Germany. He also met a fellow-student, Andrew Cowper Lawson, and in 1888 they published a joint paper on their investigation of the mineral scapolite. Returning to Montreal, he was appointed Assistant Chemist at the Geological Survey of Canada (GSC), and the following year (when the GSC moved to Ottawa), Assistant Chemist and Petrographer. He received a leave of absence to spend at least part of two years in Heidelberg, studying with Harry Rosenbusch, who by that time was the acknowledged master of microscopic petrography of igneous rocks. Rosenbusch attracted students from many different countries. While Adams was in Heidelberg he met G.H. Williams and J.S. Diller, both of whom later became leading American petrologists, as well as Victor Goldschmidt and (Carl) Alfred Osann (1859–1923), who became famous geochemists in Europe. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1253997 | 1,868,022 |
1,220,081 | Other critics believed that Wilson's theories, as well as the works of subsequent admirers, were not supported scientifically. Objections were raised to many of the ethnocentric assumptions of early sociobiology (like ignoring female gatherers in favour of male hunters in hunter-gatherer societies) and to the sampling and mathematical methods used in informing conclusions. Many of Wilson's less well supported conclusions were attacked (for example, Wilson's mathematical treatment of inheritance as involving a single gene per trait, even though he admitted that traits could be polygenic). Sociobiologists were accused of being "super" adaptationists, or panadaptationist, believing that every aspect of morphology and behaviour "must" necessarily be an evolutionarily beneficial adaptation. Philosophical debates about the nature of scientific truth and the applicability of any human reason to a subject so complex as human behaviour, considering past failures, raged. Describing the controversy, Eric Holtzmans noted that "Given the baleful history of misuse of biology in justifying or designing social policies and practices, authors who attempt to consider human sociobiology have special responsibilities that are not adequately discharged by the usual academic caveats." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1149054 | 1,219,427 |
1,683,975 | In a September 1953 letter to Albert Einstein published in 1971, Max Born writes that, other than the relativity priority issues, it was "particularly unpleasant" for him that Whittaker "had woven all sorts of personal information into his account of quantum mechanics" while Born's role in the development was "extolled". But states in the commentary in 1971 that the book is "a brilliant and historic philosophical work" which he found "extremely useful" in his earlier years. In a 1954 book review, Born praises the book for its "extremely careful" record of "obscure or forgotten papers which contain some essential new idea though perhaps in an imperfect form". And points out that the last two chapters of the book give a "detailed and lively account of the birth of quantum mechanics in both of its forms, matrix mechanics and wave mechanics." He also praises Whittaker for setting aside his philosophical interests, saying "Whittaker the conscientious historian of science, has the upper hand over Whittaker the metaphysician, and it is just this feature which makes the book a safe guide through the tangle of events". Born states that the title of the second chapter, or "the historical view expressed by it", is the only point where Born does not share Whittaker's opinion. Born also points out that the book goes beyond what ordinary textbooks can do, which he believes offer students "the shortest and simplest way to knowledge and understanding", and "are in cases not only unhistorical but a distortion of history". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=65293114 | 1,683,031 |
1,740,811 | If a food containing even small but perceivable amount of sugar (simple sugars or disaccharides that can be tasted sweet, or starch that is at least minimally hydrolyzed by salivary amylase, or even some non-sugar sweeteners) is eaten in this state, there may be a period of time after it enters stomach and before bulk absorption occurs, when continuous exercise becomes very hard, and easily triggers rhabdomyolysis. It probably happens because the digestive system senses and signals forthcoming delivery of sugars, inhibiting fatty acid release and oxidation, and starving glycogen-less muscle cells of the sole available source of energy. Even simple continuous exercise, like walking or washing dishes by hand right after the meal, may trigger rhabdomyolysis in the exercising muscles. This rhabdomyolysis is probably not of exertional, but of hypoglycemic nature, as loaded glycogen-less muscles can rapidly remove glucose from blood, and the normal mechanism of glucose homeostasis lacks the required responsiveness or capacity to prevent hypoglycemia. The broken down myocytes probably do not yield much glucose. Unlike the case with exertional rhabdomyolisys, there is no warning. At rest, however, the liver will effortlessly cover the whole body energy needs until absorption of carbohydrates occurs. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=159670 | 1,739,830 |
702,205 | Handheld game consoles, however, particularly Nintendo handhelds such as the Nintendo DS, have featured a number of innovative RPGs during the late 2000s. Square Enix's "The World Ends with You" (2007) featured a unique dual-screen action combat system that involves controlling two characters at the same time. Level-5's "Inazuma Eleven" (2008) introduced unique soccer football RPG gameplay incorporating sports game elements. The Atlus title "" (2009) blends together both traditional and tactical RPG gameplay along with non-linear adventure game elements as well as an innovative demon auction system and a death clock system where each character has a specified time of death and the player's actions has consequences on who lives and dies. On the PlayStation Portable (PSP), "Half-Minute Hero" (2009) is a role-playing shooter featuring self-referential humour and a 30-second time limit for each level and boss encounter. "Infinite Space" (2009) by PlatinumGames is a hybrid of tactical role-playing game, real-time strategy and space simulator elements, and features a non-linear branching narrative with numerous choices that can have dramatic consequences, and an epic scale spanning hundreds of planets. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=32408675 | 701,837 |
1,730 | The Middle East remained a source of contention. Egypt, which received the bulk of its arms and economic assistance from the USSR, was a troublesome client, with a reluctant Soviet Union feeling obliged to assist in both the 1967 Six-Day War (with advisers and technicians) and the War of Attrition (with pilots and aircraft) against pro-Western Israel. Despite the beginning of an Egyptian shift from a pro-Soviet to a pro-American orientation in 1972 (under Egypt's new leader Anwar Sadat), rumors of imminent Soviet intervention on the Egyptians' behalf during the 1973 Yom Kippur War brought about a massive American mobilization that threatened to wreck détente. Although pre-Sadat Egypt had been the largest recipient of Soviet aid in the Middle East, the Soviets were also successful in establishing close relations with communist South Yemen, as well as the nationalist governments of Algeria and Iraq. Iraq signed a 15-year Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation with the Soviet Union in 1972. According to historian Charles R. H. Tripp, the treaty upset "the US-sponsored security system established as part of the Cold War in the Middle East. It appeared that any enemy of the Baghdad regime was a potential ally of the United States." In response, the US covertly financed Kurdish rebels led by Mustafa Barzani during the Second Iraqi–Kurdish War; the Kurds were defeated in 1975, leading to the forcible relocation of hundreds of thousands of Kurdish civilians. Indirect Soviet assistance to the Palestinian side of the Israeli–Palestinian conflict included support for Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=325329 | 1,730 |
846,210 | In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Vera Rubin, an astronomer at the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, worked with a new sensitive spectrograph that could measure the velocity curve of edge-on spiral galaxies to a greater degree of accuracy than had ever before been achieved. Together with fellow staff-member Kent Ford, Rubin announced at a 1975 meeting of the American Astronomical Society the discovery that most stars in spiral galaxies orbit at roughly the same speed, and that this implied that galaxy masses grow approximately linearly with radius well beyond the location of most of the stars (the galactic bulge). Rubin presented her results in an influential paper in 1980. These results suggested either that Newtonian gravity does not apply universally or that, conservatively, upwards of 50% of the mass of galaxies was contained in the relatively dark galactic halo. Although initially met with skepticism, Rubin's results have been confirmed over the subsequent decades. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=183083 | 845,760 |
1,731,648 | Cleaning aims to restore artworks to how the artist intended them to look; however, how an artwork is cleaned will depend on the nature of the material to be removed. With paintings, a variety of organic solvents are used, but the most common solvent is water, often with chelating agents, surfactants or salts to control pH. Applying solutions through tissues, gels and sponges is becoming the norm, due to the level of control offered by holding the cleaning system at the upper surface of the art. Such gels, introduced in the late 1980s, are usually water-based emulsions thickened with cellulose or synthetic polymers. By slowly releasing the solvent, they prevent some of the swelling damage that free solvents cause to paint layers. During the 1960s, it became popular to use synthetic polymers to consolidate and stabilise frescoes – plaster-based wall paintings. They seemed like the perfect replacement for the wax coatings previously used, but over time it became clear that this was not the case. Their presence drastically changed the paintings’ surface properties, causing mechanical stresses and crystallisation of salts beneath the painting leading to accelerated disintegration. In addition, the polymers themselves became discoloured and brittle. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=48563146 | 1,730,672 |
1,547,961 | Terrapins, tortoises and marine turtles make their homes on and around these islands. The giant leatherback sea turtle ("Dermochelys coriacea"), the hawksbill turtle ("Eretmochelys imbricata"), the loggerhead turtle ("Caretta caretta"), the olive ridley turtle ("Lepidochelys olivacea") and the green sea turtle ("Chelonia mydas") are marine species that either nest on the islands' beaches or frequent their coastal waters. The toadhead turtle ("Mesoclemmys gibba") is found in the south-western drainages of the South Oropouche catchment where it inhabits stagnant or slow-moving waters of marshes, ponds and streams in or near primary rainforests and gallery forests. The land dwelling yellow-footed tortoise ("Chelonoidis denticulatus") or morrocoy as it is locally known and the possibly introduced red-footed tortoise ("Chelonoidis carbonarius") are threatened by high levels of poaching in Trinidad. The scorpion mud turtle ("Kinosternon scorpioides") tends to prefer calm, fresh-water backwaters and isolated ponds of Trinidad (absent in Tobago). The wood-turtle locally known as the galap ("Rhinoclemmys punctularia") is found in and near rivers, streams and swamps in Trinidad, and has appeared on occasion as a waif on Tobago. The odd mata-mata turtle ("Chelus fimbriatus") is known as a waif (and is possibly a rare inhabitant) of the Nariva Swamp and other southern and eastern coastal river systems in Trinidad. Both the Arrau turtle ("Podocnemis expansa") and the yellow-spotted Amazon river turtle ("Podocnemis unifilis") are occasional accidental visitors to Trinidad due to heavy rain fall and increased flooding from mainland South America. The pond slider ("Trachemys scripta") is considered amongst the world's 100 most invasive species and has been found in Trinidad as escaped or released pets, though they are not known to form a breeding population there. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1676253 | 1,547,082 |
216,813 | Probably, the most well-known teratogenic drug is thalidomide. It was developed near the end of the 1950s by Chemie Grünenthal as a sleep-inducing aid and antiemetic. Because of its ability to prevent nausea, it was prescribed for pregnant women in almost 50 countries worldwide between 1956 and 1962. Until William McBride published the study leading to its withdrawal from the market in 1961, about 8,000 to 10,000 severely malformed children were born. The most typical disorders induced by thalidomide were reductional deformities of the long bones of the extremities. Phocomelia, otherwise a rare deformity, therefore helped to recognise the teratogenic effect of the new drug. Among other malformations caused by thalidomide were those of ears, eyes, brain, kidney, heart, and digestive and respiratory tracts; 40% of the prenatally affected children died soon after birth. As thalidomide is used today as a treatment for multiple myeloma and leprosy, several births of affected children were described in spite of the strictly required use of contraception among female patients treated by it. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=321263 | 216,705 |
524,064 | In 2008, the TU Delft University in the Netherlands developed the smallest ornithopter fitted with a camera, the DelFly Micro, the third version of the DelFly project that started in 2005. This version measures 10 centimeters and weighs 3 grams, slightly larger (and noisier) than the dragonfly on which it was modeled. The importance of the camera lies in remote control when the DelFly is out of sight. However, this version has not yet been successfully tested outside, although it performs well indoors. Researcher David Lentink of Wageningen University, who participated in the development of previous models, DelFly I and DelFly II, says it will take at least half a century to mimic the capabilities of insects, with their low energy consumption and multitude of sensors—not only eyes, but gyroscopes, wind sensors, and much more. He says fly-size ornithopters should be possible, provided the tail is well designed. Rick Ruijsink of TU Delft cites battery weight as the biggest problem; the lithium-ion battery in the DelFly micro, at one gram, constitutes a third of the weight. Luckily, developments in this area are still going very fast, due to the demand in various other commercial fields. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=447819 | 523,792 |
1,410,184 | In his exploration of the Heavens, Lewis works to explain much of the basics of medieval cosmology. He begins by explaining the phenomenon of "kindly enclyning": everything returns to the place from which it is drawn. Lewis goes on to answer the question that may arise in response to "kindly enclyning" and that is: "[Did] medieval thinkers really believe that what we now call inanimate objects [possess] sentient and purposive [qualities]"? The answer was "in general", no. Lewis says "in general" because "they attributed life and even intelligence to one privileged class of objects (the stars)...But full blown Panpsychism ... was not held by anyone before Camponella (1568–1639)". In support, Lewis describes the "four grades of terrestrial reality: mere existence (as in stones), existence with growth (as in vegetables), existence and growth with sensation (as in beasts), and all these with reason (as in men)". According to Lewis, "To talk as if inanimate bodies had a homing instinct is to bring them no nearer to us than pigeons; to talk as if they could 'obey' laws is to treat them like men and even like citizens". In the medieval conception, everything was made up of the Four Contraries: hot, cold, moist, and dry. These combine to give us the Four Elements: "The union of hot and dry becomes fire; that of hot and moist, air; of cold and moist, water; of cold and dry, earth." There is also a fifth element, aether, that humans do not experience. In the sublunary world, all the elements have sorted themselves out: "Earth, the heaviest, has gathered itself together at the centre. On it lies the lighter water; above that, the still lighter air. Fire, the lightest of all, whenever it was free, has flown up to the circumference of Nature and forms a sphere just below the orbit of the Moon." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12634101 | 1,409,392 |
1,010,619 | The development of DNA amplification by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) opened up new approaches to forensic DNA testing, allowing automation, greatly increased sensitivity, and a move to alternative marker systems. The most commonly used markers are now variable microsatellites, also known as short tandem repeats (STRs), which Jeffreys first exploited in 1990 in the Mengele case. STR profiling was further refined by a team of scientists led by Peter Gill at the Forensic Science Service in the 1990s, allowing the launch of the UK National DNA Database (NDNAD) in 1995. With highly automated and sophisticated equipment, modern-day DNA profiling can process hundreds of samples each day. Sixteen microsatellites, plus a marker for sex determination, are used with the current system developed for the NDNAD, giving a discrimination power of one in over a billion. Under British law, anyone arrested in England, Wales or Northern Ireland has their DNA profile taken and stored on the database whether or not they are convicted (different rules apply in Scotland). The national database in 2020 contained the DNA information of about 5.6 million people. Jeffreys has opposed the current use of DNA profiling, where the government has access to that database, and has instead proposed a database of all people's DNA, access to which would be controlled by an independent third party. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=44292 | 1,010,098 |
51,070 | As they evolved from lunged fish, amphibians had to make certain adaptations for living on land, including the need to develop new means of locomotion. In the water, the sideways thrusts of their tails had propelled them forward, but on land, quite different mechanisms were required. Their vertebral columns, limbs, limb girdles and musculature needed to be strong enough to raise them off the ground for locomotion and feeding. Terrestrial adults discarded their lateral line systems and adapted their sensory systems to receive stimuli via the medium of the air. They needed to develop new methods to regulate their body heat to cope with fluctuations in ambient temperature. They developed behaviours suitable for reproduction in a terrestrial environment. Their skins were exposed to harmful ultraviolet rays that had previously been absorbed by the water. The skin changed to become more protective and prevent excessive water loss. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=621 | 51,050 |
70,778 | The Zn-world theory has been filled out with evidence for the ionic constitution of the interior of the first proto-cells. In 1926, the Canadian biochemist Archibald Macallum noted the resemblance of body fluids such as blood and lymph to seawater; however, the inorganic composition of all cells differ from that of modern seawater, which led Mulkidjanian and colleagues to reconstruct the "hatcheries" of the first cells combining geochemical analysis with phylogenomic scrutiny of the inorganic ion requirements of modern cells. The authors conclude that ubiquitous, and by inference primordial, proteins and functional systems show affinity to and functional requirement for K, Zn, Mn, and . Geochemical reconstruction shows that this ionic composition could not have existed in the ocean but is compatible with inland geothermal systems. In the oxygen-depleted, CO-dominated primordial atmosphere, the chemistry of water condensates near geothermal fields would resemble the internal milieu of modern cells. Therefore, precellular evolution may have taken place in shallow "Darwin ponds" lined with porous silicate minerals mixed with metal sulfides and enriched in K, Zn, and phosphorus compounds. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19179706 | 70,751 |
1,564,079 | Visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA) is a key behavioural test for evaluating hearing in young children. First introduced by Liden and Kankkunen in 1969, VRA is a good indicator of how responsive a child is to sound and speech and whether the child is developing awareness to sound as expected. Performed by an audiologist, VRA is the preferred behavioral technique for children that are 6 – 24 months of age. Using classic operant conditioning, a stimulus is presented, which is followed by a 90 degree head turn from midline by the child, resulting in the child being reinforced with an animation. The child is typically seated in a high chair or on a parent's lap while facing forward. A loud speaker or two are situated at 45 or 90 degrees from the child. As the auditory stimulus is presented, the child will naturally search for the sound source, resulting in a head turn and reinforcement is followed shortly after through an animated toy or video next to the speaker where the auditory stimulus was presented. Using VRA, an audiologist can obtain minimal hearing thresholds ranging in frequencies from 250 Hz - 8000 Hz using speakers, headphones, inserts earphones or through a bone conduction transducer and plot them on an audiogram. The results from the audiogram, paired with other objective measures such as a Tympanogram, Otoacoustic emissions testing and/or Auditory Brainstem Response testing can provide further insight into the child's auditory hearing status as well as future treatment plans if deemed necessary. VRA works well until about 18–24 months of age. Above 18–24 months of age, children need more interesting tasks to hold their attention, which is when audiologists introduce Conditioned Play Audiometry. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=44417235 | 1,563,192 |
1,139,801 | Upon entrance into the plant cell, the virus coat protein disassembles and releases its RNA genome. The viral RNA serves as mRNA, and although little is known about the translation thereof, it is believed that the 5’ non-coding region functions as an enhancer of translation. The translated mRNA results in a polyprotein which is processed into mature proteins. Each polyprotein is then cleaved into ten different proteins which are believed to be multifunctional. These proteins, along with host proteins, assemble to form a replication complex. This complex performs negative-strand RNA synthesis, using the positive strand of viral RNA as a template. Once the additional RNA copies have been produced, they code for the synthesis of various proteins, as mentioned before, as well as coat proteins. These coat proteins will now enclose the newly formed genomes to give rise to new virions. It has been suggested that enclosure of the newly formed virions is initiated by the interaction of the coat proteins with the 5’terminus and that the coat protein is built up towards the 3’terminus. The entire process of viral replication occurs within the endoplasmic reticulum. These newly synthesized viral particles are subsequently transported through the plasmodesmata to adjacent plant cells via several assisting potyvirus proteins. Distribution of viruses within the plant occurs according to the source-sink relationship between maturing and growing tissues. Virus concentration throughout the plant is high and this greatly increases the chance of uptake by aphids. Infection of plants by potyviruses can be varied in the symptoms shown. Infection can include veinal necrosis, mosaic symptoms as well as leaf malformation (Boonham et al., 2002). Infected plants that do not show symptoms may have infected canopies and will yield lower quality products than their healthy counterparts. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12386405 | 1,139,208 |
1,284,821 | Nanogels that respond to various stimuli including changes in pH and temperature or the presence of redox and light cues have proven to be useful tools for drug delivery. One such responsive nanogel was designed to switch from a surface negative charge to a surface positive charge upon exposure to decrease in pH once inside a tumor. When loaded with a chemotherapeutic agent, this technology induced a lower viability in 3D tumor spheroids compared to control groups. Another type of nanogel loaded with osteoarthritis anti-inflammatory drugs was found to significantly increase the amount of drug transported after topical application to the skin and exposure to its natural elevated temperature. One group reported a method to control the release rate of an antiplatelet medication from a nanogel by using UV light to alter the crosslinking density of the polymer and subsequently change the swelling rate. Additionally, other nanogels have been synthesized to include disulfide cleavable polymers that respond to reductive cues in the surrounding environment. One such nanogel was loaded with a chemotherapeutic agent and demonstrated a decrease in cell viability compared to a free version of the same agent. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21729741 | 1,284,122 |
1,480,025 | Johnson offers a two-year full-time MBA program, which consists of one semester of mandatory courses (core), one semester in immersion, and an optional second-year concentration. Unlike other MBA programs whose mandatory courses occupy the entire first year, Johnson utilizes an intense first-semester core model, allowing students to engage in an immersion (concentration) and specialize before interviewing for summer internships. Students who do not have a business background before matriculating at Johnson may attend a week-long MBA math boot camp to get up to speed, and orientation consists of a two-week leadership course that culminates in the "Johnson Outdoor Experience" (JOE), a two-day adventure-based activity in the Finger Lakes foothills. For the Class of 2018, the number of applications jumped from 1,704 to 1,960, a 13.1% increase over the previous year. Overall, the program enrolled 284 students, up from 274 for the previous class. Despite this increase, the program is harder to get into, with the acceptance rate dropping from 32.4% to 27.3%. Entrance statistics for the Class of 2018 include an average score of 700 on the GMAT and a median of five years of work experience. The student body is international and diverse, with 38% of students holding citizenship outside the United States. Women comprise 31% of the Class of 2018. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1670629 | 1,479,191 |
322,690 | Dvořák displayed his musical gifts at an early age, being an apt violin student from age six. The first public performances of his works were in Prague in 1872 and, with special success, in 1873, when he was 31 years old. Seeking recognition beyond the Prague area, he submitted a score of his First Symphony to a prize competition in Germany, but did not win, and the unreturned manuscript was lost until it was rediscovered many decades later. In 1874, he made a submission to the Austrian State Prize for Composition, including scores of two further symphonies and other works. Although Dvořák was not aware of it, Johannes Brahms was the leading member of the jury and was highly impressed. The prize was awarded to Dvořák in 1874 and again in 1876 and in 1877, when Brahms and the prominent critic Eduard Hanslick, also a member of the jury, made themselves known to him. Brahms recommended Dvořák to his publisher, Simrock, who soon afterward commissioned what became the "Slavonic Dances", Op. 46. These were highly praised by the Berlin music critic Louis Ehlert in 1878, the sheet music (of the original piano 4-hands version) had excellent sales, and Dvořák's international reputation was launched at last. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=76572 | 322,518 |
1,243,114 | Holographic optical element (HOE) is an optical component (mirror, lens, directional diffuser, etc.) that produces holographic images using principles of diffraction. HOE is most commonly used in transparent displays, 3D imaging, and certain scanning technologies. The shape and structure of the HOE is dependent on the piece of hardware it is needed for, and the coupled wave theory is a common tool used to calculate the diffraction efficiency or grating volume that helps with the design of an HOE. Early concepts of the holographic optical element can be traced back to the mid-1900s, coinciding closely with the start of holography coined by Dennis Gabor. The application of 3D visualization and displays is ultimately the end goal of the HOE; however, the cost and complexity of the device has hindered the rapid development toward full 3D visualization. The HOE is also used in the development of augmented reality(AR) by companies such as Google with Google Glass or in research universities that look to utilize HOEs to create 3D imaging without the use of eye-wear or head-wear. Furthermore, the ability of the HOE to allow for transparent displays have caught the attention of the US military in its development of better head-up displays (HUD) which is used to display crucial information for aircraft pilots. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=32062928 | 1,242,441 |
1,789,740 | Neutron irradiation embrittlement limits the service life of reactor-pressure vessels (RPV) in nuclear power plants due to the degradation of reactor materials. In order to perform at high efficiency and safely contain coolant water at temperatures around 290ºC and pressures of ~7 MPa (for boiling water reactors) to 14 MPa (for pressurized water reactors), the RPV must be heavy-section steel. Due to regulations, RPV failure probabilities must be very low. To achieve sufficient safety, the design of the reactor assumes large cracks and extreme loading conditions. Under such conditions, a probable failure mode is rapid, catastrophic fracture if the vessel steel is brittle. Tough RPV base metals that are typically used are A302B, A533B plates, or A508 forgings; these are quenched and tempered, low-alloy steels with primarily tempered bainitic microstructures. Over the past few decades, RPV embrittlement has been addressed by the use of tougher steels with lower trace impurity contents, the decrease of neutron flux that the vessel is subject to, and the elimination of beltline welds. However, embrittlement remains an issue for older reactors. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=55071594 | 1,788,734 |
315,175 | When the United States joined World War I in April 1917, students from Nebraska's extensive Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC) program were called into service. NU's ROTC was led by John J. Pershing during his time as a professor of military science and tactics in the 1890s; during World War I, Pershing commanded the American Expeditionary Forces and became the only person to hold the rank General of the Armies of the United States during his own lifetime. Because of his chemical expertise, Avery was asked to join the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service in Washington, D.C., and during his absence the Board of Regents conducted "loyalty trials" against twelve faculty members accused of anti-American sentiment (all were exonerated of criminal activity, though a few were forced to resign for conduct detrimental to the university's reputation). Like most colleges across the United States, enrollment at NU plummeted as a result of the war. Nebraska was put in a particularly difficult position given the state and university's reliance on agriculture, which was slow to recover in the post-war years. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=323058 | 315,006 |
733,794 | In a 2012 study, email requests were sent to meet to professors in doctoral programs at the top 260 U.S. universities. It was impossible to determine whether any particular individual in this study was exhibiting discrimination, since each participant only viewed a request from one potential graduate student. However, researchers found evidence for discrimination against ethnic minorities and women relative to Caucasian men. In another study, science faculty were sent the materials of students who were applying for a lab manager position at their university. The materials were the same for each participant, but each application was randomly assigned either a male or a female name. The researchers found that faculty members rated the male candidates as both more competent and more hirable than the female candidates, despite applications being otherwise identical. If individuals are given information about a prospective student's gender, they may infer that he or she possesses traits consistent with stereotypes for that gender. A study in 2014 found that men are favored in some domains, such as tenure rates in biology, but that the majority of domains were gender-fair. The authors interpreted this to suggest that the underrepresentation of women in the professorial ranks was not solely caused by sexist hiring, promotion, and remuneration. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=36487460 | 733,407 |
1,462,736 | The abstraction of atomicity in transactional memory requires a hardware mechanism to detect conflicts and undo any changes made to shared data. Hardware transactional memory systems may comprise modifications in processors, cache and bus protocol to support transactions. Speculative values in a transaction must be buffered and remain unseen by other threads until commit time. Large buffers are used to store speculative values while avoiding write propagation through the underlying cache coherence protocol. Traditionally, buffers have been implemented using different structures within the memory hierarchy such as store queues or caches. Buffers further away from the processor, such as the L2 cache, can hold more speculative values (up to a few megabytes). The optimal size of a buffer is still under debate due to the limited use of transactions in commercial programs. In a cache implementation, the cache lines are generally augmented with read and write bits. When the hardware controller receives a request, the controller uses these bits to detect a conflict. If a serializability conflict is detected from a parallel transaction, then the speculative values are discarded. When caches are used, the system may introduce the risk of false conflicts due to the use of cache line granularity. Load-link/store-conditional (LL/SC) offered by many RISC processors can be viewed as the most basic transactional memory support; however, LL/SC usually operates on data that is the size of a native machine word, so only single-word transactions are supported. Although hardware transactional memory provides maximal performance compared to software alternatives, limited use has been seen at this time. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4006429 | 1,461,913 |
683,258 | The Singapore Self-Propelled Howitzer 1 (SSPH 1) Primus is a self-propelled artillery unit armed with a 155 mm howitzer jointly developed by the SAF, Defence Science and Technology Agency (DSTA) and ST Kinetics. Primus provides the range, firepower and accuracy of the artillery while keeping its weight below 30 tons and width below 3m. Other self-propelled guns such as the U.S. (M109 Paladin), Britain's (AS90 Braveheart), Japan's (Type 75) and Russia's (2S3M1) were either too heavy, at over 50 tons, or too wide, beyond 3m, for the tropical rainforest and swampy terrains. The chassis is based on the proven United Defense M109 155 mm self-propelled howitzer, with a new power pack similar to the one fitted on the Bionix infantry fighting vehicle (IFV). The power pack consists of a Detroit Diesel Corporation 6V 92TIA diesel engine developing 550 hp coupled to a General Dynamics Land Systems HMPT-500-3EC fully automatic transmission. The maximum road speed of the Primus is 50 km/h, with an operating range of 350 km, its combat weight is of 28.3 tons allows it to use the SAF 's current military bridging systems. The Primus could be deployed by the future Airbus A400M Transport aircraft. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=6309961 | 682,902 |
1,240,748 | Advances in technology have allowed scientists and anthropologists to utilize statistical programs in order to estimate ancestry of a skull by taking measurements of various craniometric points. CRANID is a statistical program that is used when the source of a cranium is of unknown origin. Cranial measurements are taken and entered into a worldwide craniometric database that is compared to other known cranial metrics. This information allows the user to be able to estimate ancestry in archaeological, forensic, and repatriation context. It has highest accuracy when sex is able to be determined. Dolphin Imaging Cephalometric and Tracing Software is a cephalometric analysis that can measure airway dimensions and dentofacial parameters. It has been used for studies in obstructive sleep apnea. As cephalometry become more digitized by using different programs and scanners, caution should be taken when interpreting data. Objects measured by computer assisted methods may not be an exact match of the original. Scanning and surface reconstruction can produce some data measurement uncertainty. There have been known cases of different software producing different data even when the same skull is used under the same conditions. Software packages, AMIRA and TIVMI, were used for surface reconstructions. The mean difference between measurements was lower for TIVMI. AMIRA can produce up to 4% error in known measurements and 5% in dry skull measurements. Error rates should be taken into consideration when using digitized software for this purpose. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=11131663 | 1,240,077 |
1,127,735 | Simonds was a great believer in "esprit de corps" as a way of motivating soldiers to fight, and he quite consciously sought to build on the history and traditions of the Canadian Army to provide men serving in the Army with a reason to feel pride in their regiments, and hence a willingness to fight for their regimental honor. It was for this reason that Simonds had militia regiments like the Black Watch of Montreal, the Queen's Own Rifles of Toronto and the Fort Garry Horse of Winnipeg transferred over to the regular army instead of raising new regiments, and created a Regiment of Canadian Guards who were closely modeled after the Brigade of Guards who protected the royal family in London, right down to the scarlet uniforms and bearskin hats. By 1953, the defence budget was $1, 907 million dollars, ten times the level of 1947, and the end of the Korean War did not mark the end of the high level of military spending as the end of the Boer War and the two world wars had done, making the 1950s–60s the only period why the Canadian government ever spent large sums on defence in peacetime. The 1950s and 1960s are remembered as something of a "golden age" for the military as for once the chronic problems caused by under-funding by Ottawa in peacetime did not exist. Unlike the Royal Canadian Navy and the Royal Canadian Air Force, whose personnel were overwhelmingly English-Canadians and where English was the sole language of command, the Canadian Army was the only service that made some allowance for French-Canadians. In 1952, the Army opened the Collège Militaire Royal de Saint-Jean to train French-Canadian officer candidates in French (previously all officer candidates had been trained in English at the Royal Military College). However, the Canadian Army was still a mostly English-speaking institution in the 1950s with the Royal 22 Régiment and the 8th Hussars being the only regiments in the regular army that were for French-Canadians. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3110164 | 1,127,157 |
509,204 | Unlike some examples of other forms of media like books, art and photography, and film, which antedate the mid-20th century and which can be preserved in a variety of formats that are not prohibited by more-recent intellectual property (IP) laws, video games typically require specialized and/or proprietary computer hardware and software to read and execute game software. However, as technology advances, these older game systems become obsolete, no longer produced nor maintained to use for executing games. The media formats of the early days of computer gaming, relying on floppy discs and CD-ROMs, suffer from disc rot and degrade over time, making it difficult to recover information. Further, video games tend to rely on other resources like operating systems, network connectivity, and external servers outside control of users, and making sure these boundary aspects to a video game are preserved along with the game are also essential. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=53537897 | 508,940 |
316,065 | Upon Abrams' return from Korea, he served as Chief of Staff of the Armor Center, Fort Knox (1954–56). He was promoted to brigadier general and appointed deputy chief of staff for reserve components at the Pentagon (1956–59). He was assistant division commander of 3rd Armored Division (1959–60) and then commanded the division (1960–62) upon his promotion to major general. He was transferred to the Pentagon as deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (1962–63) and during this time he served as representative of the Army Chief of Staff overseeing the armed forces deployed to support the enrollment of James Meredith at the segregated University of Mississippi. He performed a similar role in May 1963 during the civil rights protests in Birmingham, Alabama. Following these roles Abrams demanded a more coherent policy for the swift employment of Federal forces domestically and on 25 May 1963, the Joint Chiefs formalized those arrangements with the Strike Command instructed to be prepared "to move ready, deployable, tailored Army forces ranging in size from a reinforced company to a maximum force of 15,000 personnel". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=418311 | 315,896 |
1,448,169 | The 90-Day Study estimated SEI's long-term cost at approximately 500 billion dollars spread over 20 to 30 years. According to Steve Dick, NASA Chief Historian, the National Academy of Sciences largely concurred with the NASA study, but White House and Congressional reaction to the NASA plan was hostile, primarily due to the cost estimate. In particular, Democratic members of Congress had almost immediate criticism over Bush's plan. Chairman of the Budget Committee, Senator Jim Sasser, stated "The President took one giant leap for starry-eyed political rhetoric, and not even a small step for fiscal responsibility. The hard fact is, this Administration doesn't even have its space priorities established for next year, much less for the next century." His fellow Tennessee Senator Al Gore also was quoted expressing his criticism of Bush's plan, saying "By proposing a return to the Moon, with no money, no timetable, and no plan, President Bush offers the country not a challenge to inspire us, but a daydream to briefly entertain us, a daydream about as splashy as a George Lucas movie, with about as much connection to reality." | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10574626 | 1,447,353 |
1,758,221 | Kacar's research encompasses the origins of life, early evolution, life in the universe and how the molecular mechanisms of evolution can be understood. She currently leads a NASA Astrobiology Center in molecular paleobiology to understand alien planets and ancient life. She is the first Turkish woman and the youngest scientist to lead a NASA research center. She was the first to resurrect an ancient gene inside a modern microbial genome. She coined the term paleophenotype, reconstructing and examining the evolutionary history of contemporary components and then tying their phenotypes into biosignatures to provide insight into innovations that are grounded in the rock record and thus in the geological and ecological context. In 2020, she proposed a possible application of prebiotic chemistry, protospermia, sending the chemical capacity for life to emerge on another planetary body. Her research team defined “evolutionary stalling” as an evolutionary mechanism to prevent a module from reaching its local performance peak and thereby imposes a genetic load, i.e., the organism carrying a stalled module suffers a fitness cost relative to an organism whose module performance is optimal. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=56984614 | 1,757,228 |
1,813,417 | Standard bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA), like EIM, also employs a weak, high frequency electric current to measure characteristics of the human body. In standard BIA, unlike EIM, electric current is passed between electrodes placed on the hands and feet, and the impedance characteristics of the entire current path are measured. Thus, the measured impedance characteristics are relatively nonspecific since they encompass much of the body including the entire length of the extremities, the chest, abdomen and pelvis; accordingly, only summary whole-body measures of lean body mass and % fat can be offered. Moreover, in BIA, current travels the path of least resistance, and thus any factors that alter the current path will cause variability in the data. For example, the expansion of large vessels (e.g., veins) with increasing hydration will offer a low-resistance path, and thus distorting the resulting data. In addition, changes in abdominal contents will similarly alter the data. Body position can also have substantial effects, with joint position contributing to variations in the data. EIM, in contrast, measures only the superficial aspects of individual muscles and is relatively unaffected by body or limb position or hydration status. The differences between EIM and standard BIA were exemplified in one study in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) which showed that EIM was effectively able to track progression in 60 ALS patients whereas BIA was not. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=23802163 | 1,812,383 |
1,799,129 | The lingering symptoms of neuropathy associated with cerebral beriberi are known as Korsakoff's syndrome, or the chronic phase of Wernicke-Korsakoff's. Wernicke encephalopathy is characterized by ocular abnormalities, ataxia of gait, a global state of confusion, and neuropathy. The state of confusion associated with Wernicke's may consist of apathy, inattention, spatial disorientation, inability to concentrate, and mental sluggishness or restlessness. Clinical diagnosis of Wernicke's disease cannot be made without evidence of ocular disturbance, yet these criteria may be too rigid. Korsakoff's syndrome likely represents a variation in the clinical manifestation of Wernicke encephalophathy, as they both share similar pathological origin. It is often characterized by confabulation, disorientation, and profound amnesia. Characteristics of the neuropathology are varied, but generally consist of bilaterally symmetrical midline lesions of brainstem areas, including the mammillary bodies, thalamus, periaqueductal region, hypothalamus, and the cerebellar vermis. Immediate treatment of Wernicke encephalopathy involves the administration of intravenous thiamine, followed with long-term treatment and prevention of the disorder through oral thiamine supplements, alcohol abstinence, and a balanced diet. Improvements in brain functioning of chronic alcoholics may occur with abstinence-related treatment, involving the discontinuation of alcohol consumption and improved nutrition. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=34730803 | 1,798,120 |
718,678 | Zhang was born in China in 1981 and given the name 锋 (which means "point of a spear; edge of a tool; vanguard"). Both of his parents were computer programmers in China. At age 11, he moved to Iowa with his mother (his father was not able to join them for several years). He attended Theodore Roosevelt High School and Central Academy in Des Moines, graduating in 2000. In 1999 he attended the acclaimed Research Science Institute at MIT, and in 2000 he won 3rd Place in the Intel Science Talent Search. He earned his BA in Chemistry and Physics from Harvard University in 2004 where he worked with Xiaowei Zhuang. He then received his PhD in chemical and biological engineering from Stanford University in 2009 under the guidance of Karl Deisseroth where he developed the technologies behind optogenetics with Edward Boyden. He served as an independent Junior Fellow in the Harvard Society of Fellows. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=41754342 | 718,298 |
1,871,603 | Mycena aurantiomarginata, commonly known as the golden-edge bonnet, is a species of agaric fungus in the family Mycenaceae. First formally described in 1803, it was given its current name in 1872. Widely distributed, it is common in Europe and North America, and has also been collected in North Africa, Central America, and Japan. The fungus is saprobic, and produces fruit bodies (mushrooms) that grow on the floor of coniferous forests. The mushrooms have a bell-shaped to conical cap up to in diameter, set atop a slender stipe up to long with yellow to orange hairs at the base. The fungus is named after its characteristic bright orange gill edges. A microscopic characteristic is the club-shaped cystidia that are covered with numerous spiky projections, resembling a mace. The edibility of the mushroom has not been determined. "M. aurantiomarginata" can be distinguished from similar "Mycena" species by differences in size, color, and substrate. A 2010 publication reported the discovery and characterization of a novel pigment named mycenaaurin A, isolated from the mushroom. The pigment is responsible for its color, and it has antibiotic activity that may function to prevent certain bacteria from growing on the mushroom. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=30043612 | 1,870,526 |
230,744 | Tsiolkovsky studied the mechanics of lighter-than-air powered flying machines. He first proposed the idea of an all-metal dirigible and built a model of it. The first printed work on the airship was "A Controllable Metallic Balloon" (1892), in which he gave the scientific and technical rationale for the design of an airship with a metal sheath. Tsiolkovsky was not supported on the airship project, and the author was refused a grant to build the model. An appeal to the General Aviation Staff of the Russian army also had no success. In 1892, he turned to the new and unexplored field of heavier-than-air aircraft. Tsiolkovsky's idea was to build an airplane with a metal frame. In the article "An Airplane or a Birdlike (Aircraft) Flying Machine" (1894) are descriptions and drawings of a monoplane, which in its appearance and aerodynamics anticipated the design of aircraft that would be constructed 15 to 18 years later. In an Aviation Airplane, the wings have a thick profile with a rounded front edge and the fuselage is faired. But work on the airplane, as well as on the airship, did not receive recognition from the official representatives of Russian science, and Tsiolkovsky's further research had neither monetary nor moral support. In 1914, he displayed his models of all-metal dirigibles at the Aeronautics Congress in St. Petersburg but met with a lukewarm response. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=17087 | 230,626 |
2,055,174 | Buildings for academic, cultural and non-profit institutions are the mainstays of Rose's practice, along with private homes that have been described as warm, modernist spaces that are "sculptural and lyrical." Orleans House and the New York penthouse Rose completed in 2010 for violinist Joshua Bell are two examples. Rose also completed several large-scale institutional projects in 2010: the Carl and Ruth Shapiro Admissions Center at Brandeis University in Waltham, Ma. (a second project for Brandeis, after the 65,000 square foot Carl and Ruth Shapiro Campus Center, which opened in 2002) and the Jean Vollum Drawing, Painting, and Photography Building at Oregon College of Art and Craft in Portland. The firm has worked in energy-efficient design with two significant federal and state commissions: a zero-net-energy consumption transit center for the state of Massachusetts and a 60,000-square-foot office building in Portsmouth, NH. This project was commissioned by the U.S. General Services Administration's "Design Excellence Program". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=33250458 | 2,053,991 |
581,940 | In Fred Whipple's 1948 scenario, a smoke cloud about 60,000 AU in diameter and with 1 solar mass () contracted and produced the Sun. It had a negligible angular momentum, thus accounting for the Sun's similar property. This smoke cloud captured a smaller one with a large angular momentum. The collapse time for the large smoke and gas nebula is about 100 million years, and the rate was slow at first, increasing in later stages. The planets condensed from small clouds developed in or captured by the second cloud. The orbits would be nearly circular because accretion would reduce eccentricity due to the influence of the resisting medium, and orbital orientations would be similar because of the size of the small cloud and the common direction of the motions. The protoplanets might have heated up to such high degrees that the more volatile compounds would have been lost, and the orbital velocity decreased with increasing distance so that the terrestrial planets would have been more affected. However, this scenario was weak in that practically all the final regularities are introduced as a prior assumption, and quantitative calculations did not support most of the hypothesizing. For these reasons, it did not gain wide acceptance. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=17052696 | 581,642 |
55,633 | In April 2015, the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA) released a report concluding that the next-generation U.S. Air Force fighter should be larger and more resembling a bomber than a small, maneuverable traditional fighter. It analyzed over 1,450 air-to-air engagements since 1965 and found that long-range weapons and sensors have dramatically decreased instances of dogfighting. With the increase of air defense systems using electronic and infrared sensors and high-speed weapons, traditional designs relying on small size, high speed, and maneuverability may be less relevant and easier to intercept. As a result, the CSBA suggests building a fighter significantly larger relying on enhanced sensors, signature control, networked situational awareness, and very-long-range weapons to complete engagements before being detected or tracked. Larger planes would have greater range that would enable them to be stationed further from a combat zone, have greater radar and IR detection capabilities, and carry bigger and longer-range missiles (Long-Range Engagement Weapon). One airframe could be fitted with various attachments to fill several roles. The concept of a small number of large, intercontinental and heavily armed combat aircraft could link itself to the development of the Long Range Strike Bomber. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=23636690 | 55,610 |
1,855,088 | Meyerowitz did his undergraduate work at Columbia University (A.B. in biology, 1973), where he worked part-time in the laboratory of Cyrus Levinthal on combined microscopic and computational methods for tracing axons and dendritic trees in the nervous systems of fish. His graduate work was in the Department of Biology at Yale University (Ph.D. 1977), where he worked in the laboratory of Douglas Kankel on the interaction of eye and brain development in Drosophila, by use of genetic mosaics. From 1977 to 1979 he was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of David Hogness in the Biochemistry Department at the Stanford University School of Medicine, developing and using methods for the molecular cloning of genes in the early days of gene cloning and genomics. Since 1980 he has been a faculty member in the Division of Biology at the California Institute of Technology, where he served as division chair from 2000 to 2010, and where he is now George W. Beadle Professor of Biology. Between 2011 and 2013, he was appointed as inaugural director of the Sainsbury Laboratory at the University of Cambridge and elected into a professorship in the university, and a professorial fellow at Trinity College, while on leave from the California Institute of Technology. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4454199 | 1,854,022 |
1,045,214 | The FAA traditionally shared critical information using a variety of technologies, including radio, telephone, Internet, and dedicated connections. However, the agency leveraged new information management technologies to improve information delivery and content. In 2007, the FAA established the SWIM program to implement a set of information technology principles in the National Airspace System (NAS) and provide users with relevant and commonly understandable information. SWIM facilitates NextGen's data-sharing requirements, serving as the digital data-sharing backbone. This platform offers a single point of access for more than 100 products, categorized into aeronautical, flight and traffic flow, and weather data. Producers can publish data once, and approved consumers can access needed information through a single connection, an improvement over the legacy way of connecting two systems with fixed network connections and custom point-to-point application-level data interfaces. The new format supports collaboration within domestic and international aviation communities. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12942905 | 1,044,669 |
1,037,573 | With the ever changing world of technology, there are plenty of new developments in physical education with new and improved technology. As an APE teacher it is crucial to stay up to date with the new technology. It is important to learn and implement the new technology to better help their students succeed in physical education. APE teachers first need to learn and understand the new and improved technology and find what way works the best for his or herself and the students to help them succeed in the best way possible. APE teachers can create a website for the class to upload anything and everything they will be doing throughout the school year to keep track of their progress and IEP goal attainment. The APE teacher can develop a fitness workout plan with videos and step by step instructions that the students can download and follow in the classroom or at home with a family member. APE teacher can help the students incorporate fitness apps into their daily life, there are new apps that are being used in physical education which are MyFitnessPal and MapMyFitness that track your exercise, help with your nutrition and calorie intake. Students can be taught how to keep track of their physical fitness, nutrition and their goals. These apps can also be used as report cards or IEP goal attainment because they have tracked their exercises. Teachers can easily create videos of students doing an activity and download them onto an iPod or computer so students have an easily accessible reference to use during transition periods or after they graduate. Video games are also starting to become more and more predominant in physical education classes, such games can be used outside of school as well. Some games are particularly accessible for individuals with disabilities including Wii and Eye Toy Play. There will always be new ways to enhance learning but ultimately it comes down to what gives the most success to the individual and the APE teacher. Technology is always changing everyday, APE teachers should stay up to date with the technology and find way to improve and enhance their students physical education and development as a person and athlete. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=5089299 | 1,037,032 |
755,083 | Leclerc could not pinpoint the Saharianas, so he tasked the LRDG with hunting them down and robbing the defenders of their mobile reserve. Unfortunately for the LRDG, a radio intercept unit at Kufra picked up their radio traffic and they were spotted from the air. The defenders had been on their guard since Murzuk. G patrol had been kept in reserve and Major Clayton was leading T patrol, 30 men in 11 trucks. The patrol was at Bishara on the morning of January 31 when an Italian aircraft appeared overhead. The trucks scattered and made for some hills, and the plane flew away without attacking. The patrol took cover among some rocks in a small wadi at Gebel Sherif and camouflaged the trucks. The plane returned and circled over the wadi, directing a patrol of the Auto-Saharan Company to their location. The LRDG patrol came off second best to superior Italian firepower and constant air attack. After severe losses, the surviving seven trucks of the patrol withdrew, leaving behind their commanding officer, captured along with several others. Other survivors embarked on epic journeys to seek safety. After this defeat, the LRDG had to withdraw and refit, leaving Leclerc one LRDG vehicle from T patrol, crucially equipped for desert navigation. Leclerc pressed on, even though a copy of his plan had been captured with Major Clayton. After further reconnaissance, Leclerc abandoned his two armoured cars and took with him the remaining serviceable artillery piece, a crucial decision. On the 17th, Leclerc's forces brushed with the Saharianas and despite a disparity in firepower were able to drive them off, as the Kufra garrison failed to intervene. Following this, El Tag was surrounded, despite a further attack from the Saharans and harassment from the air, and the French laid siege to the fort. The lone 75 mm gun was placed 3000 m from the fort, beyond range of the defences, and accurately delivered 20 shells per day at regular intervals. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=376965 | 754,680 |
913,995 | A soft, silvery-white radioactive metal, actinium reacts rapidly with oxygen and moisture in air forming a white coating of actinium oxide that prevents further oxidation. As with most lanthanides and many actinides, actinium assumes oxidation state +3 in nearly all its chemical compounds. Actinium is found only in traces in uranium and thorium ores as the isotope Ac, which decays with a half-life of 21.772 years, predominantly emitting beta and sometimes alpha particles, and Ac, which is beta active with a half-life of 6.15 hours. One tonne of natural uranium in ore contains about 0.2 milligrams of actinium-227, and one tonne of thorium contains about 5 nanograms of actinium-228. The close similarity of physical and chemical properties of actinium and lanthanum makes separation of actinium from the ore impractical. Instead, the element is prepared, in milligram amounts, by the neutron irradiation of in a nuclear reactor. Owing to its scarcity, high price and radioactivity, actinium has no significant industrial use. Its current applications include a neutron source and an agent for radiation therapy. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=899 | 913,516 |
9,723 | Within six minutes, "Sōryū" and "Kaga" were ablaze from stem to stern, as fires spread through the ships. "Akagi", having been struck by only one bomb, took longer to burn, but the resulting fires quickly expanded and soon proved impossible to extinguish; she too was eventually consumed by flames and had to be abandoned. As Nagumo began to grasp the enormity of what had happened, he appears to have gone into a state of shock. Witnesses saw Nagumo standing near the ship's compass looking out at the flames on his flagship and two other carriers in a trance-like daze. Despite being asked to abandon the ship, Nagumo did not move and was reluctant to leave the "Akagi", just muttering, "It's not time yet." Nagumo's chief of staff, Rear Admiral Ryūnosuke Kusaka, was able to persuade him to leave the critically damaged "Akagi". Nagumo, with a barely perceptible nod, with tears in his eyes, agreed to go. At 10:46, Admiral Nagumo transferred his flag to the light cruiser . All three carriers remained temporarily afloat, as none had suffered damage below the waterline, other than the rudder damage to "Akagi" caused by the near miss close astern. Despite initial hopes that "Akagi" could be saved or at least towed back to Japan, all three carriers were eventually abandoned and scuttled. While "Kaga" was burning, "Nautilus" showed up again and launched three torpedoes at her, scoring one dud hit. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=60112 | 9,719 |
159,193 | Weeks later, Amadeus meets NBA basketball player Jeremy Lin, who invites him to a charity game. During the game, the stadium is attacked by robot dragons. Amadeus manages to destroy one of them but the others escape, ultimately taking Arch-E hostage. While attempting to call for reinforcements, Amadeus is approached by Maddy and is injected with a temporary gamma inhibitor. Cho rescues a rebuilt Arch-E-5912 from a robotic octopus, and, after exposing a weakness in the robot, manages to defeat it. He later appears alongside Ms. Marvel, Shang-Chi, Silk, Jake Oh and Jimmy Woo when an alien army arrives. During the battle, the heroes and a number of civilians are transported to a base near Seknarf Seven and learn that they will be consumed; Amadeus is briefly reverted to his human form when he attempts to attack the forcefield containing them. Dubbing their new group "the Protectors," Jimmy and Amadeus rally the group to prepare for battle. After creating an escape plan, Prince Regent Phalkan, ruler of Seknarf Seven, arrives with his soldiers and demands that three of the humans turn themselves in. When Amadeus, Jimmy and Jake offer themselves to the aliens, the civilians use their gadgets to disable the alien equipment; Amadeus is able to transform back into the Hulk. He is overwhelmed from defeating Phalkan's forces, but before Phalkan can kill him he is rescued by Jimmy. After the battle, the Alpha Flight Space Program arrives to rescue the group and arrest the Prince Regent. Amadeus and Jimmy later have a discussion. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=9945333 | 159,111 |
1,315,850 | Motorola offered a 1970s-era system based on the United States Coast Guard LORAN maritime navigation system. The LORAN system was intended for ships but signal levels on the US east- and west-coast areas were adequate for use with receivers in automobiles. The system may have been marketed under the Motorola model name "Metricom". It consisted of an LF LORAN receiver and data interface box/modem connected to a separate two-way radio. The receiver and interface calculated a latitude and longitude in degrees, decimal degrees format based on the LORAN signals. This was sent over the radio as MDC-1200 or MDC-4800 data to a system controller, which plotted the mobile's approximate location on a map. The system worked reliably but sometimes had problems with electrical noise in urban areas. Sparking electric trolley poles or industrial plants which radiated electrical noise sometime overwhelmed the LORAN signals, affecting the system's ability to determine the mobile's geolocation. Because of the limited resolution, this type of system was impractical for small communities or operational areas such as a pit mine or port. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=369646 | 1,315,125 |
24,705 | Linear electron transport through a photosystem will leave the reaction center of that photosystem oxidized. Elevating another electron will first require re-reduction of the reaction center. The excited electrons lost from the reaction center (P700) of photosystem I are replaced by transfer from plastocyanin, whose electrons come from electron transport through photosystem II. Photosystem II, as the first step of the "Z-scheme", requires an external source of electrons to reduce its oxidized chlorophyll "a" reaction center. The source of electrons for photosynthesis in green plants and cyanobacteria is water. Two water molecules are oxidized by the energy of four successive charge-separation reactions of photosystem II to yield a molecule of diatomic oxygen and four hydrogen ions. The electrons yielded are transferred to a redox-active tyrosine residue that is oxidized by the energy of P680. This resets the ability of P680 to absorb another photon and release another photo-dissociated electron. The oxidation of water is catalyzed in photosystem II by a redox-active structure that contains four manganese ions and a calcium ion; this oxygen-evolving complex binds two water molecules and contains the four oxidizing equivalents that are used to drive the water-oxidizing reaction (Kok's S-state diagrams). The hydrogen ions are released in the thylakoid lumen and therefore contribute to the transmembrane chemiosmotic potential that leads to ATP synthesis. Oxygen is a waste product of light-dependent reactions, but the majority of organisms on Earth use oxygen and its energy for cellular respiration, including photosynthetic organisms. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=24544 | 24,696 |
1,668,411 | Direct-fired rotary desorbers have been used extensively over the years for petroleum contaminated soils and soils contaminated with Resource Conservation and Recovery Act hazardous wastes as defined by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. A 1992 paper on treating petroleum contaminated soils estimated that between 20 and 30 contractors have 40 to 60 rotary dryer systems available. Today, it is probably closer to 6 to 10 contractors with 15 to 20 portable systems commercially available. The majority of these systems utilize a secondary combustion chamber (afterburner) or catalytic oxidizer to thermally destroy the volatilized organics. A few of these systems also have a quench and scrubber after the oxidizer which allows them to treat soils containing chlorinated organics such as solvents and pesticides. The desorbing cylinder for full-scale transportable systems is typically four to ten feet in diameter with heated lengths ranging from twenty to fifty feet. The maximum practical solids temperature for these systems is around 750 to 900 °F depending on the material of construction of the cylinder. Total residence time in this type of desorber normally ranges from 3 to 15 minutes. Treatment capacities can range from 6 to over 100 tons per hour for transportable units. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3291871 | 1,667,472 |
744,762 | Zooxanthellae are a type of dinoflagellate that live within the cytoplasm of many marine invertebrates. Members of the phylum Dinoflagellata, they are a round micro-algae that are share a symbiotic relationship with their host. They are also part of the genus Symbiodinium and Kingdom Alveolata. These organisms are phytoplankton and therefore photosynthesize. The products of photosynthesis, i.e. oxygen, sugar, etc. are harnessed by the host organism, and in exchange, the zooxanthellae are offered housing and protection, as well as carbon dioxide, phosphates and other essential inorganic compounds that help them to survive and thrive. Zooxanthellae share 95% of the products of photosynthesis with their host coral. According to the a study done by D.J. Smith et al. photoinhibition is a likely factor in coral bleaching. It also suggests that the hydrogen peroxide produced in zooxanthealle plays a role in signaling themselves to flee the corals. Photo-inhibition of Zooxanthellae can be caused by exposure to UV filters found in personal care products. In a study done by Zhong et al., Oxybenzone (BP-3) had the most negative effects on zooxanthellae health. The combination of temperature increase and presence of UV filters in the ocean has further decreased zooxanthellae health. The combination of UV filters and higher temperatures led to an additive effect on photo-inihibition and overall stress on coral species. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=399912 | 744,368 |
750,700 | "A. africanus", unlike most other primates, seems to have exploited C4 foods such as grasses, seeds, rhizomes, underground storage organs, or potentially creatures higher up on the food chain. Nonetheless, the species had a highly variable diet, making it a generalist. It may have eaten lower quality, harder foods, such as nuts, in leaner times. To survive, children may have needed nursing during such periods until reaching perhaps 4 to 5 years of age. The species appears to have been patrifocal, with females more likely to leave the group than males. "A. africanus" lived in a gallery forest surrounded by more open grasslands or bushlands. South African australopithecine remains probably accumulated in caves due to predation by large carnivores (namely big cats), and the Taung child appears to have been killed by a bird of prey. "A. africanus" probably went extinct due to major climatic variability and volatility and possibly competition with "Homo" and "P. robustus". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1627000 | 750,302 |
2,201,406 | It has been claimed by the Government that this program has been launched to increase employability of graduates thus reducing the high graduate unemployment in state universities. 10,000 students have been earmarked for the first group of training starting May 22, 2011, and a second group of 12,000 is set to follow on June 22 in order to cover the 2011-2012 state university undergraduate intake. Dr Sunil Navaratne, Secretary, Ministry of Higher Education stated that it was a "orientation programme for the university entrants to acquire universal education". Hon S. B. Dissanayake, Minister of Higher Education stated that content of this programme is carefully designed by the experts on education and physical and psychological health. The residential training is to be carried out at 28 camps include 18 army, two naval, two air force and four cadet and police camps according to Major General Milinda Peiris, Vice Chancellor/Commandant, Kotalawala Defence University. He further stated that prominence in the programme is given to leadership skills while conceptual skills, strategic management skills, conflict resolution skills, human skills will also be developed. Chairman of the University Grants Commission Prof Gamini Samaranayake had observed that it would be an "appropriate solution" for ragging. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=31850580 | 2,200,153 |
2,051,512 | In 2017, Moghaddam was the co-founder and president of the start-up Thermal View Monitoring. The group designed an image guidance system that uses radio frequency waves to provide physicians with real-time, 3-dimensional temperature maps to identify cancers for destruction with ablation therapy. For their entrepreneurship, they won the top prize at the USC Viterbi Maseeh Entrepreneurship Prize Competition and their goal is to launch this product by 2021. Following up on this work, Moghaddam published a paper in 2018 proposing a similar method that continuously transmits and receives microwave signals to produce a heat map of the region, organ, body part, that will be operated on. This technology will enhance targeting and treating of brain diseases and disorders from tumors to epilepsy since it allows real-time monitoring during ablation preventing the need for further rounds of treatment. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=63576090 | 2,050,331 |
62,856 | Priority in initial M1 Abrams unit allotments was given to Active Army armored units in Europe. The Army National Guard's armored assets were key strategic elements, approximated at 3,000 tanks, and were important for reinforcing Active Army units in Europe in case of conflict. (This was particularly critical to the ARNG 86th Armor Brigade.) Without an inventory available to provide the ARNG with M1 Abrams tanks, unfunded Requests for Proposals (RFPs) were circulated by the ARNG Tracked Vehicle Task Force starting in 1983. Teledyne Continental developed the first RFP upgrades to the suspension, power pack and transmission. It was demonstrated and tested at Fort Knox in January 1985. The upgrade was not evaluated for US military service or assigned a designation. GDLS acquired Teledyne and by 1987 had pursued the RFP improvement to the armor, mounted the M68A1, and called it the Super 60. It was the reference point for the ARNG upgrade decisions submitted to the Department of the Army to upgrade its M60A3 TTS fleet. In the actual report, the upgrade is referred to as the M60AX. $90 million was requested for prototyping and $2.8 billion to complete the fleet conversion by 1999. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=470028 | 62,831 |
390,525 | On 11 March 2000 a Chinese Long March 4 CBERS-1 upper stage exploded in orbit, creating a debris cloud. A Russian Briz-M booster stage exploded in orbit over South Australia on 19 February 2007. Launched on 28 February 2006 carrying an Arabsat-4A communications satellite, it malfunctioned before it could use up its propellant. Although the explosion was captured on film by astronomers, due to the orbit path the debris cloud has been difficult to measure with radar. By 21 February 2007, over 1,000 fragments were identified. A 14 February 2007 breakup was recorded by Celestrak. Eight breakups occurred in 2006, the most since 1993. Another Briz-M broke up on 16 October 2012 after a failed 6 August Proton-M launch. The amount and size of the debris was unknown. A Long March 7 rocket booster created a fireball visible from portions of Utah, Nevada, Colorado, Idaho and California on the evening of 27 July 2016; its disintegration was widely reported on social media. In 2018–2019, three different Atlas V Centaur second stages have broken up. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=266344 | 390,330 |
149,891 | Film critics appreciated the first season of "Avatar: The Last Airbender" because it attracted the attention of "an audience beyond the children's market with crisp animation and layered storytelling." On the review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, critical consensus for the first season reads, "A brilliant blend of magic, humor, and adventure, "Avatar" is an instant classic." As for the video and picture quality, Gord Lacey from TVShowsOnDVD.com claims "the colors are bright, and the picture is nearly flawless." He says later in the review that "the audio is very nice, with lots of directional effects and nice musical cues." Barnes & Noble reviewer Christina Urban praised the season's masterful combination of "elements from Chinese kung fu, Tibetan philosophy, Japanese martial arts forms, and even Hindu spiritual beliefs". According to Aaron Bynum from AnimationInsider.net, "the series posted double digit year-to-year gains in May". He also said that the show has been number one in the boys 9- to 14-year-old demographic, and has attracted many age and gender groups in its pool of 1.1 million viewers who watch each new episode. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14562722 | 149,823 |
198,190 | According to these results, it appears the genus "Equus" evolved from a "Dinohippus"-like ancestor ~4–7 mya. It rapidly spread into the Old World and there diversified into the various species of asses and zebras. A North American lineage of the subgenus "E. (Equus)" evolved into the New World stilt-legged horse (NWSLH). Subsequently, populations of this species entered South America as part of the Great American Interchange shortly after the formation of the Isthmus of Panama, and evolved into the form currently referred to as "Hippidion" ~2.5 million years ago. "Hippidion" is thus only distantly related to the morphologically similar "Pliohippus", which presumably became extinct during the Miocene. Both the NWSLH and "Hippidium" show adaptations to dry, barren ground, whereas the shortened legs of "Hippidion" may have been a response to sloped terrain. In contrast, the geographic origin of the closely related modern "E. ferus" is not resolved. However, genetic results on extant and fossil material of Pleistocene age indicate two clades, potentially subspecies, one of which had a holarctic distribution spanning from Europe through Asia and across North America and would become the founding stock of the modern domesticated horse. The other population appears to have been restricted to North America. However, one or more North American populations of "E. ferus" entered South America ~1.0–1.5 million years ago, leading to the forms currently known as "E. (Amerhippus)", which represent an extinct geographic variant or race of "E. ferus". | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10490785 | 198,088 |
509,649 | Within the field of developmental biology, one goal is to understand how a particular cell develops into a final cell type, known as fate determination. Within an embryo, several processes play out at the cellular and tissue level to create an organism. These processes include cell proliferation, differentiation, cellular movement and programmed cell death. Each cell in an embryo receives molecular signals from neighboring cells in the form of proteins, RNAs and even surface interactions. Almost all animals undergo a similar sequence of events during very early development, a conserved process known as embryogenesis. During embryogenesis, cells exist in three germ layers, and undergo gastrulation. While embryogenesis has been studied for more than a century, it was only recently (the past 25 years or so) that scientists discovered that a basic set of the same proteins and mRNAs are involved in embryogenesis. Evolutionary conservation is one of the reasons that model systems such as the fly (Drosophila "melanogaster"), the mouse (Mus "musculus"), and other organisms are used as models to study embryogenesis and developmental biology. Studying model organisms provides information relevant to other animals, including humans. While studying the different model systems, cells fate was discovered to be determined via multiple ways, two of which are by the combination of transcription factors the cells have and by the cell-cell interaction. Cells’ fate determination mechanisms were categorized into three different types, autonomously specified cells, conditionally specified cells, or syncytial specified cells. Furthermore, the cells’ fate was determined mainly using two types of experiments, cell ablation and transplantation. The results obtained from these experiments, helped in identifying the fate of the examined cells. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=8285473 | 509,385 |
510,747 | Birds have been especially successful at living at high altitudes. In general, birds have physiological features that are advantageous for high-altitude flight. The respiratory system of birds moves oxygen across the pulmonary surface during both inhalation and exhalation, making it more efficient than that of mammals. In addition, the air circulates in one direction through the parabronchioles in the lungs. Parabronchioles are oriented perpendicularly to the pulmonary arteries, forming a cross-current gas exchanger. This arrangement allows for more oxygen to be extracted compared to mammalian concurrent gas exchange; as oxygen diffuses down its concentration gradient and the air gradually becomes more deoxygenated, the pulmonary arteries are still able to extract oxygen. Birds also have a high capacity for oxygen delivery to the tissues because they have larger hearts and cardiac stroke volume compared to mammals of similar body size. Additionally, they have increased vascularization in their flight muscle due to increased branching of the capillaries and small muscle fibres (which increases surface-area-to-volume ratio). These two features facilitate oxygen diffusion from the blood to muscle, allowing flight to be sustained during environmental hypoxia. Birds' hearts and brains, which are very sensitive to arterial hypoxia, are more vascularized compared to those of mammals. The bar-headed goose ("Anser indicus") is an iconic high-flyer that surmounts the Himalayas during migration, and serves as a model system for derived physiological adaptations for high-altitude flight. Rüppell's vultures, whooper swans, alpine chough, and common cranes all have flown more than above sea level. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=32625124 | 510,482 |
1,979,417 | Historically, there were three main morphological criteria used to separate genera in the Verrucariaceae: spore septation (the degree of partitioning by septa); the structure of the thallus; and the presence or absence of algae in the spore-bearing tissue, the hymenium. However, even before the advent of molecular phylogenetics, the use of these have been contentious, as several authors have considered them artificial, and not representative of true phylogenetic relationships. As one example, the use of the degree of spore septation as a major character to circumscribe genera was shown to be problematic when it was demonstrated that in some instances, spore septation is variable with a single species. In 1953, Czech lichenologist Miroslav Servít proposed a new system of classification for the Verrucariaceae, based largely on characteristics of the —the upper, often pigmented, part of the fruiting body covering the . Josef Halda summarised Servít's contribution: "Servít's studies contributed to complicacy of the taxonomy of the whole order Verrucariales. The huge amount of newly described taxa (families, genera, species, varieties or forms) and new combinations almost brought an end to good orientation necessary for new researchers. Any of his studies is not really a revision since it contains only a further list of new taxa and their combinations within the many genera and family framework. Servít neither returned to his newly described taxa nor he revised them in his monographs". Servít's classification was not widely adopted by future authors, and according to Cécile Gueidan and colleagues, it was the lack of clear morphological characteristics in the Verrucariaceae that hindered future proposals for changes in classification. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=21348884 | 1,978,279 |
1,688,462 | EPR tried to set up a paradox to question the range of true application of quantum mechanics: Quantum theory predicts that both values cannot be known for a particle, and yet the EPR thought experiment purports to show that they must all have determinate values. The EPR paper says: "We are thus forced to conclude that the quantum-mechanical description of physical reality given by wave functions is not complete." The EPR paper ends by saying: "While we have thus shown that the wave function does not provide a complete description of the physical reality, we left open the question of whether or not such a description exists. We believe, however, that such a theory is possible." The 1935 EPR paper condensed the philosophical discussion into a physical argument. The authors claim that given a specific experiment, in which the outcome of a measurement is known before the measurement takes place, there must exist something in the real world, an "element of reality", that determines the measurement outcome. They postulate that these elements of reality are, in modern terminology, local, in the sense that each belongs to a certain point in spacetime. Each element may, again in modern terminology, only be influenced by events which are located in the backward light cone of its point in spacetime, i.e. the past). These claims are founded on assumptions about nature that constitute what is now known as local realism. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=10296 | 1,687,516 |
1,627,199 | The US Naval Postgraduate School Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely-Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) in Monterey, California operates a highly modified Cessna 337-O2 Skymaster OPV called Pelican. The OPV provides a low-risk, low-cost test and evaluation alternative to a Predator UAV. The Pelican has also provided UAV support to military exercises which otherwise would not have had access to a real UAV due to cost, availability, or FAA restrictions. The Northrop Grumman Firebird is classified as an OPV. The National Test Pilot School certified an extensively modified Cessna 150 as an Optionally Piloted Aircraft for use as a training device to aid instruction of flight testing unmanned systems. Additionally, Autonodyne has operated an OPV Cessna 182 since 2018, which uses their onboard Avidyne Corporation to be piloted from the Autonodyne ground control software, relay communications between Air Traffic Control and the ground pilot, and autonomously detect and avoid hazardous traffic via wing-mounted cameras. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=27140432 | 1,626,281 |
1,724,910 | One study reported a specimen found in Mexico with a length of . Typically, the spore case is broad by tall. The hollow stalk is pale brown to brown, woody, and has a fibrous, scaly, or even woolly surface. The mature gleba, which is eventually exposed when the peridial cap is shed, has a rust-brown color. The cap may persist after the spore mass is dispersed and form a disc-like unit that slides down the stalk like a ring. The fragile sac-shaped volva is up to broad, unattached to the stalk, and formed by two distinct, separated tissue layers. The inner layer resembles the scales of the stem, consisting of hyphae that are 3–18 µm in diameter, closely arranged (nearly parallel), septate, sparsely branched, yellowish ochre, with clamps at some septa. The outer layer of fungal tissue is thicker, membranous, sometimes with a corky texture when dry, and dirty white. It consists of pale yellow intertwined hyphae that are difficult to distinguish individually, and without remains of a gelatinous matrix. Fruit bodies may persist for several months after they have dried. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=22211080 | 1,723,939 |
425,092 | As in all forms of necrotic cell death, cells undergoing necroptosis rupture and leak their contents into the intercellular space. Unlike in necrosis, permeabilization of the cell membrane during necroptosis is tightly regulated. While many of these mechanisms and components of the pathway are still being uncovered, the major steps of necroptotic signaling have been outlined in recent years. First, extrinsic stimulus through the TNF receptor by TNFα signals the recruitment of the TNF receptor-associated death domain (TRADD) which in turn recruits RIPK1. In the absence of active Caspase 8, RIPK1 and RIPK3 auto- and transphosphorylate each other, leading to the formation of a microfilament-like complex called the necrosome. The necrosome then activates the pro-necroptotic protein MLKL via phosphorylation. MLKL actuates the necrosis phenotype by inserting into the bilipid membranes of organelles and plasma membrane leading to expulsion of cellular contents into the extracellular space. The inflammatory rupturing of the cell releases Damage Associated Molecular Patterns (DAMPs) into the extracellular space. Many of these DAMPs remain unidentified, however, the "find me" and "eat me" DAMP signals are known to recruit immune cells to the damaged/infected tissue. Necrotic cells are cleared from the immune system by a mechanism called pinocytosis, or cellular drinking, which is mediated by macropinosomes, a subcellular component of macrophages. This process is in contrast to removal of apoptotic cells by the immune system in which cells are removed via phagocytosis, or cellular eating. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=37431639 | 424,884 |
1,899,123 | The PCP protein has been identified in dinoflagellate genomes in at least two forms, a homodimeric form composed of two 15-kD monomers, and a monomeric form of around 32kD believed to have evolved from the homodimeric form via gene duplication. The monomeric form consists of two pseudosymmetrical eight-helix domains in which the helices are packed in a complex topology resembling that of the beta sheets in a jelly roll fold. The three-dimensional arrangement of helices forms a boat-shaped molecule with a large central cavity in which the pigments and lipids are bound. Each eight-helix segment typically binds four peridinin molecules, one chlorophyll a molecule, and one lipid molecule such as digalactosyl diacyl glycerol; however, this stoichiometry varies among species and among PCP isoforms. The most common 4:1 peridinin:chlorophyll ratio was predicted by spectroscopy in the 1970s, but was unconfirmed until the crystal structure of the "Amphidinium carterae" PCP complex was solved in the 1990s. Whether formed from a protein monomer or dimer, the assembled protein-pigment complex is sometimes known as bPCP (for "building block") and is the minimal stable unit. In at least some PCP forms, including that from "A. carterae", these building blocks assemble into a trimer thought to be the biologically functional state. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=52153973 | 1,898,039 |
1,249,947 | Following the success of the modern hard disk, there is much current interest in future magnetic data storage and using spin waves for things such as 'magnonic' logic and data storage. Similarly, spintronics looks to utilize the inherent spin degree of freedom to complement the already successful charge property of the electron used in contemporary electronics. Modern magnetism is concerned with furthering the understanding of the behaviour of the magnetisation on very small (sub-micrometre) length scales and very fast (sub-nanosecond) timescales and how this can be applied to improving existing or generating new technologies and computing concepts. A magnon torque device was invented and later perfected at the National University of Singapore's Electrical & Computer Engineering department, which is based on such potential uses, with results published on November 29, 2019, in Science. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=30530797 | 1,249,271 |
1,536,812 | The Ames process was used on August 3, 1942, by a group of chemists led by Frank Spedding and Harley Wilhelm at the Ames Laboratory as part of the Manhattan Project. It is a type of thermite-based purification, which was patented in 1895 by German chemist Hans Goldschmidt. Development of the Ames process came at a time of increased research into mass uranium-metal production. The desire for increased production was motivated by a fear of Nazi Germany's developing nuclear weapons before the Allies. The process originally involved mixing powdered uranium tetrafluoride and powdered magnesium together. This mixture was placed inside an iron pipe that was welded shut on one side and capped shut on another side. This container, called a "bomb" by Spedding, was placed into a furnace. When heated to a temperature of , the contents of the container reacted violently, leaving a 35-gram ingot of pure uranium metal. The process was quickly scaled up; by October 1942 the "Ames Project" was producing metal at a rate of per week. The uranium tetrafluoride and magnesium were sealed in a refractory-lined reactor vessel, still referred to as a "bomb". The thermite reaction was initiated by furnace heating the assembly to ; the large difference in density between slag and metal allowed complete separation in the liquid state, yielding slag-free metal. By July 1943, the production rate exceeded of uranium metal per month. Approximately 1000 tons of uranium ingots were produced at Ames before the process was transferred to industry. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12009413 | 1,535,944 |
1,025,502 | At the beginning of the 21st century, biological sciences converged with previously differentiated new and classic disciplines like Physics into research fields like Biophysics. Advances were made in analytical chemistry and physics instrumentation including improved sensors, optics, tracers, instrumentation, signal processing, networks, robots, satellites, and compute power for data collection, storage, analysis, modeling, visualization, and simulations. These technological advances allowed theoretical and experimental research including internet publication of molecular biochemistry, biological systems, and ecosystems science. This enabled worldwide access to better measurements, theoretical models, complex simulations, theory predictive model experimentation, analysis, worldwide internet observational data reporting, open peer-review, collaboration, and internet publication. New fields of biological sciences research emerged including Bioinformatics, Neuroscience, Theoretical biology, Computational genomics, Astrobiology and Synthetic Biology. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=322460 | 1,024,969 |
824,409 | In 2018, the largest battery storage power station was the Australian Hornsdale Power Reserve, adjacent to the Hornsdale wind farm, built by Tesla. Its 100 MW output capacity is contractually divided into two sections: 70 MW running for 10 minutes and 30 MW with a 3-hour capacity. Samsung 21–70-size cells are used. The plant is operated by Neoen and provides a total of of storage capable of discharge at 100 MW into the power grid. The system helps to prevent load-shedding blackouts and provides stability to the grid (grid services) while other slower generators can be started in the event of sudden drops in wind or other network issues. It was built in less than 100 days, starting from 29 September 2017, when a grid connection agreement was signed with ElectraNet, and some units were operational. The battery construction was completed, and testing began on 25 November 2017. It was connected to the grid on 1 December 2017. During two days in January 2018 where South Australia was hit by price spikes, the battery made its owners an estimated 1M AUD as they sold power from the battery to the grid for a price of around 14k AUD/MWh. In 2022, the Australian renewable energy development firm Edify Energy will receive $6.6 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) to develop an advanced battery and inverter system capable of stabilising the electricity network. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=49336757 | 823,966 |
493,236 | In contrast to modern cranes, medieval cranes and hoists - much like their counterparts in Greece and Rome - were primarily capable of a vertical lift, and not used to move loads for a considerable distance horizontally as well. Accordingly, lifting work was organized at the workplace in a different way than today. In building construction, for example, it is assumed that the crane lifted the stone blocks either from the bottom directly into place, or from a place opposite the centre of the wall from where it could deliver the blocks for two teams working at each end of the wall. Additionally, the crane master who usually gave orders at the treadwheel workers from outside the crane was able to manipulate the movement laterally by a small rope attached to the load. Slewing cranes which allowed a rotation of the load and were thus particularly suited for dockside work appeared as early as 1340. While ashlar blocks were directly lifted by sling, lewis or devil's clamp (German "Teufelskralle"), other objects were placed before in containers like pallets, baskets, wooden boxes or barrels. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=24864939 | 492,981 |
1,970,643 | Many of the biogeochemical processes in the bathypelagic region are dependent upon the input of organic matter from the overlying epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. This organic material, sometimes called marine snow, sinks in the water column or is transported within downward convected water masses such as the Thermohaline Circulation. Hydrothermal vents also deliver heat and chemicals such as sulfide and methane. These chemicals can be utilized to sustain metabolism by organisms in the region. Our understanding of these biogeochemical processes has historically been limited due to the difficulty and cost of collecting samples from these ocean depths. Other technological challenges, such as measuring microbial activity under the pressure conditions experienced in the bathypelagic zone, have also restricted our knowledge of the region. Although scientific advancements have increased our understanding over the past several decades, many aspects remain a mystery. One of the major areas of current research is focused on understanding carbon remineralization rates in the region. Prior studies have struggled to quantify the rates at which prokaryotes in this region remineralize carbon because previously developed techniques may not be adequate for this region, and indicate remineralization rates much higher than expected. Further work is needed to explore this question, and may require revisions to our understanding of the global carbon cycle. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=565536 | 1,969,509 |
1,615,399 | Homocysteine, a sulfur based amino acid is the main product of methionine demethylation. Elevated homocysteine is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease and inversely correlated to consumed vitamin B12/B6 and folate levels. Homocysteine methylation to methionine is catalyzed by MTR, resulting in appropriate intracellular levels of methionine and tetrahydrofolate, alongside non-toxic homocysteine levels. The GG phenotype promotes the development of premature coronary artery disease (CAD) independent of hyperhomocysteinemia. Hyperhomocysteinemia is associated with cerebral, coronary and peripheral atherosclerotic pathology as it promotes endothelial cell dysfunction, platelet adhesion and vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation. DNA damage and homocysteine levels are proportional to CAD severity. Micronucleus frequency in human lymphocytes, dependent on homocysteine levels increases reactive oxygen species and uracil incorporation in DNA methylation, promoting genetic alterations and point mutations. The (MTRR):c.66A>G, polymorphism containing chromosome is prone to fragmentation. This chromosomal loss or global DNA hypomethylation results in under condensation of pericentromeric heterochromatin, micronucleus formation and elevated risks of aneuploidy. Co-expression of this mutation and the 677T polymorphism in methionine tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase act to further the extent of DNA damage. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14755762 | 1,614,492 |
788,623 | From 1891 through 1915, the school provided the equivalent of a high school education, with vocational training and teacher preparation for segregated public schools. In 1915, it became the West Virginia Collegiate Institute and began to offer college degrees. In 1919, John Warren Davis became president of the institute. A Morehouse graduate, Davis recruited highly qualified faculty and focused on curriculum development. He persuaded noted historian Carter G. Woodson to assist him as academic dean. In 1927, the school was accredited by the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, making it the first of 17 original black land-grant schools to be certified by a regional association and one of only four black colleges to gain such status. It also became the first public college in West Virginia to be accredited by North Central. In 1929, the name was changed to West Virginia State College. With an enrollment of 1,000 students, the college contained divisions of Applied Arts and Sciences; Languages, Literature and Fine Arts; Natural Sciences and Mathematics; and Social Sciences and Philosophy. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1245250 | 788,199 |
1,965,838 | USRC "Unalga", a cutter built for the Revenue Cutter Service by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Corporation, was authorized June 1911 and launched on 10 February 1912. After leaving the shipyard in convoy with USRC "Apache", she arrived at Baltimore, Maryland, 27 April and was placed in commission by the Revenue Cutter Service at its depot at Arundel Cove, Maryland, on 23 May 1912. After spending the summer outfitting at the USRC Depot, Washington Navy Yard and Newport News Shipbuilding, she received orders to report to the RCS Northern Division at Port Townsend, Washington on 6 September 1912. Departing Norfolk, Virginia, on 26 September, "Unalga" arrived at Port Said, Egypt, on 1 November after making stops at ports of call at Gibraltar, Naples, Italy and Malta. While preparing to transit the Suez Canal, she received orders to report to US Ambassador William Woodville Rockhill at Constantinople. Rockhill directed that "Unalga" remain in the area to protect Americans in Turkey during the Italo-Turkish War in Libya. She departed Port Said on 17 December, the same day a peace conference was convened in London to settle differences between the Ottoman Empire and the Balkan League. After stops at Aden, Ceylon, Singapore, Manila, Yokohama, and Honolulu, "Unalga" reported to the Commander, RCS Northern Division at Port Townsend, Washington on 22 March 1913, which in turn assigned her to the Bering Sea Patrol. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=42183952 | 1,964,709 |
1,486,296 | Using mechanically-interlocked molecular architectures he prepared a novel molecular information ratchet that employs a mechanism reminiscent of Maxwell's demon (although it requires an energy input and so does not challenge the second law of thermodynamics). He has developed a rotaxane based photoactive molecular switch with the capability of changing the hydrophobicity of a surface and thus causing small droplets of liquid to move up hill, against the force of gravity. In 2009 he reported the first small-molecule walker-track system in which a 'walker' can be transported directionally along a short molecular track in a manner reminiscent of the way that biological motor proteins 'walk' along biopolymers in the cell. In 2011 his research group described the smallest molecular knot prepared to date (a 76-atom-loop trefoil knot – three crossing points) and also a 160-atom-loop pentafoil knot (five crossing points). The Leigh group have also reported the synthesis of an 8 knot, the most complex molecular knot made to date, and a molecular endless knot (the smallest Chinese knot). In 2013 the Leigh group reported a small-molecule machine capable of detaching and assembling a series of amino acid building blocks from a track into a peptide of specific sequence, a very primitive version of the task performed by the ribosome. They also invented the first autonomous chemically-fuelled synthetic molecular motor and demonstrated a small-molecule 'robotic arm' able to transport molecular fragments between sites 2 nm apart on a molecular platform, marking the start of so-called 'small-molecule robotics'. In 2017 the Leigh group reported the first molecular robot that can be programmed to build different molecules. The molecular robot could be programmed to construct any one of four different stereoisomers of a molecular product, a significant step towards a 'molecular assembler'. The achievement was hailed as 'science fiction becomes fact'. In 2020 the Leigh group described the 2D weaving of polymer chains, resulting in a molecularly-woven fabric with a thread count of 40-60 million (the finest Egyptian linen has a thread count of ~1500). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=12100770 | 1,485,458 |
1,177,733 | The projector could be controlled by a console where an individual presenter would provide specific talks or lectures. By the mid-1970s, automation features were added, which led to the creation of prerecorded shows. Most visitors to the facility would have seen an automated 40- to 45-minute audio/visual show on a particular space-related topic. Two types of shows were typically alternated on a daily basis: one aimed at families with young children and another aimed at older children and adults. Typical shows aimed at both audience types were built around themes such as space travel, the mythical stories behind the constellations, and around Christmas-time, a show that investigated theories on stellar explanations for the Star of Bethlehem. A listing from 1970 includes shows titled "The Story of Eclipses", which looked at how solar eclipses occur and their scientific importance, "Man and the Zodiac" which explored the history of mythology and astrology with regard to the night sky, and "The Planet Venus" which surveyed the history of the planet in mythology, the planet's motion across the sky and featured imagined views from its surface. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=3464536 | 1,177,110 |
263,309 | Recent studies have been conducted on a large number of genes, homologous chromosomes or autosomes (all chromosomes except chromosomes X and Y). A 2009 study was able to genetically identify individuals with full or partial Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry. In August 2012, Dr. Harry Ostrer in his book "Legacy: A Genetic History of the Jewish People," summarized his and other work in genetics of the last 20 years, and concluded that all major Jewish groups share a common Middle Eastern origin. Ostrer also refuted the Khazar hypothesis of Ashkenazi ancestry. Citing autosomal DNA studies, Nicholas Wade estimates that "Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews have roughly 30 percent European ancestry, with most of the rest from the Middle East." He further noticed that "The two communities seem very similar to each other genetically, which is unexpected because they have been separated for so long." Concerning this relationship he points to Atzmon's conclusions that "the shared genetic elements suggest that members of any Jewish community are related to one another as closely as are fourth or fifth cousins in a large population, which is about 10 times higher than the relationship between two people chosen at random off the streets of New York City". Concerning North African Jews, autosomal genetic analysis in 2012 revealed that North African Jews are genetically close to European Jews. This finding "shows that North African Jews date to biblical-era Israel, and are not largely the descendants of natives who converted to Judaism," | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=26118437 | 263,170 |
791,334 | The most common side effects are infection, suppression of the bone marrow (decreasing numbers of leukocytes, erythrocytes, and thrombocytes), headache, hemorrhage (bleeding), pleural effusion (fluid around the lungs), dyspnea (difficulty breathing), diarrhea, vomiting, nausea (feeling sick), abdominal pain (belly ache), skin rash, musculoskeletal pain, tiredness, swelling in the legs and arms and in the face, fever. Neutropenia and myelosuppression were common toxic effects. Fifteen people (of 84, i.e. 18%) in the above-mentioned study developed pleural effusions, which was a suspected side effect of dasatinib. Some of these people required thoracentesis or pleurodesis to treat the effusions. Other adverse events included mild to moderate diarrhea, peripheral edema, and headache. A small number of people developed abnormal liver function tests which returned to normal without dose adjustments. Mild hypocalcemia was also noted, but did not appear to cause any significant problems. Several cases of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) were found in people treated with dasatinib, possibly due to pulmonary endothelial cell damage. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=6068028 | 790,909 |
37,977 | "H. erectus" had a more modern gait and body proportions, and was the first human species to have exhibited a flat face, prominent nose, and possibly sparse body hair coverage. Though brain size certainly exceeds that of ancestor species, capacity varied widely depending on the population. In earlier populations, brain development seems to cease early in childhood, suggesting that offspring were largely self-sufficient at birth, thus limiting cognitive development through life. "H. erectus" was an apex predator; sites generally show consumption of medium to large animals, such as bovines or elephants, and suggest the development of predatory behaviour and coordinated hunting. "H. erectus" is associated with the Acheulean stone tool industry, and is postulated to have been the earliest human ancestor capable of using fire, hunting and gathering in coordinated groups, caring for injured or sick group members, and possibly seafaring and art (though examples of art are controversial, and are otherwise rudimentary and few and far between). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=19554533 | 37,964 |
736,543 | Around June 1752, Franklin reportedly performed his famous kite experiment. The kite experiment was repeated by Romas, who drew from a metallic string sparks long, and by Cavallo, who made many important observations on atmospheric electricity. Lemonnier (1752) also reproduced Franklin's experiment with an aerial, but substituted the ground wire with some dust particles (testing attraction). He went on to document the "fair weather condition", the clear-day electrification of the atmosphere, and its diurnal variation. Beccaria (1775) confirmed Lemonnier's diurnal variation data and determined that the atmosphere's charge polarity was positive in fair weather. Saussure (1779) recorded data relating to a conductor's induced charge in the atmosphere. Saussure's instrument (which contained two small spheres suspended in parallel with two thin wires) was a precursor to the electrometer. Saussure found that the atmospheric electrification under clear weather conditions had an annual variation, and that it also varied with height. In 1785, Coulomb discovered the electrical conductivity of air. His discovery was contrary to the prevailing thought at the time, that the atmospheric gases were insulators (which they are to some extent, or at least not very good conductors when not ionized). Erman (1804) theorized that the Earth was negatively charged, and Peltier (1842) tested and confirmed Erman's idea. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=2222635 | 736,155 |
2,137,612 | The D/V Chikyu, operated by the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) sailed on IODP Expedition 343 from the port of Shimizu, Shizuoka on April 1, 2012, within 13 months after the earthquake. Chikyu is the only research vessel with the capabilities for the necessary drilling in very deep water of over 6900 meters. Two months of operations from April 1 to 24 May 24, 2012 were scheduled for drilling several boreholes to carry out Logging while drilling (LWD), install temperature sensors and retrieve core samples. The extreme water depths caused many technical challenges that had to be considered, such as the strength of the long pipe string, onboard handling of the pipe sections, and instrument operations at very high water pressure. These aspects needed careful planning and new tools on the ship. Various equipment had not been previously used in such deep water and caused many problems and delays during the first month at sea. Eventually difficult engineering problems were overcome enabling retrieval of borehole core and installation of a temperature observatory across the fault zone at a depth of about 820 meters below the sea floor. New records were set for scientific drilling including, longest drilling string (7740 m) from the ocean surface and deepest core from the ocean surface (7752 m). | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=44223073 | 2,136,382 |
1,596,612 | Mass spectrometry is one analytical method used to determine the mass and chemical makeup of peptides. Ancestral sequence reconstruction takes place through the collection and alignment of homologous amino acid sequences. These sequences must bear a sufficient amount of diversity to contain phylogenetic signals that resolve evolutionary relationships and allow for further deduction of targeted ancient phenotype. From there a phylogenetic tree can be constructed to illustrate the genetic resemblance between various amino acid sequences and common ancestors. The ancestral sequence is then inferred and reconstructed through maximum likelihood at the phylogenetic node(s). From there, encoding genes are synthesized, expressed, purified, and incorporated into the genome of an extant host organisms. Functionality and product properties are observed and experimentally characterized. Using a greater degree of variance in representative monomeric proteins will increase the overall precision of the results. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=56920215 | 1,595,713 |
1,591,279 | Georgetown opened the season with eight straight victories, the first time the Hoyas had opened a season 5-0 or better since 2003. The third game, at Ball State, had been scheduled as a rematch between John Thompson III and his younger brother, Ball State head coach and former Georgetown player Ronny Thompson, whose teams had played one another a year earlier at the Verizon Center in the brothers′ first meeting as head coaches, but Ronny Thompson had left Ball State during the summer of 2007, and John Thompson III faced a Ball State team coached by Bill Taylor instead. The seventh game was against Jacksonville, the first meeting between the teams since a December 1969 game that was declared a "no contest" after Georgetown head coach John Magee pulled his players off the court at Jacksonville out of fear for their safety in the face of a hostile crowd; 38 years later, the result of the meeting was an easy 87-55 Hoya victory. During the winning streak, Hibbert had 23 points and eight rebounds in a come-from-behind win against William and Mary, 12 points against Michigan in a game that began with Georgetown pulling out to a 43-19 lead, 16 points and seven rebounds against Ball State, his first double-double of the season (14 points and 10 rebounds) in 24 minutes of play at Old Dominion, and 14 points, nine rebounds, and five blocked shots against Alabama. Over the same stretch, Jonathan Wallace had 15 points against William & Mary, 13 points against Fairfield, and 11 points against Alabama, while Jessie Sapp scored 18 points against William & Mary and 12 points each against Michigan and Alabama. DaJuan Summers had 10 points against William & Mary, 16 points against Fairfield, 18 points against Alabama, and 14 against Jacksonville. Freshman guards Chris Wright and Austin Freeman also showed their potential as their college careers began: Wright scored 10 points against Michigan and 14 against Jacksonville, while Freeman had 10 points against Michigan, 11 points at Old Dominion, 15 against Jacksonville, and 21 points in a very physical 110-51 blow-out of Radford in which Georgetown shot 65 percent from the field for the game and 71 percent in the second half, scoring 100 or more points for the first time since John Thompson III became head coach in 2004. Sophomore guard Jeremiah Rivers came off the bench to have an outstanding defensive performance and five assists in the Fairfield game. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=14518554 | 1,590,384 |
1,271,326 | In the early 1980s, many manufacturers were beginning to produce polyphonic synthesizers. The VCO designs of the time still left something to be desired in terms of tuning stability. Whilst this was an issue for monophonic synthesizers, the limited number of oscillators (typically 3 or fewer) meant that keeping instruments tuned was a manageable task, often performed using dedicated front panel controls. With the advent of polyphony, tuning problems became worse and costs went up, due to the much larger number of oscillators involved (often 16 in an 8-voice instrument like the Yamaha CS-80 from 1977 or Roland Jupiter-8 from 1981). This created a need for a cheap, reliable, and stable oscillator design. Engineers working on the problem looked to the frequency division technology used in electronic organs of the time and the microprocessors and associated chips that were starting to appear, and developed the DCO. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=232321 | 1,270,635 |
423,184 | The field of EAPs is far from mature, which leaves several issues that still need to be worked on. The performance and long-term stability of the EAP should be improved by designing a water impermeable surface. This will prevent the evaporation of water contained in the EAP, and also reduce the potential loss of the positive counter ions when the EAP is operating submerged in an aqueous environment. Improved surface conductivity should be explored using methods to produce a defect-free conductive surface. This could possibly be done using metal vapor deposition or other doping methods. It may also be possible to utilize conductive polymers to form a thick conductive layer. Heat resistant EAP would be desirable to allow operation at higher voltages without damaging the internal structure of the EAP due to the generation of heat in the EAP composite. Development of EAPs in different configurations (e.g., fibers and fiber bundles), would also be beneficial, in order to increase the range of possible modes of motion. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=1490017 | 422,977 |
2,555 | Williams began her 2017 season at the ASB Classic, winning her opening match against local wildcard Jade Lewis before withdrawing due to a right arm pain. Seeded 13th at the Australian Open, Williams defeated Kateryna Kozlova, qualifier Stefanie Vögele, Duan Yingying and qualifier Mona Barthel in the opening four rounds respectively in straight sets to advance to the quarterfinals. She defeated 24th seed Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova for her 50th win at the Australian Open, the first time Williams won a quarterfinal match in Melbourne since defeating Daniela Hantuchová in 2003. Coming back from a set down in her semifinal match, Williams defeated rising American star Coco Vandeweghe 6–7, 6–2, 6–3 to advance to her first Grand Slam final since Wimbledon 2009 and her first Australian Open final since 2003. In doing so, she set the Open Era record for the longest span (20 years) between grand slam singles final appearances, having first reached a grand slam singles final at the 1997 US Open. In a closely fought final, she lost 6–4, 6–4 to her younger sister Serena Williams, who made history by winning her 23rd Grand Slam singles title, surpassing the mark set by Steffi Graf. The following week, Williams competed in the St. Petersburg Ladies' Trophy, but lost in the second round to eventual champion Kristina Mladenovic. At the Indian Wells Masters, Williams came back from 1–6, 1–4 down and saved three match points in the second round to defeat Jelena Jankovic, tying their head-to-head record at seven-all. This was her first win at Indian Wells since 2001. She defeated Lucie Safarova and qualifier Peng Shuai in the third and fourth rounds respectively, avenging her previous losses to both players. She lost to the eventual champion, Elena Vesnina, in the quarterfinals. The following week, Williams scored her first top-ten win since 2015, against Svetlana Kuznetsova in the fourth round of the Miami Open. She defeated No. 1 Angelique Kerber in the quarterfinals, becoming the oldest player to beat a current No. 1. She lost for a third consecutive time to eventual champion Johanna Konta in straight sets in her first semifinal in Miami since 2010. This marked her fourth consecutive loss to eventual champions. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=167378 | 2,555 |
679,910 | She was discouraged by Allen Whipple, the chairman of surgery at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center, from continuing her career as a surgeon because he had seen many women attempt to be successful surgeons and ultimately fail. He instead encouraged her to practice anesthesiology because he felt that advancements in anesthesia were needed to further advance surgery and felt that she had the "energy and ability" to make a significant contribution. Deciding to continue her career in anesthesiology, she trained for six months under Ralph Waters at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where he had established the first anesthesiology department in the United States. In a 1937 photograph of Waters and his residents, she is the only woman among Waters and fifteen other men. She then studied for a further six months under Ernest Rovenstine in New York at Bellevue Hospital. She received a certification as an anesthesiologist in 1937, and returned to P&S in 1938 as director of the newly formed division of anesthesia. She later received a master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health, graduating in 1959. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=250256 | 679,556 |
1,293,588 | The phases of the clean Bose–Hubbard model can be described using a mean-field Hamiltonian:formula_28where formula_29 is the lattice co-ordination number. This can be obtained from the full Bose–Hubbard Hamiltonian by setting formula_30 where formula_31, neglecting terms quadratic in formula_32 (assumedly infinitesimal) and relabelling formula_33. Because this decoupling breaks the formula_14 symmetry of the initial Hamiltonian for all non-zero values of formula_35, this parameter acts as a superfluid order parameter. For simplicity, this decoupling assumes formula_35 to be the same on every site, which precludes exotic phases such as supersolids or other inhomogeneous phases. (Other decouplings are possible.) The phase diagram can be determined by calculating the energy of this mean-field Hamiltonian using second-order perturbation theory and finding the condition for which formula_37. To do this, the Hamiltonian is written as a site-local piece plus a perturbation:formula_38where the bilinear terms formula_39 and its conjugate are treated as the perturbation. The order parameter formula_35 is assumed to be small near the phase transition. The local term is diagonal in the Fock basis, giving the zeroth-order energy contribution:formula_41where formula_42 is an integer that labels the filling of the Fock state. The perturbative piece can be treated with second-order perturbation theory, which leads to:formula_43The energy can be expressed as a series expansion in even powers of the order parameter (also known as the Landau formalism):formula_44After doing so, the condition for the mean-field, second-order phase transition between the Mott insulator and the superfluid phase is given by:formula_45where the integer formula_42 describes the filling of the formula_47 Mott insulating lobe. Plotting the line formula_48 for different integer values of formula_42 generates the boundary of the different Mott lobes, as shown in the phase diagram. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=4656507 | 1,292,877 |
118,851 | In 2010, Robert Dull, John Southon, and colleagues presented evidence suggesting a link between the Tierra Blanca Joven (TBJ) eruption of the Ilopango caldera in central El Salvador and the 536 event. Although earlier published radiocarbon evidence suggested a two-sigma age range of 408–536, which is consistent with the global climate downturn, the connection between 536 and Ilopango was not explicitly made until research on Central American Pacific margin marine sediment cores by Steffen Kutterolf and colleagues showed that the phreatoplinian TBJ eruption was much larger than previously thought. The radioactive carbon-14 in successive growth increments of a single tree that had been killed by a TBJ pyroclastic flow was measured in detail using accelerator mass spectrometry; the results supported the date of 535 as the year in which the tree died. A conservative bulk tephra volume for the TBJ event of ~84 km was calculated, indicating a large Volcanic Explosivity Index 6+ event and a magnitude of 6.9. The results suggested that the Ilopango TBJ eruption size, latitude, and age are consistent with the ice core sulphate records of Larsen et al. 2008. Later research suggested the date AD 539/540. However, a more recent study, examining other evidence, now dates the eruption to AD 431. | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki?curid=242424 | 118,804 |
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