Medical diagnosis is the best-known field, but diagnosis can be applied to any subject. Whereas a doctor diagnoses what is wrong with a patient, a motor mechanic can diagnose the fault in a car. In all cases they replace a vague query, such as "My car will not start", with an exact analysis, such as "It's out of petrol". Notice the diagnosis is precise enough so the solution can be seen.
These ideas work even in more subtle cases. A boy brings an insect in a box to a natural history museum. He asks an expert "What is this?" The expert says "You mean, apart from it being a beetle?" When the boy nods, the expert looks at the insect under a magnifying glass, or a binocular microscope. Chances are, it is a common beetle, and the expert can give the boy quite a lot of information about it.
But if it is not known to the expert, a much longer study is needed. Large reference books will be consulted; trays of similar insects will be taken out of store to be compared. A full diagnosis needs at least the genus and species. If the species is unknown, the detailed work of description is needed for publication.
Mostly, in biological taxonomy, the adjective "diagnostic" is used for any distinctive trait which places the specimen in a precise category. For example, A single bone making up the lower jaw is "diagnostic" of a mammal.
"Diagnostics" is the name given to procedures which spell out what to do to find the cause of a fault. This term is used a lot in computer systems.
Agoraphobia
Agoraphobia is a medical condition that causes anxiety. Sufferers are afraid of large open spaces, crowds, and new places. Many doctors believe that people with the condition are afraid of becoming anxious. Places that make them feel unsafe and increase their feelings of anxiety and panic. They may be afraid they might lose control and embarrass themselves. They worry that they may not be able to get away, or find help if they have a panic attack. The word "agoraphobia" means "fear of the market place". People with agoraphobia often believe that their home is the only safe place. Extreme sufferers may be unable to leave their homes for months or in some cases years.
Agoraphobia is sometimes treated successfully with medication and cognitive behavioral therapy, but some people never recover.
People with agoraphobia may show these signs and symptoms:
Russian Far East
The Russian Far East is a geographical term that describes the eastern section of Russia.
Although traditionally considered part of Siberia, the Russian Far East is categorized separately from Siberia which covers a smaller territory called the Siberian Federal District.
This was also true during the Soviet era when it was called the Soviet Far East.
The Russian Far East covers the territory of the Far Eastern Federal District.
Remington 700
A Remington 700, also called an R700 is a bolt sniper rifle. It is called M24 by the United States Army.
Amur River
The Amur River is a river extending from northeastern China to the Russian Far East. It is the tenth longest river in the world.
Civilian
A civilian in time of war is a person who is not a member of a country's military and any other fighting group. This is what the word means under the laws of war. Civilians are the opposite of soldiers and combatants, who fight in wars.
Civilians are protected by international law from being harmed during war. The treatment of civilians during times of war is covered by the Fourth Geneva Convention. Prisoners are covered by the Third Convention. These are based on humanitarian doctrines (ethical beliefs) and that most countries follow them as law.
Civilians have the right to defend themselves. If they participate in other fighting, they are usually called partisans, and they can be tried for war crimes.
The modern use of the word also has problems:
Imperial Japanese Army
, also known as the IJA, was the army of Imperial Japan from 1871 to 1945.
The IJA was started after the Meiji Restoration and dissolved at the end of World War II.
Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan prohibits the use of aggressive force as a means for settling international disputes.
In order to defend Japan, if necessary, the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) was formed.
The ground-reach of JSDF is the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF).
Catastrophism
Catastrophism is the idea that Earth has been affected in the past by sudden, short-lived, violent events. Catastrophes, possibly worldwide in scope, came between long periods of quiet inactivity. This was called 'catastrophism' by William Whewell in 1837.
Catastrophes were thought to be the main cause of the changes seen in the record of the rocks and fossils. This record appeared to show that the Earth had suffered occasional gigantic upheavals in what was otherwise a quiet planet.
Supporting this view was the greatest comparative anatomist and palaeontologist of the early 19th century. He was Georges Cuvier, Director of the "Muséum national d'histoire naturelle" in Paris. Cuvier had shown that extinction of species had definitely taken place. His catastrophism was an explanation for the regular changes in species seen in the rock strata. He had no real explanation of why later species were different from earlier ones. He rejected the idea of evolution, but did not propose a religious solution.
James Hutton's "Theory of the Earth" (2 vols, 1795), followed lated by Charles Lyell's "Principles of Geology" (3 vols, 1830–33), painted a quite different picture.
This was uniformitarianism, also a word coined by Whewell. Hutton's basic idea was 'present-day processes also worked in the past'. The Earth's features had been shaped by same geological processes that could be observed in the present, acting gradually over an immense period of time.
Lyell developed these ideas, and presented a huge number of observations which could only be explained by gradual action. His book strongly influenced the young Charles Darwin, who took the first volume with him on the HMS "Beagle", and had the second volume sent ahead to Rio de Janeiro.
The age of the Earth is a factor in the debate. In the 19th century it was thought the Earth was perhaps 100 million years old. Now, we know it to be about 4,560 million years old. That is definitely long enough for slow processes to take effect.
As a result, for a long period from 1840 to 1980, virtually all geologists were uniformitarians, believing 'the present is the key to the past'.
Finally, it became clear that both slow processes and rapid disasters have played a part in Earth history.
A major reason for this is the realisation that asteroid impacts, and some other events, have influenced Earth history.
Walter and Luis Alvarez suggested in 1980 that a asteroid struck Earth 65 million years ago at the end of the Cretaceous period.
The impact wiped out about 70% of all species, including the dinosaurs, leaving evidence of the K/T extinction event. In 1990, a candidate crater marking the impact was identified at Chicxulub in the Yucatán Peninsula, Mexico.
The only debate now is whether the main extinction mechanism was the asteroid impact or widespread flood volcanism from the Deccan Traps (which occurred about the same time). Both mechanisms suggested are catastrophic in nature, though only the asteroid impact was sudden.
The observation of the Shoemaker-Levy 9 cometary collision with Jupiter illustrated that catastrophic events do occur as natural events.
The giant impact hypothesis is that the Moon was created out of the debris from a collision between the young Earth and a Mars-sized protoplanet. This is the favoured scientific hypothesis for the formation of the Moon.
Steve Harris
Steve Harris (born 12 March 1956) is a bassist, keyboardist, and founder of the British band Iron Maiden.