Specialty Digest

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Concepts

Ideas, terms, and mechanisms explained clearly.

A newsroom where editors and reporters coordinate the editorial process

Editorial Process

The editorial process refers to the series of steps a news story or article goes through from initial pitch or assignment to final publication, including drafting, review, fact-checking, and revision. This process exists to catch errors, improve clarity, and ensure a publication consistent standards are applied before content reaches readers. Stages of the Process A

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The sequence of drafting, review, and revision a story undergoes before publication.

Maps of Pacific sea surface temperature anomalies from March to August 1997 showing a major El Nino developing

El Nino

In simple terms El Nino is the warm phase of a climate pattern in the tropical Pacific Ocean that shifts rainfall and temperature in many parts of the world. Its cold counterpart is La Nina, and the whole cycle is called the El Nino-Southern Oscillation, or ENSO. Unusually warm surface water in the central and

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El Nino is the warm phase of a tropical Pacific climate pattern that shifts weather around the world.

A county courthouse, where elder abuse cases may be adjudicated

Elder Abuse Prevention

Elder abuse prevention encompasses efforts to identify, stop, and prevent physical, emotional, financial, or neglectful harm to older adults, which is frequently perpetrated by a family member or caregiver the older person depends on and trusts. This dependency often makes elder abuse particularly difficult to detect and address compared to abuse by a stranger. Forms

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Efforts to identify, stop, and prevent physical, emotional, financial, or neglectful harm to older adults, often by a caregiver or family member.

A historic glass ballot box used in elections

Electoral System

An electoral system is the set of rules that determines how votes are cast, counted, and converted into seats or offices. These rules decide who may vote, how candidates qualify for the ballot, how ballots are marked, and crucially, the formula used to turn vote totals into winners. The same underlying preferences among voters can

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The set of rules that determines how votes are cast, counted, and converted into seats or offices.

Industrial electric motor connected to a drive mechanism

Electric motor

An electric motor is a machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical motion, typically rotation, using the interaction between magnetic fields and electric current. Electric motors power an enormous range of devices, from small motors in phones and hard drives to industrial motors driving pumps and conveyor belts to the large traction motors that propel

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A machine that converts electrical energy into mechanical rotation using magnetic fields and electric current.

An electric vehicle charging station in Cologne, Germany

Electric vehicle

An electric vehicle is a vehicle powered partly or entirely by electricity stored in an onboard battery and delivered to one or more electric motors, rather than relying solely on an internal combustion engine burning gasoline or diesel fuel. Electric vehicles include fully battery-powered cars with no engine at all, as well as hybrid vehicles

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A vehicle powered partly or entirely by electricity stored in an onboard battery and delivered to electric motors.

An electrical service drop bringing utility power to a residence, the starting point of a building's electrical wiring

Electrical Wiring

Electrical wiring in a building is the network of conductors, devices, and protective equipment that delivers electrical power from a utility connection or on-site generation source to the outlets, fixtures, and equipment throughout a structure. It must be designed and installed to deliver adequate power safely to every circuit while preventing the fire and shock

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The network of conductors, devices, and protective equipment that delivers electrical power throughout a building safely.

Elevator

An elevator is a mechanical device that transports people or goods vertically between floors of a building, typically operating within a shaft using a car that moves along guide rails, lifted or lowered by a cable and counterweight system or, in some designs, pushed directly by a hydraulic piston. Elevators are essential infrastructure for any

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A mechanical device that transports people or goods vertically between building floors within a shaft.

Allergy testing related to identifying food triggers

Elimination Diet

An elimination diet is a structured, short-term dietary approach that removes specific foods suspected of causing adverse reactions, then reintroduces them one at a time to identify which, if any, trigger symptoms. It is primarily a diagnostic tool used under medical or dietitian supervision rather than a long-term eating pattern. How It Works The elimination

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A structured diagnostic diet that removes suspected trigger foods, then reintroduces them one at a time to identify reactions.

Students returning to class following a fire evacuation drill

Emergency Action Plan

An emergency action plan is a written document that establishes the procedures employees and other occupants should follow in response to workplace emergencies, most commonly fires but also including other hazards such as chemical releases, severe weather, or acts of violence depending on the specific risks a workplace faces. Having such a plan in place,

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