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Acadia National Park (park, Maine, United States)
national park on the Atlantic coast of Maine, U.S., astride Frenchman Bay. It has an area of 65 square miles (168 square km) and was originally established as Sieur de Monts National Monument (1916), named for Pierre du Guast, sieur (lord) de Monts. It became the first national park in the eastern United States, as Lafayette National Park in 1919, and was rena...
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Acadia University (university, Wolfville, Nova Scotia, Canada)
national park on the Atlantic coast of Maine, U.S., astride Frenchman Bay. It has an area of 65 square miles (168 square km) and was originally established as Sieur de Monts National Monument (1916), named for Pierre du Guast, sieur (lord) de Monts. It became the first national park in the eastern United States, as Lafayette National Park in 1919, and was rena...
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Acadian (people)
...Parishes. Each area of settlement preserved a cultural heritage strongly marked by adherence to either Roman Catholic or Protestant faith. The Louisiana French, particularly the descendants of the Acadians (most of whom were French settlers deported by the British from Canada in the 1700s), came to dominate much of southern Louisiana; many of those who arrived to live among them have been......
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Acadian Forest (forest, North America)
Also known as the Acadian forest in Canada, the Eastern Upland forest covers much of the central and northern Appalachians and New England; there, polar continental air is pronounced, while elevation modifies the tropical maritime winds. The growing season ranges from 90 to 120 days, and winter cold brings subzero temperatures. The forest, therefore, consists of fast-growing evergreen softwood......
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Acadian orogeny (geology)
a mountain-building event that affected an area from present-day New York to Newfoundland during the Devonian Period (416 to 359.2 million years ago). Originally a depositional fore-arc basin formed from what was formerly known as the Appalachian Geosyncline; subsequent compressional orogenic activity caused the deposits to be folded as a mountain chain. This activity began duri...
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Acadian Platform (ocean platform, Gulf of Saint Lawrence)
...channels occupy approximately one-quarter of the total area of the gulf. Then there are the submarine platforms, often less than 165 feet (50 m) in depth, of which the most important, known as the Acadian Platform, occupies a large semicircle between the Gaspé Peninsula and Cape Breton. The relief of this area is not at all uniform because it includes depressions such as the Chaleurs......
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Acadie (historical region, Canada)
North American Atlantic seaboard possessions of France in the 17th and 18th centuries. Centred in what are now New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island, Acadia was probably intended to include parts of Maine (U.S.) and Quebec....
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Acajutla (El Salvador)
Pacific seaport, southwestern El Salvador. Spanish conquistadores defeated the Indians there in 1524, and it subsequently flourished as a colonial port. The old town has been rebuilt inland in order to make room for new port facilities. Acajutla is El Salvador’s principal port and handles a large portion of its coffee exports and shipments of sugar and balsam...
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acalā (Buddhism)
...(“hard to conquer”), (6) abhimukhī (“turning toward” both transmigration and nirvana), (7) dūraṅgamā (“far-going”), (8) acalā (“immovable”), (9) sādhumatī (“good-minded”), and (10) dharmameghā (showered with “clouds of dharma,...
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Acala (Buddha)
in Japanese Buddhist mythology, the fierce form of the Buddha Vairocana, and the most important of the Myō-ō class of deities. See Myō-ō....
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Acalanātha (Buddha)
in Japanese Buddhist mythology, the fierce form of the Buddha Vairocana, and the most important of the Myō-ō class of deities. See Myō-ō....
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Acalymma vittata (insect)
The striped cucumber beetle (Acalymma vittata) has two black stripes on each wing cover (elytron), and the spotted cucumber beetle (D. undecimpunctata) has black spots on each wing cover. They both feed on garden plants, and their larvae feed on the roots. The green-coloured D. longicornis eats corn pollen and silk; the root-feeding larvae are known as......
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Acalypha godseffiana (plant)
...plant, or red hot cattail (A. hispida), reaches a height of 3 m and is grown for its long, taillike, pendent flower spikes, rust red in colour. It is native to tropical eastern Asia. A. godseffiana, which has green and white leaves, is from New Guinea....
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Acalypha hispida
...weedy herbs found mostly in the tropics of both hemispheres; and some annuals and perennials, known as three-seeded mercury, are native in the southern United States. Another ornamental species, the chenille plant, or red hot cattail (A. hispida), reaches a height of 3 m and is grown for its long, taillike, pendent flower spikes, rust red in colour. It is native to tropical easter...
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Acalypha wilkesiana (plant)
...plants of the spurge family (Euphorbiaceae), but usually A. wilkesiana, a popular shrub of tropical gardens that has red, blotched reddish brown, and pink foliage. It is also known widely as Jacob’s coat and as match-me-if-you-can. The copperleaf is native to Polynesia. It reaches about 3 m (10 feet) in height, and one variety attains about 6 m (20 feet)....
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ACAM2000 (drug)
In 2007 the Food and Drug Administration in the United States approved a new smallpox vaccine, the only new vaccine for smallpox to be approved since 1931. The new vaccine, called ACAM2000, is produced using basic cell-culture techniques that allow it to be made quickly and in sufficient quantity in the event of a national smallpox emergency....
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Acamas (Greek soldier)
ancient Greek city on Cyprus, located west of modern Karavostasi on Morphou Bay. Soli traditionally was founded after the Trojan War by the Attic hero Acamas, perhaps reflecting the Sea Peoples’ occupation of Cyprus (c. 1193 bc). According to another legend, however, the city was named for the Athenian lawgiver Solon (flourished 6th century bc), who was su...
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Acámbaro (Mexico)
city, southeastern Guanajuato estado (state), central Mexico. Acámbaro lies along the Lerma River, on the Mexican Plateau, at 6,388 feet (1,947 m) above sea level. A Spanish settlement was founded there in 1526 on the site of a small Tarascan Indian village. With the construction of the Solís Reservoir, irrigation water became available to brin...
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acamprosate (drug)
Most recently, naltrexone (an opiate antagonist) and acamprosate, or calcium acetylhomotaurinate (a modulator of gamma-aminobutyric acid [GABA] and N-methyl-D-aspartate [NMDA] receptors), have, like disulfiram, been effective in reducing relapse over periods up to a year. But there is no evidence that either of these agents reduces the risk of relapse over the long-term....
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Açana, Tell (ancient Syrian city, Turkey)
ancient Syrian city in the Orontes (Asi) valley, southern Turkey. Excavations (1936–49) by Sir Leonard Woolley uncovered numerous impressive buildings, including a massive structure known as the palace of Yarim-Lim, dating from c. 1780 bc, when Alalakh was the chief city of the district of Mukish and was incorporated within the kingdom of Yamkhad....
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Acanthaceae (plant family)
one of 23 families in the mint order of flowering plants (Lamiales), containing approximately 230 genera and nearly 3,500 species distributed predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The greater part of the Acanthaceae family are herbs or shrubs, but climbers (vines) and trees occur as well. The range of habitats extends from marshes to extremely dry situations, but most of ...
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Acantharia (protist)
...phytoplankton. While many dinoflagellates carry out photosynthesis, some also consume bacteria or algae. Other important groups of protists include flagellates, foraminiferans, radiolarians, acantharians, and ciliates (Figure 3). Many of these protists are important consumers and a food source for zooplankton....
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Acanthaster planci (echinoderm)
(Acanthaster planci), reddish and heavy-spined species of the phylum Echinodermata. The adult has from 12 to 19 arms, is typically 45 centimetres (18 inches) across, and feeds on coral polyps. Beginning about 1963 it increased enormously on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. The population explosion was attributed to the decimation of its chief pre...
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acanthella (invertebrate)
...in the arthropod gut, the larva, called an acanthor, bores through the gut wall into the arthropod’s blood cavity (hemocoel), becomes encapsulated there, and develops into a new stage called an acanthella. The acanthella, a miniature version of the adult, withdraws its armed proboscis before entering a resting stage during which it is known as a cystacanth. Once again, no further......
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Acanthis cannabina (Carduelis cannabina)
(Carduelis, sometimes Acanthis, cannabina), seed-eating European finch of the family Carduelidae (order Passeriformes). It is 13 centimetres (5 inches) long and brown streaked, with a white-edged forked tail; the crown and breast of the male is red. It is a hedgerow singer, and flocks forage for seeds in open country....
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Acanthisitta chloris (bird)
a New Zealand wren of the family Xenicidae....
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Acanthisittidae (bird family)
bird family of the order Passeriformes; its members are commonly known as New Zealand wrens. The three living species are the rock wren (Xenicus gilviventris) and the rare bush wren (X. longipes) on South Island and, common to both islands, the rifleman (Acanthisitta chloris). A fourth species, the Stephen Island wren (X. lyalli), was discovered in 1894 by a ligh...
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acanthite (mineral)
a silver sulfide mineral (Ag2S) that is the most important ore of silver. It is abundant, with other silver minerals, in the sulfide mineral deposits of Kongsberg, Nor.; Kremnica, Slovakia; Zacatecas, Mex.; and the Comstock Lode, Nev., U.S....
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Acanthizidae (bird)
...bill base responsible for name of these terrestrial birds with pleasant squeaky songs. 2 genera, 7 species. Australia.Family Acanthizidae (Australian warblers)Tiny to small songbirds 8–12 cm (3.1–4.7 inches), some with beautiful songs. The weebill is Australia’s smallest bird....
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Acanthobdella (leech genus)
...AcanthobdellidaPrimitive group; setae present on 5 anterior segments; no anterior sucker; parasitic on fish in Lake Baikal (U.S.S.R.); size, small; genera include Acanthobdella.Order RhynchobdellidaAn eversible pharynx used to penetrate host tissue; jawless; distinct blood vessel...
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Acanthobdellida (leech order)
...also modified to form sucker; body with 14 to 15 segments; all species parasitic or commensal on freshwater crayfish; size, minute; Stephanodrilus.Order AcanthobdellidaPrimitive group; setae present on 5 anterior segments; no anterior sucker; parasitic on fish in Lake Baikal (U.S.S.R.); size, small; genera include....
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Acanthocephala
any animal of the invertebrate phylum Acanthocephala. A proboscis, or snout, which bears hooks, gives the group its name. There are about 1,150 recorded species, all of which parasitize vertebrates (usually fish) as adults and arthropods (usually insects or crustaceans) as juveniles. The adults are usually less than 1 cm (0.4 inch) long, but some reach lengths of 50 cm (about 20...
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acanthocephalan
any animal of the invertebrate phylum Acanthocephala. A proboscis, or snout, which bears hooks, gives the group its name. There are about 1,150 recorded species, all of which parasitize vertebrates (usually fish) as adults and arthropods (usually insects or crustaceans) as juveniles. The adults are usually less than 1 cm (0.4 inch) long, but some reach lengths of 50 cm (about 20...
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Acanthocheilonema perstans
...eyeball). Loiasis produces irritation but seldom permanent damage. Treatment includes surgical removal of the worms from the conjunctiva and drug therapy. Other forms of filariasis are caused by Acanthocheilonema perstans and Mansonella ozzardi and are not in most cases associated with specific symptoms. The prevention of filariasis relies heavily on insecticides and insect......
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Acanthocybium solanderi (fish)
(Acanthocybium solanderi), swift-moving, powerful, predacious food and game fish of the family Scombridae (order Perciformes) found worldwide, especially in the tropics. The wahoo is a slim, streamlined fish with sharp-toothed, beaklike jaws and a tapered body ending in a slender tail base and a crescent-shaped tail. Gray-blue above and paler below, it is marked with a series of vertical b...
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Acanthocystis turfacea (protozoan)
Actinophrys sol is a common species often referred to as the sun animalcule. Acanthocystis turfacea is a similar species commonly called the green sun animalcule because its body is coloured by harmless symbiotic green algae (zoochlorellae). Actinosphaerium species are multinucleate, often reaching a diameter of 1 mm (0.04 inch)....
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Acanthodes (fossil genus)
Among the genera of spiny sharks most useful for fossil dating is Acanthodes, of the order Acanthodiformes, which attained worldwide distribution. Species of Acanthodes grew to be about 30 centimetres (about 12 inches) long and in many respects represent a specialized form, losing many of the traits characteristic of the acanthodians. The spiny shark’s head was small compared ...
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acanthodian (extinct fish)
any of a class (Acanthodii) of small extinct fishes, the earliest known jawed vertebrates, possessing features found in both sharks and bony fishes. Acanthodians appeared first in the Silurian Period and lasted into the Early Permian (from about 438 to 258 million years ago)....
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Acanthodii (extinct fish)
any of a class (Acanthodii) of small extinct fishes, the earliest known jawed vertebrates, possessing features found in both sharks and bony fishes. Acanthodians appeared first in the Silurian Period and lasted into the Early Permian (from about 438 to 258 million years ago)....
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Acanthodiscus radiatus (fossil cephalopod)
...the thick Hils clay, whereas in Britain it includes the middle part of the Wealden sandstones and clays. The base of the stage is defined by the first appearance of the ammonite Acanthodiscus radiatus and related species, which are used as index fossils. The Hauterivian has been divided into several shorter spans of time called biozones. One of these is characterize...
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Acanthodoras spinosissimus
...of Africa can generate up to 450 volts of electricity; the parasitic catfish, or candiru (Vandellia cirrhosa), of South America sometimes invades the urogenital openings of bathers; the talking catfish (Acanthodoras spinosissimus) is an armoured, Amazonian species that makes grunting sounds; the upside-down catfishes (Synodontis batensoda and others) of the family......
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Acanthopanax ricinifolius (plant)
...used by the Chinese in the treatment of various diseases; its American relative, Panax quinquefolium (see photograph), is used in the United States as a stimulant. Hari-giri, or castor aralia (Acanthopanax ricinifolius), is used in Japan in building and in furniture making. ...
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Acanthophis (reptile)
Although death adders (Acanthophis) are related to the slender-bodied cobras, they are viperlike in appearance, with thick bodies, short tails, and broad heads. They are about 45 to 90 cm (18 to 35 inches) long and are gray or brownish with darker crosswise bands. Death adders typically occupy habitats ranging from desert to rainforest in Australia and New Guinea;......
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Acanthopterygii (animal)
any member of the superorder Acanthopterygii, including four orders of marine and freshwater fishes having fins with some spiny (as opposed to soft) rays—Atheriniformes, Beryciformes, Zeiformes, and Lampridiformes....
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acanthor (larva)
...host. No further development occurs until the shelled embryos are eaten by an arthropod, which serves as a necessary intermediate host. After its release in the arthropod gut, the larva, called an acanthor, bores through the gut wall into the arthropod’s blood cavity (hemocoel), becomes encapsulated there, and develops into a new stage called an acanthella. The acanthella, a miniature ve...
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Acanthoscelides obtectus (insect)
...In adults, the abdomen extends beyond the short forewings (elytra) and the head is extended into a broad, short snout. The life cycle is typified by the pea weevil (Bruchus pisorum) and the bean weevil (Acanthoscelides obtectus), both of which occur throughout the world....
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Acanthostega (fossil amphibian genus)
By the Late Devonian the earliest tetrapods had appeared. Forms such as Ichthyostega and Acanthostega (both from eastern Greenland) are the best-known. Aptly described as fish with legs, they are classified as labyrinthodont amphibians, which retained many fishlike features, including gills, up to eight digits per foot, and a tail fin......
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Acanthuridae (fish)
any of about 75 species of thin, deep-bodied, tropical marine fishes of the family Acanthuridae (order Perciformes). Surgeonfishes are small-scaled, with a single dorsal fin and one or more distinctive, sharp spines that are located on either side of the tail base and can produce deep cuts. The spines, which resemble a surgeon’s scalpel, may be either fixed in place or hinged at the rear so...
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acanthus (ornamental motif)
in architecture and decorative arts, a stylized ornamental motif based on a characteristic Mediterranean plant with jagged leaves, Acanthus spinosus. It was first used by the Greeks in the 5th century bc on temple roof ornaments, on wall friezes, and on the capital of the Corinthian column. One of the best examples of its use in the Corinthian ord...
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acanthus family (plant family)
one of 23 families in the mint order of flowering plants (Lamiales), containing approximately 230 genera and nearly 3,500 species distributed predominantly in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The greater part of the Acanthaceae family are herbs or shrubs, but climbers (vines) and trees occur as well. The range of habitats extends from marshes to extremely dry situations, but most of ...
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Acanthus mollis (plant)
The group is mainly of horticultural interest and includes such ornamentals as bear’s-breech (Acanthus mollis), clock vine (Thunbergia), shrimp plant (Justicia brandegeeana; formerly known as Beloperone guttata), and caricature plant (Graptophyllum pictum). The largest genera include......
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Acanthus spinosus (plant)
in architecture and decorative arts, a stylized ornamental motif based on a characteristic Mediterranean plant with jagged leaves, Acanthus spinosus. It was first used by the Greeks in the 5th century bc on temple roof ornaments, on wall friezes, and on the capital of the Corinthian column. One of the best examples of its use in the Corinthian order is the...
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Ação Integralista Brasileira (political party, Brazil)
...organizations were frankly influenced by European fascism, but in most countries their membership was numerically insignificant. The chief exception was Brazil, whose green-shirted Integralistas (Ação Integralista Brasileira) emerged as the largest single national party in the mid-1930s until involvement in a foolhardy coup attempt led to their suppression. Hence the influence......
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Acapana (building, Tiahuanaco, Bolivia)
The principal buildings of Tiwanaku include the Akapana Pyramid, a huge platform mound or stepped pyramid of earth faced with cut andesite; a rectangular enclosure known as the Kalasasaya, constructed of alternating tall stone columns and smaller rectangular blocks; and another enclosure known as the Palacio. A notable feature of the Kalasasaya is the monolithic Gateway of the Sun, which is......
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Acapulco (Mexico)
city and port, Guerrero estado (state), southwestern Mexico. Situated on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco is a resort with the best harbour on the Pacific coast of Mexico and one of the finest natural anchorages in the world. The town lies on a narrow strip of land between the bay and the steeply rising mountains that encircle it. From May to November the ...
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Acapulco de Juárez (Mexico)
city and port, Guerrero estado (state), southwestern Mexico. Situated on a deep, semicircular bay, Acapulco is a resort with the best harbour on the Pacific coast of Mexico and one of the finest natural anchorages in the world. The town lies on a narrow strip of land between the bay and the steeply rising mountains that encircle it. From May to November the ...
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Acarahy Mountains (mountains, South America)
low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon Basin. The whole area is covered with dense tropical rain forest and was first mapped, by satellite, in the late 1970s....
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Acaraí Mountains (mountains, South America)
low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon Basin. The whole area is covered with dense tropical rain forest and was first mapped, by satellite, in the late 1970s....
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Acaraí, Serra (mountains, South America)
low range on the border of Brazil (Pará state) and southern Guyana. The mountains, which rise to about 2,000 feet (600 metres) above sea level, run in an east–west direction for about 80 miles (130 km) and form part of the northern watershed of the Amazon Basin. The whole area is covered with dense tropical rain forest and was first mapped, by satellite, in the late 1970s....
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Acarapis woodi (mite)
Acarine disease is caused by the mite Acarapis woodi that gets into the tracheae of the bee through its breathing holes or spiracles in its thorax or midsection. Bees affected by this mite are unable to fly, have disjointed wings and distended abdomens. There is presently no good control for this mite. The only U.S. federal law pertaining to bees was passed to prevent the importation of......
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Acaray River (river, South America)
Paraguay’s most important natural resource is its hydroelectric potential. Most electricity in Paraguay came from wood- and oil-burning thermoelectric plants in Asunción until the Acaray hydroelectric power plant began operating in 1968. When the plant’s capacity was expanded, Paraguay’s total production increased more than 15-fold from 1970 to 1990. Nearly all of this ...
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Acari (arachnid)
any member of the subgroup of the arthropod class Arachnida that includes the mites and ticks....
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Acarí, Río de (stream, Peru)
stream in southwestern Peru, rising in the Cordillera Occidental and flowing to the Pacific Ocean; its valley is the site of remains of the Nazca culture....
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acaricide (insect control)
any chemical substance used to control mites or ticks (especially species that damage ornamental or food plants), which are not susceptible to commonly used insecticides. Azobenzene, dicofol, ovex, and tetradifon are commonly used miticides. Many miticides kill eggs and larval stages as well as adult animals. Some are also toxic to honeybees and other beneficial insects....
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acarid (arachnid)
any member of the subgroup of the arthropod class Arachnida that includes the mites and ticks....
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Acarida (arachnid)
any member of the subgroup of the arthropod class Arachnida that includes the mites and ticks....
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Acarie, Barbe-Jeanne Avrillot, Mme (French mystic)
mystic whose activity and influence in religious affairs inspired most of the leading French ecclesiastics of her time....
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Acariformes (arachnid order)
...in some fully engorged ticks; body segments fused; mouthparts adapted to piercing, sucking, biting, grating, or sawing; many parasitic and economically important.Order Acariformes (mites)30,000 species. Eyes present or absent; habitats from aquatic to terrestrial; predatory to......
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Acarigua (Venezuela)
city, northern Portuguesa estado (state), northwestern Venezuela. Formerly the state capital, Acarigua is a principal commercial centre of the northern portion of the Llanos (plains), in which cattle, sugarcane, cotton, corn (maize), and rice are the principal products. Industries in the city include sawmilling and dairying. Acarigua is accessible by air and by highway fr...
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Acarina (arachnid)
any member of the subgroup of the arthropod class Arachnida that includes the mites and ticks....
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Acarine disease
Acarine disease is caused by the mite Acarapis woodi that gets into the tracheae of the bee through its breathing holes or spiracles in its thorax or midsection. Bees affected by this mite are unable to fly, have disjointed wings and distended abdomens. There is presently no good control for this mite. The only U.S. federal law pertaining to bees was passed to prevent the importation of......
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Acarnania (district, Greece)
district of ancient Greece bounded by the Ionian Sea, the Ambracian Gulf, Mount Thyamus, and the Achelous River. Corinth founded several colonies on the coast of Acarnania in the 7th and 6th centuries bc. Originally a tribal unit, Acarnania developed into a federal state with generals and other magistrates, a council, and an assembly by the late 5th century; its capital was at the c...
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Acarosporales (order of fungi)
...lichens; thick ascal apex with narrow canal; includes subclasses Acarosporomycetidae, Lecanoromycetidae, and Ostropomycetidae; contains 10 orders.Order AcarosporalesForms lichens; asci unitunicate and lecanoralean (resembling asci of the genus Lecanora), with nonamyloid or slightly amyloid inner ascus apex (tholus);......
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Ācārya (Indian religion)
The main religious inspirations are from the theistic tradition of the Āḻvār poet-saints and their commentators known as the Ācāryas, who sought to combine knowledge with action (karma) as the right means to liberation. There is also, besides the Vedic tradition, the religious tradition of Āgamas, particularly of the......
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Acarya, Hemacandra (Jaina author)
teacher of the Shvetambara (“White-robed”) sect of Jainism who gained privileges for his religion from Siddharaja Jayasimha, one of the greatest kings of Gujarat. Eloquent and erudite, Hemacandra also succeeded in converting the next king, Kumarapala, thus firmly entrenching Jainism in Gujarat for all time....
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acatalasia (pathology)
rare hereditary metabolic disorder caused by lack of the organic catalyst or enzyme called catalase. Although a deficiency of catalase activity is noted in many tissues of the body, including the red blood cells, bone marrow, liver, and skin, only about half of the affected persons have symptoms, which consist of recurrent infections of the gums and associated oral structures t...
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acatalexis (prosody)
in prosody, an omission or incompleteness in the last foot of a line or other unit in metrical verse and, conversely, the metrical completeness of such a unit....
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ACBL (American organization)
...tournament for the Harold Vanderbilt Cup, the first trophy given (1928) for a national championship at contract bridge. In 1937 all came under the control of a new, consolidated association, the American Contract Bridge League (ACBL). Its membership grew from 9,000 in 1940 to more than 160,000 by the 21st century....
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ACC (American athletic organization)
American collegiate athletic organization formed in 1953 as an offshoot of the Southern Conference. Member schools are Boston College (joined 2005), Clemson University, Duke University, Florida State University (joined in 1990), the Georgia Institute of Technology (joined in 1979), the Universit...
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ACC (New Zealand government agency)
...loss of earnings, and they are covered by insurance for any medical or other treatment; in addition they waive the right to sue for damages. The act led to the establishment of the government-run Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC), to which all New Zealanders must pay premiums and which handles claims. The government introduced competition in 1998, allowing businesses to contract private.....
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Accademia Bridge (bridge, Venice, Italy)
...Bridge, designed by the aptly named Antonio da Ponte (c. 1590). The other two bridges are of more recent origin: the Scalzi Bridge, at the railway station, was built of marble in 1932, and the Accademia Bridge, a high-arched wooden structure with a temporary look, also was built in the 1930s and has withstood foot traffic by being reinforced with steel....
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Accademia della Crusca (institution, Florence, Italy)
Italian literary academy founded in Florence in 1582 for the purpose of purifying Tuscan, the literary language of the Italian Renaissance. Partially through the efforts of its members, the Tuscan dialect, particularly as it had been employed by Petrarch and Boccaccio, became the model for Italian literature in the 16th and 17th centuries....
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Accademia di Venezia, Gallerie dell’ (museum, Venice, Italy)
museum of art in Venice housing an unrivaled collection of paintings from the Venetian masters of the 13th through the 18th century. There are outstanding works by Giovanni Bellini, Giorgione, Titian, Tintoretto, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, and Canaletto....
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Accadian language (ancient language)
extinct Semitic language of the Northern Peripheral group, spoken in Mesopotamia from the 3rd to the 1st millennium bc....
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Accadian literature (ancient literature)
Another Babylonian epic, composed around 2000 bc, is called in Akkadian Enuma elish, after its opening words, meaning “When on high.” Its subject is not heroic but mythological. It recounts events from the beginning of the world to the establishment of the power of Marduk, the great god of Babylon. The outline of a Babylonian poem narrating the adventure of a her...
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Accardo, Tony (American gangster)
Chicago gangster who was considered “the brains” behind the operations of Al Capone and Capone’s successors, Frank Nitti and Tony Accardo. He was the Chicago representative in the formation of the national crime syndicate in 1934, led by Lucky Luciano, Meyer Lansky, and other New York bosses....
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Accaron (ancient city, Israel)
ancient Canaanite and Philistine city, one of the five cities of the Philistine pentapolis, and currently identified with Tel Miqne (Arabic: Khirbat al-Muqannaʿ), south of the settlement of Mazkeret Batya, central Israel. Although it was allocated to Judah after the Israelite conquest (Joshua 15:11), Ekron was a Philistine stronghold in David’s time (1 Samuel 17:52); during the time...
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Accattone (film by Pasolini)
...and Una vita violenta (1959; A Violent Life). These brutally realistic depictions of the poverty and squalor of slum life in Rome were similar in character to his first film, Accattone (1961), and all three works dealt with the lives of thieves, prostitutes, and other denizens of the Roman underworld....
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ACCC (religious organization)
...the condemnation of conservatives who chose to remain in fellowship with more liberal members of their denominations. In 1942 McIntire gathered the independents who accepted his position into the American Council of Christian Churches....
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Accedens of Armorie, The (book by Legh)
...mass of nonsense contained in the folios of the 16th century, such conceits were not entirely unreasonable. The works of Sir John Ferne, Blazon of Gentrie (1586), Gerard Legh, The Accedens of Armorie (1562), and John Guillim, A Display of Heraldrie (1610), not only perpetuate the nonsensical natural history of olden days but are largely responsible for......
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Accelerate (recording by R.E.M.)
...In 2007 R.E.M. was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and released the group’s first live album, titled R.E.M. Live, later that year. Accelerate (2008), which followed and received great notices, emphasized electric guitars and Stipe’s lustrous baritone while aiming allusive broadsides at the administration of P...
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accelerated depreciation (economics)
...corporate income tax on investment can be lessened by accelerating the rate at which the cost of new machinery and buildings is written off against taxable income through depreciation allowances. Accelerated depreciation may take the form of an additional deduction in the first year—an “initial allowance”—or may be spread over several years. Although the increase in....
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accelerated erosion (pedology)
...of soil profiles. These processes become soil conservation issues when the rate of erosion greatly exceeds the rate expected in the absence of human land use—a situation referred to as accelerated erosion. Rates of normal soil erosion have been estimated from measurements of sediment transport and accumulation, mass movement on hillslopes, and radioactive carbon dating of......
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accelerated hypertension (pathology)
...rule is that the higher the blood pressure, the higher the degree of cardiovascular damage, though there are many exceptions. Rarely, a vicious and damaging form of hypertension occurs, often called malignant hypertension, that results in damage to small blood vessels throughout the body but particularly affecting the heart, brain, and kidneys....
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Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (government project, United States)
...the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by the United States in 1996, the need for an alternative certification program for the country’s aging nuclear stockpile led the Department of Energy to fund the Accelerated Strategic Computing Initiative (ASCI). The goal of the project was to achieve by 2004 a computer capable of simulating nuclear tests—a feat requiring a machine capable of exe...
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accelerating potential (electronics)
...in the electron beam and focuses the beam. The voltage between the cathode and the cavity resonators (the buncher and the catcher, which serve as reservoirs of electromagnetic oscillations) is the accelerating potential and is commonly referred to as the beam voltage. This voltage accelerates the DC electron beam to a high velocity before injecting it into the grids of the buncher cavity. The.....
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accelerating voltage (physics)
...at the centre of an evacuated chamber that has the shape of a short cylinder, like a pillbox, between the poles of an electromagnet that creates a uniform field perpendicular to the flat faces. The accelerating voltage is applied by electrodes, called dees from their shape: each is a D-shaped half of a pillbox. The source of the voltage is an oscillator—similar to a radio......
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acceleration (physics)
rate at which velocity changes with time, in terms of both speed and direction. A point or an object moving in a straight line is accelerated if it speeds up or slows down. Motion on a circle is accelerated even if the speed is constant, because the direction is continually changing. For all other kinds of motion, both effects contribute to the acceleration....
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acceleration, neglected (physics)
...change the osculating orbit. In spite of this fact, the deviation between the observed and the predicted positions usually grows (imperceptibly) with the square of time. This is the signature of a “neglected” acceleration, which comes from a nongravitational force. Formulas representing the smooth variation of the nongravitational force with heliocentric distance are now included....
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acceleration principle (economics)
...and practically unattainable became the approach adopted by antitrust authorities throughout the world. In Studies in the Economics of Overhead Costs (1923), Clark developed his theory of the acceleration principle—that investment demand can fluctuate severely if consumer demand fluctuations exhaust existing productive capacity. His subsequent study of variations in consumer deman...
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