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Alter, Harvey James

(Encyclopedia)Alter, Harvey James, 1935–, American virologist, b. New York City, M.D. Univ. of Rochester, 1960. He has been a researcher at the National Institutes of Health since 1969. The 2020 Nobel Prize in Ph...

house plants

(Encyclopedia)house plants, varied group of plants grown indoors and requiring no special care. They are usually grown singly in pots, but can also be grouped and planted together in dish gardens and terrariums. So...

Equal Employment Opportunity Commission

(Encyclopedia)Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), U.S. agency created in 1964 to end discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in employment and to promote programs to make ...

lien

(Encyclopedia)lien, claim or charge held by one party, on property owned by a second party, as security for payment of some debt, obligation, or duty owed by that second party. A lien may arise by agreement between...

post-mortem examination

(Encyclopedia)post-mortem examination or autopsy, systematic examination of a cadaver for study or for determining the cause of death. Post-mortems use many methodical procedures to determine the etiology and patho...

vitiligo

(Encyclopedia)vitiligo, condition that causes irregular patches of skin to lose pigment and turn white. The exact cause is unknown, but it occurs when the immune system attacks and destroys melanocytes, the cells t...

Rocky Mountain spotted fever

(Encyclopedia)Rocky Mountain spotted fever, infectious disease caused by a rickettsia. The bacterium is harbored by wild rodents and other animals and is carried by infected ticks of several species that attach the...

silicosis

(Encyclopedia)silicosis sĭlĭkōˈsĭs [key], occupational disease of the lungs caused by inhalation of free silica (quartz) dust over a prolonged period of time. Free silica is dispersed in the air and inhaled by...

Common Cause

(Encyclopedia)Common Cause, U.S. organization that seeks a “reordering of national priorities and revitalization of the public process to make our political and governmental institutions more responsive to the ne...

Foster, Rube

(Encyclopedia)Foster, Rube (Andrew Bishop Foster), 1879–1930, African-American baseball player and executive, b. Calvert, Tex. Known as “the father of black baseball,” he turned professional with the Chicago ...

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