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Good Agricultural Practices

(Encyclopedia)Good Agricultural Practices (GAP), economically, socially, and environmentally responsible methods and technologies for the raising and marketing of agricultural and horticultural products. Good agric...

Jos Plateau

(Encyclopedia)Jos Plateau jôs [key], region, c.3,000 sq mi (7,770 sq km), alt. c.4,200 ft (1,280 m), central Nigeria, W Africa. The plateau, composed mainly of granite, slopes gently to the north and is covered by...

Ehrlich, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Ehrlich, Paul poul ārˈlĭkh [key], 1854–1915, German bacteriologist. He directed (1896) an institute for serum research at Steglitz, near Berlin, that was transferred (1899) to Frankfurt-am-Main a...

dog days

(Encyclopedia)dog days, name for the most sultry period of summer, from about July 3 to Aug. 11. Named in early times by observers in countries bordering the Mediterranean, the period was reckoned as extending from...

Dowie, John Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Dowie, John Alexander douˈē [key], 1847–1907, founder of the Christian Catholic Church, b. Scotland. He emigrated (1860) to Australia, where he was ordained as a Congregational minister. Dowie's t...

spasm

(Encyclopedia)spasm, involuntary rigid muscle contraction, often persistent and often accompanied by pain. It usually has some underlying physical cause such as disease, strain, or injury to the muscle or nearby ti...

influenza

(Encyclopedia)influenza or flu, acute, highly contagious disease caused by a RNA virus (family Orthomyxoviridae); formerly known as the grippe. There are three types of the virus, designated A, B, and C, but only t...

smoking

(Encyclopedia)smoking, inhalation and exhalation of the fumes of burning tobacco in cigars and cigarettes and pipes; in the 21st cent., vaping, the similar use of e-cigarettes, also has become common. Some persons ...

prostitution

(Encyclopedia)prostitution, act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. Prostitution in A...

Sigerist, Henry Ernest

(Encyclopedia)Sigerist, Henry Ernest sĭgˈərĭst [key], 1891–1957, American medical historian and writer, b. Paris, M.D. Univ. of Zürich, 1917. He taught history of medicine at the universities of Zürich (192...

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