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mercury poisoning

(Encyclopedia)mercury poisoning, tissue damage resulting from exposure to more than trace amounts of the element mercury or its compounds. Elemental mercury (the silver liquid familiar from thermometers) is the mos...

immunology

(Encyclopedia)immunology, branch of medicine that studies the response of organisms to foreign substances, e.g., viruses, bacteria, and bacterial toxins (see immunity). Immunologists study the tissues and organs of...

dysentery

(Encyclopedia)dysentery dĭsˈəntĕrˌē [key], inflammation of the intestine characterized by the frequent passage of feces, usually with blood and mucus. The two most common causes of dysentery are infection wit...

silkworm

(Encyclopedia)silkworm, name for the larva of various species of moths, indigenous to Asia and Africa but now domesticated and raised for silk production throughout most of the temperate zone. The culture of silkwo...

parasite

(Encyclopedia)parasite, plant or animal that at some stage of its existence obtains its nourishment from another living organism called the host. Parasites may or may not harm the host, but they never benefit it. T...

heart, in anatomy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Cross section of heart, with arrows indicating direction of blood flow heart, muscular organ that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The rhythmic beating of the heart is a ceaseless activit...

La Paz, city, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)La Paz lä päs [key], city (1990 pop. 137,641), capital and largest city of Baja California Sur state, W Mexico. A tourist spot and transportation hub for the southern Baja peninsula, La Paz was firs...

Moerner, W. E.

(Encyclopedia)Moerner, W. E. (William Esco Moerner), 1953–, American physical chemist, b. Pleasanton, Calif., Ph.D. Cornell, 1982. Moerner worked at the IBM Almaden Research Center from 1981 to 1995 and at the Un...

Manin, Daniele

(Encyclopedia)Manin, Daniele dänyĕˈlā mänēnˈ [key] 1804–57, Venetian leader of the movement to free N Italy from Austrian rule. His father, a Jew, was converted to Christianity and took the name of his pat...

Kaposi's sarcoma

(Encyclopedia)Kaposi's sarcoma käpˈəshēˌ, kəpōˈsē [key], a usually fatal cancer that was considered rare until its appearance in AIDS patients. First described by an Austro-Hungarian physician, Moritz Kapo...