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ulcer

(Encyclopedia)ulcer, open sore or circumscribed erosion, usually slow to heal, on the skin or mucous membranes. It may develop as a result of injury; because of a circulatory disturbance, e.g., in varicose veins or...

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

(Encyclopedia)Massachusetts Institute of Technology, at Cambridge; coeducational; chartered 1861, opened 1865 in Boston, moved 1916. It has long been recognized as an outstanding technological institute and its Slo...

Koop, C. Everett

(Encyclopedia)Koop, C. Everett (Charles Everett Koop), 1916–2013, American physician, U.S. surgeon general (1982–89), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., grad. Dartmouth (B.S., 1937), Cornell Medical College (M.D., 1941), Univ....

Paganini, Niccolò

(Encyclopedia)Paganini, Niccolò nēkōlōˈ pägänēˈnē [key], 1782–1840, Italian violinist, whose virtuosity became a legend. He extended the compass of the violin by his use of harmonics, perfected the use ...

spinal puncture

(Encyclopedia)spinal puncture, surgical penetration of the spinal canal by a hollow needle introduced between two of the lumbar vertebrae. The arrangement permits injection of antibiotics or anesthetics (see anesth...

Crofton, Sir John Wenman

(Encyclopedia)Crofton, Sir John Wenman, 1912–2009, British physician, b. Dublin. He served in the British medical corps during World War II and during 1946–52 was part of a research team studying the effects of...

Doherty, Peter Charles

(Encyclopedia)Doherty, Peter Charles, 1940–, Australian immunologist, Ph.D., Univ. of Edinburgh, 1970. He was a research fellow at Australian National Univ. (1972–75), a professor at the Wistar Institute, Phila...

colchicine

(Encyclopedia)colchicine kŏlˈchəsēnˌ [key], alkaloid extracted from plants of the genus Colchicum and especially from the corms of the autumn crocus, Colchicum autumnale (see meadow saffron). The metabolic eff...

Hansberry, Lorraine

(Encyclopedia)Hansberry, Lorraine, 1930–65, American playwright, b. Chicago, studied Univ. of Wisconsin, Madison, the New School, New York City. She grew up in a middle-class family on Chicago's South Side. In 19...

nitrogen mustard

(Encyclopedia)nitrogen mustard, any of various poisonous compounds originally developed for military use (see poison gas). Like mustard gas and lewisite, it is a vesicant (blistering agent). In the form of its crys...