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Ramotar, Donald Rabindranauth

(Encyclopedia)Ramotar, Donald Rabindranauth, 1950–, Guyanese political leader. An economist, he joined the People's Progressive party (PPP) in 1967, was elected to its central committee (1979) and executive commi...

cryptosporidium

(Encyclopedia)cryptosporidium krĭpˌtōspərĭdˈēəm [key], genus of protozoans having at least four species; they are waterborne parasites that cause the disease cryptosporidiosis. One of the species appears to...

Estrada, Joseph Marcelo Ejercito

(Encyclopedia)Estrada, Joseph Marcelo Ejercito, 1937–, Filipino actor and politician, b. Jose Marcelo Ejercito. Under the name Erap Estrada, he became a popular action-film star whose roles often cast him as a he...

health maintenance organization

(Encyclopedia)health maintenance organization (HMO), type of prepaid medical service in which members pay a monthly or yearly fee for all health care, including hospitalization. The term “health maintenance organ...

Fulani

(Encyclopedia)Fulani fo͞oläˈnē [key], people of W Africa, numbering approximately 14 million. They are of mixed sub-Saharan African and Berber origin. First recorded as living in the Senegambia region, they are...

Gaucher's disease

(Encyclopedia)Gaucher's disease gōshāzˈ [key], rare genetic disease involving a deficiency of an enzyme, glucocerebrosidase, which normally breaks down certain body glycolipids (i.e., lipids (fats) that have a s...

Lockerbie

(Encyclopedia)Lockerbie lŏkˈərbē [key], village (1991 pop. 3,892), Dumfries and Galloway, S Scotland, site of a 1988 airplane crash. On Dec. 21, 1988, a New York–bound Pan Am Boeing 747 exploded in flight as ...

Kollontai, Aleksandra Mikhaylovna

(Encyclopedia)Kollontai, Aleksandra Mikhaylovna əlyĭksänˈdrə mēkhīˈləvnə kələntīˈ [key], 1872–1952, Russian revolutionary, diplomat, and novelist, whose maiden name was Aleksandra M. Domontovich. Th...

tinnitus

(Encyclopedia)tinnitus, the hearing of sounds in the absence of any external sound, also known as ringing in the ears. The sounds may be perceived as hissing, whistling, buzzing, swooshing, roaring, or clicking in ...

Prakrit literature

(Encyclopedia)Prakrit literature. By the 6th cent. b.c. the people of India were speaking and writing languages that were much simpler than classical Sanskrit. These vernacular forms, of which there were several, a...