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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...

Steinman, Ralph Marvin

(Encyclopedia)Steinman, Ralph Marvin, 1943–2011, Canadian biologist, M.D. Harvard Medical School, 1968. He was a researcher and professor at Rockefeller Univ., New York City, from 1970 until his death in 2011. St...

radiation sickness

(Encyclopedia)radiation sickness, harmful effect produced on body tissues by exposure to radioactive substances. The biological action of radiation is not fully understood, but it is believed that a disturbance in ...

Didrikson, Babe

(Encyclopedia)Didrikson, Babe (Mildred Didrikson) dēˈdrĭksən [key], 1913–56, American athlete, generally considered the greatest woman athlete of modern times, b. Port Arthur, Tex. At an early age Babe Didrik...

horse latitudes

(Encyclopedia)horse latitudes, two belts of latitude where winds are light and the weather is hot and dry. They are located mostly over the oceans, at about 30° lat. in each hemisphere, and have a north-south rang...

Murad, Ferid

(Encyclopedia)Murad, Ferid, 1936–, American pharmacologist, b. Whiting, Ind., M.D., Ph.D. Western Reserve Univ. (now Case Western Reserve Univ.), 1965. Murad taught at the Univ. of Virginia (1975–81), Stanford ...

Semenza, Gregg Leonard

(Encyclopedia)Semenza, Gregg Leonard, 1956–, American oncologist and molecular biologist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1984. Semenza has spent his entire career at the Johns Hopkins School of Me...

ultraviolet radiation

(Encyclopedia)ultraviolet radiation, invisible electromagnetic radiation between visible violet light and X rays; it ranges in wavelength from about 400 to 4 nanometers and in frequency from about 1015 to 1017 hert...

alliteration

(Encyclopedia)alliteration əlĭtˌərāˈshən [key], the repetition of the same starting sound in several words of a sentence. Probably the most powerful rhythmic and thematic uses of alliteration are contained i...

grebe

(Encyclopedia)grebe grēb [key], common name for swimming birds found on or near quiet waters in most parts of the world. Grebes resemble the loon and the duck; they have short wings, vestigial tails, and long, ind...