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liquid crystal

(Encyclopedia)liquid crystal, liquid whose component particles, atoms or molecules, tend to arrange themselves with a degree of order far exceeding that found in ordinary liquids and approaching that of solid cryst...

myoglobin

(Encyclopedia)myoglobin mīˌəglōˈbĭn [key], protein molecule isolated from the cells of vertebrate skeletal muscle that is both a structural and functional relative of hemoglobin, the oxygen-transport protein ...

denaturation

(Encyclopedia)denaturation, term used to describe the loss of native, higher-order structure of protein molecules in solution. Most globular proteins exhibit complicated three-dimensional folding described as secon...

Pasteur, Louis

(Encyclopedia)Pasteur, Louis păstŭrˈ, Fr. lwē pästörˈ [key], 1822–95, French chemist. He taught at Dijon, Strasbourg, and Lille, and in Paris at the École normale supérieure and the Sorbonne (1867–89)....

oxygen

(Encyclopedia)oxygen, gaseous chemical element; symbol O; at. no. 8; interval in which at. wt. ranges 15.99903–15.99977; m.p. −218.4℃; b.p. −182.962℃; density 1.429 grams per liter at STP; valence −2. T...

compressor

(Encyclopedia)compressor, machine that decreases the volume of air or other gas by the application of pressure. Compressor types range from the simple hand pump and the piston-equipped compressor used to inflate ti...

designer drug

(Encyclopedia)designer drug, chemical substance synthesized in a laboratory that is intended to have effects similar to those of a drug that is a controlled substance, such as methamphetamine, marijuana, LSD, or an...

Layton, Irving

(Encyclopedia)Layton, Irving, 1912–2006, Canadian poet, b. Romania as Israel Lazarovitch. His family emigrated to Montreal when he was an infant. He attended Macdonald College (B.Sc., 1939) and McGill Univ. (M.A....

assaying

(Encyclopedia)assaying əsāˈyĭng, ăsˈāyĭng [key], in metallurgy, process of determining the specific metallic content of an ore, alloy, or other substance, especially one containing precious metals. It consi...

Épinay, Louise Florence Pétronille (de Tardieu d'Esclavelles) La Live d'

(Encyclopedia)Épinay, Louise Florence Pétronille (de Tardieu d'Esclavelles) La Live d' lwēz flôräNsˈ pātrōnēˈyə də tärdyöˈ dāklävĕlˈ lä lēv dāpēnāˈ [key], 1726–83, French woman of letters...