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Medici, Alessandro de'

(Encyclopedia)Medici, Alessandro de' mĕˈdĭchē, Ital. māˈdēchē [key], 1510?–37, duke of Florence (1532–37); probably an illegitimate son of Lorenzo de' Medici, duke of Urbino. His prominence began when ...

acne

(Encyclopedia)acne, common inflammatory disease of the hair follicles and sebaceous glands characterized by blackheads, whiteheads, pustules, nodules and, in the more severe forms, by cysts and scarring. The lesion...

phenylketonuria

(Encyclopedia)phenylketonuria fĕnˌəlkētˌəno͝orˈēə [key] (PKU), inherited metabolic disorder caused by a deficiency in a specific enzyme (phenylalanine hydroxylase). The absence of this enzyme, a recessive...

epilepsy

(Encyclopedia)epilepsy, a chronic disorder of cerebral function characterized by periodic convulsive seizures. There are many conditions that have epileptic seizures. Sudden discharge of excess electrical activity,...

Jennings

(Encyclopedia)Jennings, city (1990 pop. 11,305), seat of Jefferson Davis parish, SW La., on the Mermentau River; inc. 1888. Cotton and rice are grown, there is a bottling plant, and drugs, machinery, apparel, and w...

infertility

(Encyclopedia)infertility, inability to conceive or carry a child to delivery. The term is usually limited to situations where the couple has had intercourse regularly for one year without using birth control. The ...

Najib Razak

(Encyclopedia)Najib Razak or Najib Tun Razak näjēbˈ to͞on räˈzäk [key], 1958–, Malaysian politician. A Malay, he is a member of a prominent political family, the son of Malaysia's second prime minister, Ab...

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...

ipecac

(Encyclopedia)ipecac ĭpˈĭkăk [key], drug obtained from the dried roots of a creeping shrub, Cephaelis (or Psychotria) ipecacuanha, native to Brazil but cultivated in other tropical climates. There are three var...

staphylococcus

(Encyclopedia)staphylococcus stăfˌələkŏkˈəs [key], any of the pathogenic bacteria, parasitic to humans, that belong to the genus Staphylococcus. The spherical bacterial cells (cocci) typically occur in irreg...