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U , letter of the alphabet

(Encyclopedia)U, 21st letter of the alphabet, corresponding to the Greek upsilon [Gr.,=u without the aspirate]. Until the late Middle Ages the capital was V, the minuscule u, no distinction being made between the c...

raffia

(Encyclopedia)raffia rāˈfēə [key], fiber obtained from the raffia palm of Madagascar, exported for various uses, such as tying up plants that require support, binding together vegetables to be marketed, and wea...

ayahuasca

(Encyclopedia)ayahuasca or yagé, drink made by boiling various South American plants, used for centuries by shamans of traditional societies in the Amazon region in religious and healing ceremonies. It is usually ...

skin patch

(Encyclopedia)skin patch, transdermal patch, or transdermal delivery system, adhesive patch used to deliver a controlled dose of a drug through the skin over a period of time. A skin patch uses a special membrane ...

Suzuki, Akira

(Encyclopedia)Suzuki, Akira, 1930–, Japanese chemist, Ph.D. Hokkaido Univ., Sapporo, 1959. He was a professor at Hokkaido from 1963 until his retirement in 1994. Since then, he has taught for short periods at Oka...

agar, substance obtained from seaweed

(Encyclopedia)agar äˈgär, āˈ–, ăgˈär [key], product obtained from several species of red algae, or seaweed, chiefly from the Ceylon, or Jaffna, moss (Gracilaria lichenoides) and species of Gelidium, harve...

Central Valley project

(Encyclopedia)Central Valley project, central Calif., long-term general scheme for the utilization of the water of the Sacramento River basin in the north for the benefit of the farmlands of the San Joaquin Valley ...

White, Richard Grant

(Encyclopedia)White, Richard Grant, 1821–85, American journalist, writer, and Shakespearean scholar, b. New York City. He had a varied career and was at different times music critic and coeditor (1851–59) of th...

Lipmann, Fritz Albert

(Encyclopedia)Lipmann, Fritz Albert, 1899–1986, American biochemist, b. Germany, grad. Univ. of Berlin (M.D., 1922; Ph.D., 1927). He emigrated to the United States in 1939 and became a citizen in 1944. In 1941 he...

Maywood

(Encyclopedia)Maywood. 1 City (1990 pop. 27,850), Los Angeles co., S Calif., a suburb of Los Angeles; inc. 1924. Although chiefly residential, it produces chemicals, signs, foods, and glass. Its industrial base has...