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cybernetics

(Encyclopedia)cybernetics [Gr.,=steersman], term coined by American mathematician Norbert Wiener to refer to the general analysis of control systems and communication systems in living organisms and machines. In cy...

ergot

(Encyclopedia)ergot ûrˈgət [key], disease of rye and other cereals caused by the fungus Claviceps purpurea. The cottony, matlike body, or mycelium, of the fungus develops in the ovaries of the host plant; it eve...

Greengard, Paul

(Encyclopedia)Greengard, Paul, 1925–2019, American neuroscientist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Johns Hopkins, 1953. Greengard was on the staff at Geigy Research Laboratories (1959–67) and a professor at the Albert ...

meprobamate

(Encyclopedia)meprobamate məprōˈbəmātˌ [key], tranquilizing drug that acts as a depressant of the central nervous system and is commonly used in the treatment of anxiety and sometimes schizophrenia. Although ...

chorea

(Encyclopedia)chorea kərēˈə, kō– [key] or St. Vitus's dance, acute disturbance of the central nervous system characterized by involuntary muscular movements of the face and extremities. The disease, known al...

tranquilizer

(Encyclopedia)tranquilizer, drug whose action calms the central nervous system, decreasing emotional agitation without impairing alertness. Tranquilizing drugs differ from hypnotic drugs such as barbiturates in tha...

Sierra Madre, mountain system, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Madre dĕl so͝orˈ [key] is a tumbled, broken mass of uptilted mountains that touch the Pacific coast but form into no clearly defined range. It spreads over S Mexico between the volcanic belt...

New York State Canal System

(Encyclopedia)New York State Canal System, waterway system, 524 mi (843 km) long, traversing New York state and connecting the Great Lakes with the Finger Lakes, the Hudson River, and Lake Champlain. The waterway, ...

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