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papyrus

(Encyclopedia)papyrus pəpīˈrəs [key], a sedge (Cyperus papyrus), now almost extinct in Egypt but so universally used there in antiquity as to be the hieroglyphic symbol for Lower Egypt and a common motif in art...

Torvalds, Linus Benedict

(Encyclopedia)Torvalds, Linus Benedict, 1969–, Finnish-American computer software engineer. A member of Finland's Swedish-speaking minority, he attended the Univ. of Helsinki (M.S., 1996), where he also taught. I...

shrub

(Encyclopedia)shrub, any woody, perennial, bushy plant that branches into several stems or trunks at the base and is smaller than a tree. Shrubs are an important feature of permanent landscape planting, being used ...

case

(Encyclopedia)case, in language, one of the several possible forms of a given noun, pronoun, or adjective that indicates its grammatical function (see inflection); in inflected languages it is usually indicated by ...

metabolite

(Encyclopedia)metabolite, organic compound that is a starting material in, an intermediate in, or an end product of metabolism. Starting materials are substances, usually small and of simple structure, absorbed by ...

macromolecule

(Encyclopedia)macromolecule, term that may refer either to a crystal such as a diamond, in which the atoms are identical and held by covalent bonds (see chemical bond) of equal strength, or to one of the units that...

Karik**oacute**, Katalin

(Encyclopedia)Karikó, Katalin, Jan., 1955–, b. Szolnok, Hungary, Hungarian-American biochemist, studied at József Attila Univ., Szeged, ...

buffer

(Encyclopedia)buffer, solution that can keep its relative acidity or alkalinity constant, i.e., keep its pH constant, despite the addition of strong acids or strong bases. Buffer solutions are frequently solutions ...

sarcoma

(Encyclopedia)sarcoma särkōˈmə [key], highly malignant tumor arising in connective- and muscle-cell tissue. It is the result of oncogenes (the cancer causing genes of some viruses) and proto-oncogenes (cancer c...

Ovshinsky, Stanford Robert

(Encyclopedia)Ovshinsky, Stanford Robert, 1922–2012, American inventor and scientist, b. Akron, Ohio. Self-taught, he developed a new type of lathe in the 1940s, the first of many innovations and patents. Special...