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Down syndrome

(Encyclopedia)Down syndrome, congenital disorder characterized by mild to severe mental retardation, slow physical development, and characteristic physical features. Down syndrome affects about 1 in every 730 live ...

Williams, Jody

(Encyclopedia)Williams, Jody, 1950–, American social activist, b. Putney, Vt., grad. Univ. of Vermont (B.A., 1972), School for International Training, Brattleboro, Vt. (M.A., 1976), Johns Hopkins (M.A., 1984). Af...

Health and Human Services, United States Department of

(Encyclopedia)Health and Human Services, United States Department of, federal executive department charged with administering government health programs. Successor to the Department of Health, Education, and Welfar...

genetics

(Encyclopedia)genetics, scientific study of the mechanism of heredity. While Gregor Mendel first presented his findings on the statistical laws governing the transmission of certain traits from generation to genera...

Baselitz, Georg

(Encyclopedia)Baselitz, Georg gāôrkhˈ bäˈzəlĭtsˌ [key], 1938–, German artist, b. Deutschbaselitz, Germany, as Hans-Georg Dern. A leading figure in the neoexpressionist movement (see neoexpressionism), he ...

Cheyenne, river, United States

(Encyclopedia)Cheyenne, river, 527 mi (848 km) long, rising in E Wyo. and flowing NE to the Missouri River near Pierre, S.Dak. The Cheyenne basin is part of the Missouri River basin project. The U.S. Bureau of Recl...

Friedrich, Caspar David

(Encyclopedia)Friedrich, Caspar David käsˈpär däˈfēt frēˈdrĭkh [key], 1774–1840, German romantic landscape painter. After studying painting in Copenhagen he visited various scenic spots in Germany and ch...

permafrost

(Encyclopedia)permafrost, permanently frozen soil, subsoil, or other deposit, characteristic of arctic and some subarctic regions; similar conditions are also found at very high altitudes in mountain ranges. In 196...

Reclamation, United States Bureau of

(Encyclopedia)Reclamation, United States Bureau of, agency set up in the Dept. of the Interior under the Reclamation Act of 1902. It is charged with promoting regional economies by developing water and related land...

Neanderthal man

(Encyclopedia)Neanderthal man –tôlˌ [key], a species of Homo, the genus to which contemporary humans belong, known as H. neandertalensis after Neanderthal (now Neandertal), Germany, the valley where the first s...