Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

space medicine

(Encyclopedia)space medicine, study of the medical and biological effects of space travel on living organisms. The principal aim is to discover how well and for how long humans can withstand the extreme conditions ...

nosebleed

(Encyclopedia)nosebleed, nasal hemorrhage occurring as the result of local injury or disturbance. Most nosebleeds are not serious and occur when one of the small veins of the septum (the partition between the nostr...

López Velarde, Ramón

(Encyclopedia)López Velarde, Ramón rämōnˈ lōˈpās vālärˈᵺā [key], 1888–1921, Mexican poet. One of the major poets of Mexico, he deeply influenced the work of later poets, notably Xavier Villaurrutia....

acetaminophen

(Encyclopedia)acetaminophen əsētˌəmĭnˈəfĭn [key], an analgesic and fever-reducing medicine. It is an active ingredient in many over-the-counter medicines, including Tylenol and Midol. Introduced in the earl...

kosher

(Encyclopedia)kosher [Heb.,=proper, i.e., fit for use], in Judaism, term used in rabbinic literature to mean what is ritually correct, but most widely applied to food that is in accordance with dietary laws based o...

rattan

(Encyclopedia)rattan rătănˈ [key], name for a number of plants of the genera Calamus, Daemonorops, and Korthalsia climbing palms of tropical Asia, belonging to the family Palmae (palm family). Rattan leaves, unl...

Tertullian

(Encyclopedia)Tertullian (Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus) tûrtŭlˈyən [key], c.160–c.230, Roman theologian and Christian apologist, b. Carthage. He was the son of a centurion and was well educated, espe...

reserpine

(Encyclopedia)reserpine rĕsûrˈpēn [key], alkaloid isolated from the root of the snakeroot plant (Rauwolfia serpentina), a small evergreen climbing shrub of the dogbane family native to the Indian subcontinent. ...

Semenza, Gregg Leonard

(Encyclopedia)Semenza, Gregg Leonard, 1956–, American oncologist and molecular biologist, b. New York City, Ph.D. Univ. of Pennsylvania, 1984. Semenza has spent his entire career at the Johns Hopkins School of Me...

chigoe

(Encyclopedia)chigoe chĭgˈō [key] or jigger, small parasitic flea (Tunga penetrans) of the tropics and subtropics, including the S United States. Humans and their domestic animals are the main hosts. The fertili...