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cytomegalovirus

(Encyclopedia)cytomegalovirus sīˌtəmĕgˌəlōvīˈrəs [key], member of the herpesvirus family that can cause serious complications in persons with weakened immune systems and infants. A common virus, it is est...

Antonello da Messina

(Encyclopedia)Antonello da Messina äntōnĕlˈlō dä mās–sēˈnä [key], c.1430–79, Sicilian painter, b. Messina. Antonello appears to have had early contact with Flemish art. In his deft handling of the oil...

Caillaux, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Caillaux, Joseph zhôzĕfˈ kāyōˈ [key], 1863–1944, French statesman. Son of a former cabinet minister, he entered the French civil service as inspector of finance. He later became finance minist...

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...

Yoruba

(Encyclopedia)Yoruba yōˈro͞obä [key], people of SW Nigeria and Benin, numbering about 20 million. Today many of the large cities in Nigeria (including Lagos, Ibadan, and Abeokuta) are in Yorubaland. The old Yor...

Ainu

(Encyclopedia)Ainu īˈno͞o [key], aborigines of Japan who may be descended from a Caucasoid people who once lived in N Asia. More powerful invaders from the Asian mainland gradually forced the Ainu to retreat to ...

insecticides

(Encyclopedia)insecticides, chemical, biological, or other agents used to destroy insect pests; the term commonly refers to chemical agents only. The liabilities of chemical insecticides have encouraged interest ...

syphilis

(Encyclopedia)syphilis sĭfˈəlĭs [key], contagious sexually transmitted disease caused by the spirochete Treponema pallidum (described by Fritz Schaudinn and Erich Hoffmann in 1905). Syphilis was not widely reco...

sulfuric acid

(Encyclopedia)sulfuric acid, chemical compound, H2SO4, colorless, odorless, extremely corrosive, oily liquid. It is sometimes called oil of vitriol. Although sulfuric acid is now one of the most widely used c...

norovirus

(Encyclopedia)norovirus or Norwalk virus, highly contagious viral disease caused by infection with an RNA virus of the genus Norovirus. The virus causes acute gastroenteritis, usually one to two days after infectio...