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special effects

(Encyclopedia)special effects, in motion pictures, cinematographic techniques that create illusions in the audience's minds as well as the illusions created using these techniques. Some common examples are the use ...

toxicology

(Encyclopedia)toxicology, study of poisons, or toxins, from the standpoint of detection, isolation, identification, and determination of their effects on the human body. Toxicology may be considered the branch of p...

Sargent, Thomas John

(Encyclopedia)Sargent, Thomas John, 1943–, American economist, b. Pasadena, Calif., Ph.D. Harvard (1968). He has been on the faculty at the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1970–71), Univ. of Minnesota (1971–87), Univ....

Hansen, James Edward

(Encyclopedia)Hansen, James Edward, 1941–, American astrophysicist and climatologist, b. Denison, Iowa, Ph.D. Univ. of Iowa, 1967. In 1967 he joined the Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and served as director...

thermoelectricity

(Encyclopedia)thermoelectricity, direct conversion of heat into electric energy, or vice versa. The term is generally restricted to the irreversible conversion of electricity into heat described by the English phys...

benzodiazepine

(Encyclopedia)benzodiazepine bĕnˌzōdīăzˈəpēnˌ [key], any of a class of drugs prescribed for their tranquilizing, antianxiety, sedative, and muscle-relaxing effects. Benzodiazepines are also prescribed for ...

toxemia

(Encyclopedia)toxemia tŏksēˈmēə [key], disease state caused by the presence in the blood of bacterial toxins or other harmful substances. The effects of the bacterial toxins known as endotoxins are relatively ...

aviation medicine

(Encyclopedia)aviation medicine, scientific study of the biological effects of aviation, especially on human beings. Although aviation medicine is concerned with such problems as the spread of diseases by persons t...

corticosteroid drug

(Encyclopedia)corticosteroid drug kôrˌtəkōstârˈoid [key], any one of several synthetic or naturally occurring substances with the general chemical structure of steroids. They are used therapeutically to mimic...

nalorphine

(Encyclopedia)nalorphine nălˈərfēn [key], derivative of morphine that acts to reverse the effects of morphine and other narcotics. It counteracts narcotic-induced nervous system and respiratory system depressio...