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virulence factor: (from the article "necrotizing fasciitis") The group A streptococci produce a variety of so-called virulence factors that permit them to evade the defense mechanisms of the host and thus cause disease. These factors include polysaccharide ...
Virunga Mountains: volcanic range north of Lake Kivu in east-central Africa, extending about 50 miles (80 km) along the borders of Congo (Kinshasa), Rwanda, and Uganda. The range runs east-west, perpendicular to ... [7 Related Articles]
Virunga National Park: park in northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Kinshasa). Created in 1925, it has an area of some 3,050 square miles (7,900 square km) and contains a vast diversity of ... [5 Related Articles]
Virupaksa: (from the article "lokapala") ...is common to both Hindu and Buddhist traditions. The other Buddhist lokapalas are Dhrtarastra (east), Virudhaka (south), and Virupaksa (west).
Virupaksa: (from the article "South Asian arts") ...a hall with a parapet of salas and kutas (rectangular and square miniature shrines), and an open porch, is similar to examples in Tamil Nadu. The Virupaksa at Pattadkal (c. ...
Virupaksha: (from the article "India") ...and of the failure of the king and his immediate family to secure their own future, as had been done by many of his ancestors when they removed their cousins ...
virus: an infectious agent of small size and simple composition that can multiply only in living cells of animals, plants, or bacteria. The name is from a Latin word meaning "slimy ... [47 Related Articles]
virus crystal: (from the article "virology") Direct visualization of viruses became possible after the electron microscope was introduced about 1940. In 1935 tobacco mosaic virus became the first virus to be crystallized; in 1955 the poliomyelitis ...
virus genome: (from the article "nucleic acid") Many viruses use RNA for their genetic material. This is most prevalent among eukaryotic viruses, but a few prokaryotic RNA viruses are also known. Some common examples include poliovirus, human ...
Virza, Edvarts: (from the article "Latvian literature") ...with aesthetic ideals in the spirit of Friedrich Nietzsche, and his lyrics were powerful but improvised. A. Upitis, inspired by French and Russian naturalism, idealized working-class heroes. Edvarts Virza (pseudonym ...
Vis: Croatian island in the Adriatic Sea, the outermost major island of the Dalmatian archipelago. Its highest point is Mount Hum, at 1,926 feet (587 m). Its climate and vegetation are ...
VISA: (from the article "credit card") ...charges" added. The first national plan was BankAmericard, begun on a statewide basis by the Bank of America in California in 1958, licensed in other states beginning in 1966, and ...
visa: (from the article "passport") ...booklet containing a description of the bearer and an accompanying photograph that can be used for purposes of identification. Most countries require travelers entering their borders to obtain a visa-i.e., ...
Visakhadatta: (from the article "South Asian arts") ...other but are thwarted by a powerful rival who tries to kill the woman and place the blame on the hero, Carudatta. The play offers a fascinating view of the ...
Visalia: city, seat (1853) of Tulare county, south-central California, U.S. It lies on the Kaweah River delta in the San Joaquin Valley, 42 miles (68 km) southeast of Fresno. Founded in ...
Visayan: (from the article "Visayan") any of three cultural-linguistic groups of the Philippines-Cebuano, Hiligaynon, and Samaran (qq.v.).CebuanoHiligaynonSamaran
Visayas: island group, central Philippines. The Visayas group consists of seven large and several hundred smaller islands clustered around the Visayan, Samar, and Camotes seas. The seven main islands are Bohol, ... [4 Related Articles]
visbreaker: (from the article "petroleum refining") As early as 1920, large volumes of residue were being processed in visbreakers or thermal cracking units. These simple process units basically consist of a large furnace that heats the ...
visbreaking: (from the article "petroleum refining") Since World War II the demand for light products (e.g., gasoline, jet, and diesel fuels) has grown, while the requirement for heavy industrial fuel oils has declined. Furthermore, many of ...
Visby: city and capital of the lan (county) of Gotland, southeastern Sweden. It lies on the northwest coast of the island of Gotland, in the Baltic Sea. Because of its remarkably ... [1 Related Articles]
Visby corvette: (from the article "Military Affairs") ...Type 094 would provide China with its first truly intercontinental nuclear-missile-delivery capability. The Swedish navy began testing what it believed to be the stealthiest ship in the world. The Visby ...
Viscaceae: one of the mistletoe families of flowering plants of the sandalwood order (Santalales), including about 11 genera and more than 450 species of semiparasitic shrubs. This family is sometimes considered ...
viscacha: any of four species of slender yet fairly large South American rodents similar to chinchillas. They have short forelimbs, long hindlimbs, and a long, bushy tail. The soft fur is ...
Viscardi, Henry, Jr.: American activist (b. May 10, 1912, New York, N.Y.-d. April 13, 2004, Roslyn, N.Y.), campaigned for the inclusion of the physically handicapped in the workforce. Born with legs that terminated ...
Viscardo y Guzman, Juan Pablo: (from the article "Latin American literature") ...Mexican independence. No less significant is the brief Carta a los espanoles americanos ("Letter to American Spaniards"), written in 1791 by the Peruvian Juan Pablo Viscardo y ...
viscera: (from the article "poultry processing") At this point the preen, or oil, gland is removed from the tail and the vent is opened so that the viscera (internal organs) can be removed. Evisceration can be ...
visceral hump: (from the article "gastropod") The visceral hump, or visceral mass, of gastropods is always contained within the shell; it generally holds the bulk of the digestive, reproductive, excretory, and respiratory systems. A significant part ...
visceral muscle: (from the article "muscle") The two major divisions of the vertebrate musculature are the visceral musculature and the somatic musculature (the striated muscles of the body wall). Somatic musculature may be divided into appendicular, ...
visceral pleura: (from the article "respiration, human") ...blood and lymphatic vessels, and nerves enter or leave the lungs. The inside of the thoracic cavities and the lung surface are covered with serous membranes, respectively the parietal pleura ...
visceral skeleton: (from the article "skeletal system, human") ...to which the pelvic (hip) and pectoral (shoulder) girdles and the bones and cartilages of the limbs belong. Discussed in this article as part of the axial skeleton is a ...
Visceroconcha: (from the article "mollusk") ...body as well as an anterior elongated foot to live on the bottoms of mobile particles (sand, mud). In contrast, a free head with cerebral eyes is set off from ...
Vischer Family: sculptors and brass founders working in Nurnberg in the 15th and 16th centuries. Hermann the Elder (d. Jan. 13, 1488) established the foundry. His son Peter the Elder (1460-1529) was ... [1 Related Articles]
Vischer, Friedrich Theodor von: German literary critic and aesthetician known for his efforts to create a theoretical basis for literary realism.
Vischer, Peter, the Elder: (from the article "Vischer Family") sculptors and brass founders working in Nurnberg in the 15th and 16th centuries. Hermann the Elder (d. Jan. 13, 1488) established the foundry. His son Peter the Elder (1460-1529) was ...
viscidium: (from the article "orchid") ...insect. A further specialization occurs in more advanced orchids in which the caudicles of the pollinia are already attached to the rostellum and a portion of it comes off as ...
viscin: (from the article "orchid") The pollen grains are usually bound together by threads of a clear, sticky substance (viscin) in masses called pollinia. Two basic kinds of pollinia exist: one has soft, mealy packets ...
viscoelasticity: (from the article "deformation and flow") Viscoelastic solids have molecules in which the load-deformation relationship is time-dependent. If a load is suddenly applied to such a material and then kept constant, the resulting deformation is not ...
viscometer: instrument for measuring the viscosity (resistance to internal flow) of a fluid. In one version, the time taken for a given volume of fluid to flow through an opening is ... [2 Related Articles]
Visconti Family: Milanese family that dominated the history of northern Italy in the 14th and 15th centuries. [6 Related Articles]
Visconti, Azzo: (from the article "Visconti Family") ...its territorial expansion and concluding marriage alliances with the rulers of other Italian cities and with princely families of France, Germany, and Savoy. When Galeazzo I was succeeded by his ...
Visconti, Bernabo: (from the article "Visconti Family") After Giovanni's death, the Visconti dominions were shared among his three nephews. When Matteo II (c. 1319-55) died, Bernabo (1323-85) and Galeazzo II (c. 1321-78) divided Milan and its territory, ...
Visconti, Ermes: (from the article "Italian literature") ...[1816; "Half-Serious Letter from Grisostomo to His Son"] is an important manifesto of Italian popular romanticism), Silvio Pellico, Ludovico di Breme, Giovita Scalvini, and Ermes Visconti were among its contributors. ...
Visconti, Filippo Maria: (from the article "Visconti Family") His brother Filippo Maria (1392-1447), succeeding to the dukedom, managed, by marriage to the widow of the condottiere (mercenary captain) Facino Cane, to gain control of Cane's troops and territories ...
Visconti, Galeazzo I: (from the article "Visconti Family") After Matteo's abdication (1322) in favour of his son Galeazzo I (c. 1277-1328), the dynasty consolidated its power, continuing its territorial expansion and concluding marriage alliances with the rulers of ...
Visconti, Galeazzo II: (from the article "Visconti Family") After Giovanni's death, the Visconti dominions were shared among his three nephews. When Matteo II (c. 1319-55) died, Bernabo (1323-85) and Galeazzo II (c. 1321-78) divided Milan and its territory, ...
Visconti, Gian Galeazzo: Milanese leader who brought the Visconti dynasty to the height of its power and almost succeeded in becoming the ruler of all northern Italy. [6 Related Articles]
Visconti, Giovanni: (from the article "Visconti Family") ...son Azzo (1302-39), peace was concluded with the pope (1329). A crisis created by Azzo's death without heirs in 1339 was solved with the election of his uncles Luchino (1292-1349) ...
Visconti, Giovanni Maria: (from the article "Visconti Family") ...were dukes of Milan and counts of Pavia, and the family controlled most of northern Italy (see Visconti, Gian Galeazzo). His rule was followed by the catastrophic reign of his ...
Visconti, Louis-Tullius-Joachim: Italian-born French designer of the tomb of Napoleon I. [1 Related Articles]
Visconti, Luchino: Italian motion-picture director whose realistic treatment of individuals caught in the conflicts of modern society contributed significantly to the post-World War II revolution in Italian filmmaking and earned him the ... [5 Related Articles]
Visconti, Luchino: (from the article "Visconti Family") ...Galeazzo I was succeeded by his son Azzo (1302-39), peace was concluded with the pope (1329). A crisis created by Azzo's death without heirs in 1339 was solved with the ...
Visconti, Matteo I: early head of the powerful dynasty of the Visconti, who for almost two centuries ruled Milan. [1 Related Articles]
Visconti, Ottone: (from the article "Visconti Family") ...obtained the hereditary office of viscount of Milan early in the 11th century, transforming the title into a surname. The Visconti gained ascendancy in Milan through Pope Urban IV, who ...
Visconti-Venosta, Emilio, Marchese: (Marquess) Italian statesman whose political-diplomatic career of more than 50 years spanned Italian history from the Risorgimento to the power politics of World War I.
viscose rayon: (from the article "dye") ...that is isolated as chemical cellulose by a process known as pulping. In fibre manufacture, the insolubility of cellulose caused processing problems that were overcome by the development of the ...
viscosity: resistance of a fluid (liquid or gas) to a change in shape, or movement of neighbouring portions relative to one another. Viscosity denotes opposition to flow. The reciprocal of the ... [25 Related Articles]
viscosity index: (from the article "lubrication") ...as the temperature is raised. Since little change of viscosity with fluctuations in temperature is desirable to keep variations in friction at a minimum, fluids often are rated in terms ...
Viscount: (from the article "airplane") ...airlines. In the United States the relatively short stage of these planes and the high fuel consumption in comparison with the best piston planes never made them exceptionally popular. The ...
viscount: a European title of nobility, ranking immediately below a count, or earl.
Viscount Melville Sound: arm of the Arctic Ocean, Kitikmeot and Baffin regions, Northwest Territories, northern Canada. It is 250 miles (400 km) long and 100 miles (160 km) wide. The discovery of this ...
viscous damping: (from the article "damping") Viscous damping is caused by such energy losses as occur in liquid lubrication between moving parts or in a fluid forced through a small opening by a piston, as in ...
viscous flow: (from the article "rock") ...to the load (i.e., the applied stress). The strain is immediate with stress and is reversible (recoverable) up to the yield point stress, beyond which permanent strain results. For viscous ...
viscous interaction: (from the article "geomagnetic field") Viscous interaction involves the transfer of momentum from the solar wind to a closed field line of the Earth's magnetic field just inside the boundary. Because of the transfer, a ...
viscous magnetization: (from the article "remanent magnetism") ...formed minerals will acquire remanent magnetism in the presence of the Earth's magnetic field; and (2) igneous rocks already cooled may ultimately acquire remanent magnetism by a process called viscous ...
viscous remanent magnetization: (from the article "rock") VRM (viscous remanent magnetization) results from thermal agitation. It is acquired slowly over time at low temperatures and in the Earth's magnetic field. The effect is weak and unstable but ...
Viscum: (from the article "mistletoe") any of many species of semiparasitic green plants of the families Loranthaceae and Viscaceae, especially those of the genera Viscum, Phoradendron, and Arceuthobium, all members of the Viscaceae. Viscum album, ...
Visdomini altarpiece: (from the article "painting, Western") ...in Florence. The subtle and ambiguous emotional tension present beneath the harmony of Andrea's forms and colours was greatly accentuated by one of his pupils, Jacopo da Pontormo. In Pontormo's ...
vise: device consisting of two parallel jaws for holding a workpiece; one of the jaws is fixed and the other movable by a screw, a lever, or a cam. When used ... [1 Related Articles]
Visean Stage: second of three internationally defined stages of the Mississippian Subsystem, Carboniferous System, encompassing all rocks deposited during the Visean Age (345.3 to 326.4 million years ago). The name is derived ... [1 Related Articles]
Visegrad: (from the article "Pest") ...folklife); the museums featuring the artworks of the Ferenczy family, of Jeno Barcsay, and of Bela Czobel; and the collection of Serbian religious art at the Belgrade Cathedral. Visegrad boasts ...
Visegrad Forum of Cooperation: (from the article "Hungary") ...at the turn of the 21st century, many saw the country's changing nature in a very positive light. In addition to joining NATO and the EU, Hungary had been instrumental ...
Visegrad Gorge: (from the article "Danube River") ...some 190,000 inhabitants in more than 100 settlements. The silting hampers navigation and occasionally divides the river into two or more channels. East of Komarno the Danube enters the Visegrad ...
viser: (from the article "ballad") ...the Russian ballads known as byliny and almost all Balkan ballads are unrhymed and unstrophic; and, though the romances of Spain, as their ballads are called, and the Danish viser ...
visesa: (from the article "Vaisheshika") (5) Visesa, or specific difference, which singles out an individual of that class.
Viset Savaengseuksa: (from the article "Lao literature") ...khai lao rim pacha ("A Bar at the Edge of the Cemetery"), in which he describes the dangers of public apathy in the face of corruption and political oppression. The ...
Vishakhapatnam: city, northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. It lies on the Bay of Bengal, about 380 miles (612 km) northeast of Madras. Vishakhapatnam lies along a small bay, and its ...
Vishneva, Diana: Within a few years of her first international appearances in the late 1990s, Russian ballerina Diana Vishneva rose to become one of ballet's brightest stars, and in January 2007 Pres. ... [1 Related Articles]
Vishnu: one of the principal Hindu deities. Vishnu combines many lesser divine figures and local heroes, chiefly through his avatars, particularly Rama and Krishna. His appearances are innumerable; he is often ... [27 Related Articles]
Vishnu Schist: (from the article "Grand Canyon Series") ...sequences of carbonate rocks. Spectacular exposures of these rocks occur in the Grand Canyon of the Colorado River in northwestern Arizona, where they overlie the strongly deformed and contorted Vishnu ...
Vishvamitra: (from the article "India") ...related in the hymns. Perhaps the most impressive is a description of the battle of the 10 chiefs or kings: when Sudas, the king of the preeminent Bharatas of southern ...
visibility: (from the article "weather modification") In order for aircraft to take off and land, it is necessary that the ceiling (the height of the cloud base above the ground) and visibility be above certain minimum ...
visible spectroscopy: (from the article "spectroscopy") Visible and ultraviolet spectroscopyidentification of organic compoundschemical compoundUltraviolet and visible (UV-visible) spectroscopyMost organic compounds are transparen
visible trade: in economics, exchange of physically tangible goods between countries, involving the export, import, and re-export of goods at various stages of production. It is distinguished from invisible trade, which involves ... [1 Related Articles]
VisiCalc: (from the article "spreadsheet") The first spreadsheet program was VisiCalc, written for the Apple II computer in 1979. In the view of many users, it was the application that most vividly showed the utility ...
Visigoth: member of a division of the Goths (see Goth). One of the most important of the Germanic peoples, the Visigoths separated from the Ostrogoths in the 4th century AD, raided ... [30 Related Articles]
Visigothic: (from the article "East Germanic languages") ...especially, Ostrogothic is provided by the names recorded in Greek and Latin writings. The only East Germanic language on which there is extensive information is the Gothic-more specifically, Visigothic-that was ...
Visigothic art: works of art produced in southern France and Spain under the Visigoths, who ruled the region between the 5th and the 8th centuries AD. The art produced during this period ... [1 Related Articles]
Visigothic script: (from the article "calligraphy") The Merovingian (France) and the Visigothic (Spain) are two more varieties of minuscular script that grew out of Latin cursive after the withdrawal of the Roman authority. In the Luxeuil ...
Vising Island: (from the article "Vatter, Lake") Lake Vatter is bounded by cliffs to the east and west; there are few harbours, and Vising Island (Visingso), with an area of 9.5 square miles (24.5 square km), is ...
vision: (from the article "Celtic literature") ...incorporating elements from folklore and saga material. The emphasis was always on the miraculous, but they are valuable as social documents. Another important genre of religious work was the vision, ...
vision: (from the article "vision") physiological process of distinguishing, usually by means of an organ such as the eye, the shapes and colours of objects. See eye; photoreception.FIGUREinformation flow in eye movement control
vision: (from the article "Christianity") ...mentions two experiences of "touching" or "attaining" God. Later, in the Literal Commentary on Genesis, he introduced a triple classification of visions-corporeal, spiritual (i.e., imaginative), and intellectual-that ...
Vision Festival: (from the article "Performing Arts") ...by 100 marching tuba players at the Bang on a Can Marathon. Sam River, whose 1976 Wildflowers festival was a watershed event in the development of the free-jazz idiom, was ...
Vision for Space Exploration: (from the article "Physical Sciences") ...space research program, including the study of the effects of zero-g (microgravity) environments on both humans and physical phenomena. Most of the cuts were intended to make it possible to ...
vision quest: supernatural experience in which an individual seeks to interact with a guardian spirit, usually an anthropomorphized animal, to obtain advice or protection. Vision quests were most typically found among the ... [9 Related Articles]
Visistadvaita: one of the principal schools of Vedanta, an orthodox philosophy of India. This school grew out of the Vaisnava (worship of the god Vishnu [Visnu]) devotional movement prominent in South ... [5 Related Articles]
visit and search: procedure adopted by a belligerent warship to ascertain whether a merchant vessel is liable to seizure. If an inspection of the papers shows the ship to be an enemy vessel ...
visita: (from the article "visitador") The institution of the visita ("inspection") was applied also to the Spanish colonies in the Americas. The visitador reported to the Council of the Indies (colonial office) in Madrid. Visitas ...
visitador: royally appointed official sent periodically in the late Middle Ages to investigate the administration of justice in the towns of the Spanish Kingdom of Castile. In the late 15th century, ...
Visitandine: a Roman Catholic order of nuns founded by St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane Frances de Chantal at Annecy, Fr., in 1610. The order was originally destined for charitable ... [2 Related Articles]
Visitation: the visit, described in the Gospel According to Luke (1:39-56), made by the Virgin Mary, pregnant with the infant Jesus, to her cousin Elizabeth. At the sound of Mary's greeting, ...