- Aclla Cuna (Inca religion)
Chosen Women, in Inca religion, women who lived in temple convents under a vow of chastity. Their duties included the preparation of ritual food, the maintenance of a sacred fire, and the weaving of garments for the emperor and for ritual use. They were under the supervision of matrons called Mama
- ACLU (American organization)
American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), organization founded by Roger Baldwin and others in New York City in 1920 to champion constitutional liberties in the United States. The ACLU works to protect Americans’ constitutional rights and freedoms as set forth in the U.S. Constitution and its
- ACM (international organization)
Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), international organization for computer science and information technology professionals and, since 1960, institutions associated with the field. Since 1966 ACM has annually presented one or more individuals with the A.M. Turing Award, the most prestigious
- Acmaeidae (gastropod family)
gastropod: Classification: …in rocky shallow waters (Acmaeidae and Patellidae). Superfamily Trochacea Small to large spiral shells in shallow to deep ocean waters, often brightly coloured, with or without heavy shell ornamentation; Trochidae (top shells), Turbinidae (turban shells), and Phasianellidae (pheasant shells
- Acme Colored Giants (American sports team)
baseball: Segregation: …during 19th century were the Acme Colored Giants, who represented Celoron, New York, in the Iron and Oil Leagues in 1898.
- Acmeist (Russian poets)
Acmeist, member of a small group of early-20th-century Russian poets reacting against the vagueness and affectations of Symbolism. It was formed by the poets Sergey Gorodetsky and Nikolay S. Gumilyov. They reasserted the poet as craftsman and used language freshly and with intensity. Centred in St.
- acmite (mineral)
aegirine: In this series, the name acmite is given to crystals with the composition NaFeSi2O6 as well as to the reddish brown or greenish black pointed crystals approximating that composition. Aegirine generally is restricted to the dark green to greenish black, blunt crystals of the same composition. For detailed physical properties,…
- ACNA
Anglican Church in North America, Anglican church formed in 2009 in Bedford, Texas. Its founders were theological traditionalists who had seceded from the Episcopal Church in the United States of America (ECUSA) and the Anglican Church of Canada. Beginning in the 1990s, disputes about the validity
- acne (dermatology)
acne, any inflammatory disease of the sebaceous, or oil, glands of the skin. There are some 50 different types of acne. In common usage, the term acne is frequently used alone to designate acne vulgaris, or common acne, probably the most prevalent of all chronic skin disorders. Acne vulgaris
- acne vulgaris (dermatology)
childhood disease and disorder: Disorders associated with adolescence: Acne vulgaris (common acne) is a prevalent skin condition that has its onset during adolescence. At puberty, androgenic stimulation of the skin’s sebaceous (oil) glands (which empty into the canals of the hair follicles) causes increased production of the fatty substance sebum. In susceptible individuals,…
- ACO (international organization)
North Atlantic Treaty Organization: Organization: …states, subsumes two strategic commands: Allied Command Operations (ACO) and Allied Command Transformation (ACT). ACO is headed by the SACEUR and located at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Casteau, Belgium. ACT is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. During the alliance’s first 20 years, more than $3 billion worth…
- Acochlidacea (gastropod order)
gastropod: Classification: Order Acochlidacea Three families with visceral mass longer than foot; 4 species in fresh water; a few with sexes in separate animals; size minute. Order Philinoglossacea No head appendages; gill lacking; no external shell; 2 families. Order Anaspidea Shell reduced
- Acoela (flatworm order)
flatworm: Annotated classification: Order Acoela Exclusively marine; mouth present; pharynx simple or lacking; no intestine; without protonephridia, oviducts, yolk glands, or definitely delimited gonads; about 200 species. Order Neorhabdocoela Saclike linear intestine; protonephridia and oviducts usually present; gonads few, mostly compact; nervous system generally with 2 longitudinal
- acoelomate (biology)
animal: Acoelomates: Flatworms (phyla Platyhelminthes, Nemertea, and Mesozoa) lack a coelom, although nemerteans have a fluid-filled cavity at their anterior, or head, end, which is used to eject the proboscis rapidly. The lack of a fluid-filled cavity adjacent to the muscles reduces the extent to which…
- Acoemetae (Byzantine monks)
Acoemeti, monks at a series of 5th- to 6th-century Byzantine monasteries who were noted for their choral recitation of the divine office in constant and never interrupted relays. Their first monastery, at Constantinople, was founded in about 400 by St. Alexander Akimetes, who, after long study of
- Acoemeti (Byzantine monks)
Acoemeti, monks at a series of 5th- to 6th-century Byzantine monasteries who were noted for their choral recitation of the divine office in constant and never interrupted relays. Their first monastery, at Constantinople, was founded in about 400 by St. Alexander Akimetes, who, after long study of
- Acolhua (people)
Texcoco: …Valley of Mexico by the Acolhuas, a pre-Columbian people of the Nahuatl-speaking group of tribes, which gained mastery of the valley after the collapse of the Toltec hegemony in the mid-12th century ad. The rulers of Texcoco were the first among Nahuatl tribal leaders to establish their rule over Anáhuac…
- Acoli (people)
Acholi, ethnolinguistic group of northern Uganda and South Sudan. Numbering more than one million at the turn of the 21st century, they speak a Western Nilotic language of the Eastern Sudanic branch of the Nilo-Saharan family and are culturally and historically related to their traditional enemies,
- acolyte (religion)
acolyte, (from Greek akolouthos, “server,” “companion,” or “follower”), in the Roman Catholic church, a person is installed in a ministry in order to assist the deacon and priest in liturgical celebrations, especially the eucharistic liturgy. The first probable reference to the office dates from
- Acoma (people)
Ancestral Pueblo culture: Zuni, Acoma, and Laguna. As farmers, Ancestral Pueblo peoples and their nomadic neighbours were often mutually hostile; this is the source of the term Anasazi, a Navajo word meaning “ancestors of the enemy,” which once served as the customary scientific name for this group.
- Acoma (pueblo, New Mexico, United States)
Acoma, Indian pueblo, Valencia county, west-central New Mexico, U.S. The pueblo lies 55 miles (89 km) west-southwest of Albuquerque and is known as the “Sky City.” Its inhabitants live in terraced dwellings made of stone and adobe atop a precipitous sandstone butte 357 feet (109 metres) high. They
- Acominatus, Michael (Byzantine historian)
Michael Choniates was a Byzantine humanist scholar and archbishop of Athens whose extensive Classical literary works provide the principal documentary witness to the political turbulence of 13th-century Greece after its occupation by the Western Crusaders. Having studied at Constantinople
- Acominatus, Nicetas (Byzantine historian)
Nicetas Choniates was a Byzantine statesman, historian, and theologian. His chronicle of Byzantium’s humiliations during the Third and Fourth Crusades (1189 and 1204) and his anthology of 12th-century theological writings constitute authoritative historical sources for this period and established
- Acomys (rodent)
African spiny mouse, (genus Acomys), any of more than a dozen species of small to medium-sized rodents characterized by the harsh, inflexible spiny hairs of their upperparts. African spiny mice have large eyes and ears and scaly, nearly bald tails that are shorter than or about as long as the body.
- Acomys cahirinus (mammal)
African spiny mouse: …golden spiny mouse and the Cairo spiny mouse (A. cahirinus).
- Acomys cilicicus (mammal)
African spiny mouse: The most restricted is A. cilicicus, which is known only from a single locality in southern Turkey.
- Acomys kempi (mammal)
African spiny mouse: …species native to East Africa, Kemp’s spiny mouse (A. kempi) and Percival’s spiny mouse (A. percivali), possess the ability to slough off patches of skin when attempting to escape capture from predators. The wounds that remain, which may be painful in appearance, may shrink dramatically within the first 24 hours…
- Acomys percivali (mammal)
African spiny mouse: kempi) and Percival’s spiny mouse (A. percivali), possess the ability to slough off patches of skin when attempting to escape capture from predators. The wounds that remain, which may be painful in appearance, may shrink dramatically within the first 24 hours after the injury. They are covered…
- Acomys russatus (mammal)
African spiny mouse: The golden spiny mouse (Acomys russatus), found from Egypt to Saudi Arabia, is one of the largest, with a body up to 25 cm (9.8 inches) long and a shorter tail of up to 7 cm. The Cape spiny mouse (A. subspinosus) of South Africa is…
- Acomys subspinosus (mammal)
African spiny mouse: The Cape spiny mouse (A. subspinosus) of South Africa is one of the smallest, with a body up to 10 cm long and a tail of less than 2 cm. Depending upon the species, fur covering the upperparts may be gray, grayish yellow, brownish red, or…
- Aconcagua River (river, Chile)
Aconcagua River, river in central Chile. It rises in the northwestern foothills of Mount Aconcagua of the Andes Mountains and flows westward from the Argentine border area to enter the Pacific Ocean north of the city of Viña del Mar after a course of 120 miles (190 km). Much of the Chilean trackage
- Aconcagua, Cerro (mountain, Argentina)
Mount Aconcagua, mountain in western Mendoza province, west-central Argentina, on the Chilean border. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua lies in the Southern Andes Mountains; although its peak is in Argentina, its western flanks build up from the coastal lowlands of Chile,
- Aconcagua, Mount (mountain, Argentina)
Mount Aconcagua, mountain in western Mendoza province, west-central Argentina, on the Chilean border. It is the highest point in the Western Hemisphere. Aconcagua lies in the Southern Andes Mountains; although its peak is in Argentina, its western flanks build up from the coastal lowlands of Chile,
- Aconcagua, Río (river, Chile)
Aconcagua River, river in central Chile. It rises in the northwestern foothills of Mount Aconcagua of the Andes Mountains and flows westward from the Argentine border area to enter the Pacific Ocean north of the city of Viña del Mar after a course of 120 miles (190 km). Much of the Chilean trackage
- Aconcio, Giacomo (Italian religious reformer)
Jacobus Acontius was an advocate of religious toleration during the Reformation whose revolt took a more extreme form than that of Lutheranism. Acontius served as secretary to Cristoforo Madruzzo, a liberal cardinal. When the more conservative Paul IV became pope, Acontius repudiated Roman Catholic
- aconitase (enzyme)
metabolism: Formation of coenzyme A, carbon dioxide, and reducing equivalent: …and isocitrate—remain closely associated with aconitase, the enzyme that catalyzes the isomerization process, and that most of the cis-aconitate is not released from the enzyme surface but is immediately converted to isocitrate.
- aconitate (chemical compound)
metabolism: Formation of coenzyme A, carbon dioxide, and reducing equivalent: …from citrate to form cis-aconitate and then the re-addition of water to cis-aconitate in such a way that isocitrate is formed. It is probable that all three reactants—citrate, cis-aconitate, and isocitrate—remain closely associated with aconitase, the enzyme that catalyzes the isomerization process, and that most of the cis-aconitate is…
- aconite (plant)
monkshood, (genus Aconitum), genus of more than 200 species of showy perennial herbs of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). They occur in the north temperate zone, usually in partial shade and in rich soil. Some species are cultivated as ornamental plants, and several are used in traditional
- aconite (common name of several plants)
aconite, any member of two genera of perennial herbs of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae): Aconitum, consisting of summer-flowering poisonous plants (see monkshood), and Eranthis, consisting of spring-flowering ornamentals (see winter
- aconitine (drug)
monkshood: Major species: …species contain the powerful poison aconitine. The common monkshood, or friar’s cap (A. napellus), native to mountain slopes in Europe and east to the Himalayas, has been the most important source of this drug, which in ancient times was administered to criminals and has been used in minute amounts for…
- Aconitum (plant)
monkshood, (genus Aconitum), genus of more than 200 species of showy perennial herbs of the buttercup family (Ranunculaceae). They occur in the north temperate zone, usually in partial shade and in rich soil. Some species are cultivated as ornamental plants, and several are used in traditional
- Aconitum carmichaelii (plant)
monkshood: Major species: …‘Sparks variety’ monkshood (Aconitum henryi), Carmichael’s monkshood (A. carmichaelii), and southern blue monkshood (A. uncinatum). All species contain the powerful poison aconitine. The common monkshood, or friar’s cap (A. napellus), native to mountain slopes in Europe and east to the Himalayas, has been the most important source of this drug,…
- Aconitum henryi (plant)
monkshood: Major species: …are cultivated in gardens, including ‘Sparks variety’ monkshood (Aconitum henryi), Carmichael’s monkshood (A. carmichaelii), and southern blue monkshood (A. uncinatum). All species contain the powerful poison aconitine. The common monkshood, or friar’s cap (A. napellus), native to mountain slopes in Europe and east to the Himalayas, has been the most
- Aconitum napellus (plant)
monkshood: Major species: The common monkshood, or friar’s cap (A. napellus), native to mountain slopes in Europe and east to the Himalayas, has been the most important source of this drug, which in ancient times was administered to criminals and has been used in minute amounts for reducing fever…
- Aconitum uncinatum (plant)
monkshood: Major species: carmichaelii), and southern blue monkshood (A. uncinatum). All species contain the powerful poison aconitine. The common monkshood, or friar’s cap (A. napellus), native to mountain slopes in Europe and east to the Himalayas, has been the most important source of this drug, which in ancient times was…
- Aconquija, Sierra del (mountain range, Argentina)
Tucumán: …province is occupied by the Sierra del Aconquija, which consists of northeast-southwest–trending outlying ridges of the Andes Mountains with elevations of 8,000 to 18,000 feet (2,400 to 5,500 metres). The eastern part of the province, by contrast, is flat, alluvial, and agriculturally fertile. Tucumán owes its prosperity to the Sierra…
- Acontius (Greek legendary figure)
Acontius, in Greek legend, a beautiful youth of the island of Ceos. During the festival of Artemis at Delos, Acontius saw and loved Cydippe, a girl of a rich and noble family. He wrote on an apple the words “I swear to wed Acontius” and threw it at her feet. She picked it up and mechanically read
- Acontius, Jacobus (Italian religious reformer)
Jacobus Acontius was an advocate of religious toleration during the Reformation whose revolt took a more extreme form than that of Lutheranism. Acontius served as secretary to Cristoforo Madruzzo, a liberal cardinal. When the more conservative Paul IV became pope, Acontius repudiated Roman Catholic
- Aconzio, Giacomo (Italian religious reformer)
Jacobus Acontius was an advocate of religious toleration during the Reformation whose revolt took a more extreme form than that of Lutheranism. Acontius served as secretary to Cristoforo Madruzzo, a liberal cardinal. When the more conservative Paul IV became pope, Acontius repudiated Roman Catholic
- Acorales (plant order)
Acorales, the sweet flag order of flowering plants and the most basal lineage among the monocotyledons (monocots), which are characterized by having a single seed leaf. This order contains the single family Acoraceae and one genus (Acorus), which comprises two to four species of plants that
- Açores, Arquipélago dos (archipelago, Portugal)
Azores, archipelago and região autónoma (autonomous region) of Portugal. The chain lies in the North Atlantic Ocean roughly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) west of mainland Portugal. It includes nine major islands. The Azores are divided into three widely separated island groups: the eastern group,
- acorn (nut)
acorn, nut of the oak. Acorns are usually seated in or surrounded by a woody cupule. They mature within one to two seasons, and their appearance varies depending on the species of oak. Acorns provide food for wildlife and are used to fatten swine and
- acorn and nut weevil (insect subfamily)
acorn and nut weevil, (subfamily Curculioninae), any of approximately 45 species of weevils in the family Curculionidae (order Coleoptera) that have extremely long and slender snouts, which in females can be almost twice the length of the body. The mandibles are located at the tip of the snout.
- acorn barnacle (crustacean)
barnacle: Acorn barnacles, also called rock barnacles, are sessile (not stalked); their symmetrical shells tend to be barrellike or broadly conical. This group includes Balanus, responsible for much of the fouling of ships and harbour structures. Wart barnacles, such as Verruca, have asymmetrical shells.
- acorn shell (crustacean)
barnacle: Acorn barnacles, also called rock barnacles, are sessile (not stalked); their symmetrical shells tend to be barrellike or broadly conical. This group includes Balanus, responsible for much of the fouling of ships and harbour structures. Wart barnacles, such as Verruca, have asymmetrical shells.
- acorn weevil (insect)
acorn and nut weevil: acorn and nut weevil, (subfamily Curculioninae), any of approximately 45 species of weevils in the family Curculionidae (order Coleoptera) that have extremely long and slender snouts, which in females can be almost twice the length of the body. The mandibles are located at the tip…
- acorn woodpecker (bird)
woodpecker: The acorn woodpecker (M. formicivorus) is about 20 cm (8 inches) long and is found from the deciduous woodlands of western North America south to Colombia. It depends on acorns for winter food, storing a supply in holes it drills in the bark of trees. The…
- acorn worm (hemichordate)
acorn worm, any of the soft-bodied invertebrates of the class Enteropneusta, phylum Hemichordata. The front end of these animals is shaped like an acorn, hence their common name. The “acorn” consists of a muscular proboscis and a collar that may be used to burrow into soft sand or mud. The animals
- acornworm (hemichordate)
acorn worm, any of the soft-bodied invertebrates of the class Enteropneusta, phylum Hemichordata. The front end of these animals is shaped like an acorn, hence their common name. The “acorn” consists of a muscular proboscis and a collar that may be used to burrow into soft sand or mud. The animals
- Acorus (plant genus)
Acorales: …Acoraceae and one genus (Acorus), which comprises two to four species of plants that resemble the irises.
- Acorus calamus (plant)
Acorales: Acorus calamus (sweet flag) occurs in the wetlands of North America and from India to Indonesia. Other species are distributed in temperate areas in Asia and Europe, where they are often found at pond margins or along fast-moving streams.
- acosmism (philosophy)
acosmism, in philosophy, the view that God is the sole and ultimate reality and that finite objects and events have no independent existence. Acosmism has been equated with pantheism, the belief that everything is God. G.W.F. Hegel coined the word to defend Benedict de Spinoza, who was accused of
- Acosta, Joaquín (Colombian scientist)
Joaquín Acosta was a Colombian scientist, historian, and statesman who sought to preserve knowledge of his country’s early history. Acosta entered a military career in 1819, becoming an officer in the patriot army under Simón Bolívar. He subsequently became a member of virtually all the scientific
- Acosta, José de (Spanish theologian)
José de Acosta was a Jesuit theologian and missionary to the New World known chiefly for his Historia natural y moral de las Indias (1590; Natural and Moral History of the Indies), the earliest survey of the New World and its relation to the Old. His works, missionary and literary, mark the zenith
- Acosta, Uriel (Jewish philosopher)
Uriel Acosta was a freethinking rationalist who became an example among Jews of one martyred by the intolerance of his own religious community. He is sometimes cited as a forerunner of the renowned philosopher Benedict de Spinoza. The son of an aristocratic family of Marranos (Spanish and
- acouchi (rodent)
acouchy, (genus Myoprocta), either of two species of South American rodents that resemble the small tropical-forest-dwelling hoofed animals of Africa and Asia (see royal antelope; chevrotain). Weighing 1 to 1.5 kg (2.2 to 3.3 pounds), acouchys are 30 to 39 cm (12 to 15 inches) long, with a very
- acouchy (rodent)
acouchy, (genus Myoprocta), either of two species of South American rodents that resemble the small tropical-forest-dwelling hoofed animals of Africa and Asia (see royal antelope; chevrotain). Weighing 1 to 1.5 kg (2.2 to 3.3 pounds), acouchys are 30 to 39 cm (12 to 15 inches) long, with a very
- acousmatics (Pythagorean sect)
Pythagoreanism: Two Pythagorean sects: The acousmatics devoted themselves to the observance of rituals and rules and to the interpretation of the sayings of the master; the “mathematics” were concerned with the scientific aspects of Pythagoreanism. Philolaus, who was rather a mathematic, probably published a summary of Pythagorean philosophy and science…
- acoustic absorption (physics)
sound: Sound absorption: In addition to the geometric decrease in intensity caused by the inverse square law, a small part of a sound wave is lost to the air or other medium through various physical processes. One important process is the direct conduction of the vibration…
- acoustic bridge (sound instrument)
human ear: Audiometry: …obtained by means of the acoustic bridge—a device that enables the examiner to listen simultaneously to a sound reflected from the tympanic membrane of the subject and a sound of equal intensity reflected in an artificial cavity, with the volume being adjusted to equal that of the external canal of…
- acoustic communication system (device)
sonar: …category of sonar devices is acoustic communication systems, which require a projector and receiver at both ends of the acoustic path.
- acoustic emission (acoustics)
ultrasonics: Materials testing: …to stress and looking for acoustic emissions as the materials are stressed. Acoustic emission, the general name for this type of nondestructive study, has developed as a distinct field of acoustics.
- acoustic filtration (acoustics)
sound: Acoustic filtration: Filtration of sound plays an important part in the design of air-handling systems. In order to attenuate the level of sound from blower motors and other sources of vibration, regions of larger or smaller cross-sectional area are inserted into air ducts, as illustrated in…
- acoustic gas meter
gas meter: Acoustic gas meters measure the rate of gas flow by comparing the frequency shifts of two initially identical signals (one sent upstream, the other downstream) after they are reflected.
- acoustic guitar (musical instrument)
guitar, plucked stringed musical instrument that probably originated in Spain early in the 16th century, deriving from the guitarra latina, a late-medieval instrument with a waisted body and four strings. The early guitar was narrower and deeper than the modern guitar, with a less pronounced waist.
- acoustic impedance (physics)
acoustic impedance, absorption of sound in a medium, equal to the ratio of the sound pressure at a boundary surface to the sound flux (flow velocity of the particles or volume velocity, times area) through the surface. In analogy to electrical circuit theory, pressure corresponds to voltage, volume
- acoustic intensity (physics)
sound intensity, amount of energy flowing per unit time through a unit area that is perpendicular to the direction in which the sound waves are travelling. Sound intensity may be measured in units of energy or work—e.g., microjoules (10-6 joule) per second per square centimetre—or in units of
- acoustic interferometer (instrument)
acoustic interferometer, device for measuring the velocity and absorption of sound waves in a gas or liquid. A vibrating crystal creates the waves that are radiated continuously into the fluid medium, striking a movable reflector placed accurately parallel to the crystal source. The waves are then
- acoustic maculae (ear anatomy)
senses: Mechanical senses: …of hair cells known as maculae. Within each maculae, the stereocilia are embedded in a gelatinous mass known as the otolithic membrane, which contains small stonelike calcium carbonate particles called otoconia. The otolithic membrane and otoconia bend the hairs in the direction of gravity, providing the animal with a vertical…
- acoustic meatus, external (anatomy)
external auditory canal, passageway that leads from the outside of the head to the tympanic membrane, or eardrum membrane, of each ear. The structure of the external auditory canal is the same in all mammals. In appearance it is a slightly curved tube that extends inward from the floor of the
- acoustic microscope (instrument)
acoustic microscope, instrument that uses sound waves to produce an enlarged image of a small object. In the early 1940s Soviet physicist Sergey Y. Sokolov proposed the use of ultrasound in a microscope and showed that sound waves with a frequency of 3,000 megahertz (MHz) would have a resolution
- acoustic mine (submarine mine)
mine: Submarine mine: Acoustic mines once depended on hydrophones to pick up the sound made by a ship’s propellers when the ship came within range. They had limited lifetimes owing to deterioration of their components, but techniques related to sonar and microelectronics technology have made acoustic mines more…
- acoustic nerve (anatomy)
vestibulocochlear nerve, nerve in the human ear, serving the organs of equilibrium and of hearing. It consists of two anatomically and functionally distinct parts: the cochlear nerve, distributed to the hearing organ, and the vestibular nerve, distributed to the organ of equilibrium. The cochlear
- acoustic neuroma (pathology)
acoustic neuroma, benign tumour occurring anywhere along the vestibulocochlear nerve (also called acoustic nerve), which originates in the ear and serves the organs of equilibrium and hearing. The tumour arises from an overproduction of Schwann cells, the myelin-producing cells that surround the
- acoustic ohm (unit of measurement)
sound: Impedance: …per cubic metre, called an acoustic ohm, by analogy to electrical impedance.
- Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band (work by Alexander)
Kwame Alexander: Acoustic Rooster and His Barnyard Band (2011) introduces jazz to young children through animals. Surf’s Up (2016) follows the adventures of two frogs, one who likes to read and the other who likes to surf. In Animal Ark: Celebrating Our Wild World in Poetry and…
- acoustic scansion (prosody)
scansion: …oscillograph are used by modern acoustic linguists to catch even slightly varying degrees of stress.
- acoustic sensillum (animal anatomy)
nervous system: Arthropods: A five-tissue strand, the acoustic sensillum, runs from the centre of the tympanic membrane across the tympanic cavity to a nearby skeletal support. This sensillum has two acoustic sensory receptors, called A cells. From the central end of each A cell, an axon passes within the sensillum to the…
- acoustic suspension system (sound)
electromechanical transducer: Electromagnetic speakers: …type of enclosure is the acoustic suspension system, in which the loudspeaker is mounted in an airtight box. To prevent resonances in the box of the type described by equation (36) in the article sound, the inside is generally coated with some sound-absorbent material. Because of the airtight seal, the…
- acoustic transducer (instrument)
electromechanical transducer: any type of device that either converts an electrical signal into sound waves (as in a loudspeaker) or converts a sound wave into an electrical signal (as in the microphone). Many of the transducers used in everyday life operate in both directions, such as the…
- acoustic trauma (physiology)
acoustic trauma, physiological changes in the body caused by sound waves. Sound waves cause variations in pressure, the intensity of which depends upon the range of oscillation, the force exerting the sound, and the distribution of waves. Excessive noise exposures can cause hearing loss and produce
- acoustical engineering
theatre: Acoustics: …centred on the problem of acoustics in the ancient theatre. The difficulty in achieving audibility to an audience of thousands, disposed around three-fifths to two-thirds of a full circular orchestra in the open air, seems to have been insoluble so long as the performer remained in the orchestra. A more…
- acoustical horn (acoustics)
electromechanical transducer: Electromagnetic speakers: A horn enclosure uses a flared tube to obtain the best acoustic coupling between the loudspeaker cone and the outside, thereby radiating the best possible coherent wave from the speaker cone. Such a system is extremely efficient and is therefore used in public-address systems, open-air theatres,…
- acoustical shadow (physics)
acoustics: Acoustic problems: Acoustic shadows, regions in which some frequency regions of sound are attenuated, can be caused by diffraction effects as the sound wave passes around large pillars and corners or underneath a low balcony. Large reflectors called clouds, suspended over the performers, can be of such…
- acoustico-lateralis system (anatomy)
mechanoreception: Mechanoreceptor function: …of these organs as the acoustico-lateralis system. The nerves to all the sense organs of the system arise from a common neural centre (called the acoustic tubercle in the wall of the brain’s medulla oblongata). Among amphibians such as frogs, lateral-line organs and their neural connections disappear during the metamorphosis…
- acoustics (physics)
acoustics, the science concerned with the production, control, transmission, reception, and effects of sound. The term is derived from the Greek akoustos, meaning “heard.” Beginning with its origins in the study of mechanical vibrations and the radiation of these vibrations through mechanical
- acoustics, architectural
architectural acoustics, Relationship between sound produced in a space and its listeners, of particular concern in the design of concert halls and auditoriums. Good acoustic design takes into account such issues as reverberation time; sound absorption of the finish materials; echoes; acoustic
- ACP (chemical compound)
metabolism: Fatty acids: …relatively small molecule known as acyl-carrier protein (ACP–SH); in higher organisms ACP–SH is part of a multienzyme complex called fatty acid synthetase. ACP–SH is involved in all of the reactions leading to the synthesis of a fatty acid such as palmitic acid from acetyl coenzyme A and malonyl coenzyme A.…
- ACP-SH (chemical compound)
metabolism: Fatty acids: …relatively small molecule known as acyl-carrier protein (ACP–SH); in higher organisms ACP–SH is part of a multienzyme complex called fatty acid synthetase. ACP–SH is involved in all of the reactions leading to the synthesis of a fatty acid such as palmitic acid from acetyl coenzyme A and malonyl coenzyme A.…
- Acquackanonk (New Jersey, United States)
Passaic, city, Passaic county, northeastern New Jersey, U.S., on the Passaic River, 9 miles (14 km) north of Newark. It was established by the Dutch in 1678 as a fur-trading post. In 1685 Hartman Michielson purchased the site, then called Acquackanonk, from the Delaware Indians. It was renamed for