1975 résultats pour "thesis"

• French Revolution .

  B2 Assembly of Notables and Estates-General To pressure the parlements into accepting the plan, Calonne decided to gain prior approval of it from an Assembly of Notables—a group of hand-picked dignitaries hethought would sympathize with his views. But Calonne had badly miscalculated. Meeting in January 1787, the assembly refused to believe that a financial crisis reallyexisted. They had been influenced by Necker’s argument that state finances were sound and suspected that the monarchy was only...

• Cancer (medicine).

  unable to repair the DNA damage, p53 instructs the cell to undergo programmed cell death, or apoptosis , putting a stop to runaway cell division before it starts. Programmed cell death is a normal part of cell life and is tightly controlled by many genes, primarily p53. In a cancerous cell, one or more mutations prevent these genes from doing their jobs. When mutated, p53 allows a cell to continue to divide, even with damaged DNA.This can lead to additional mutations in proto-oncogenes or tumor...

• Telecommunications.

  commonly referred to as wireless communications, use technologies such as cordless telephones, cellular radio telephones, pagers, and satellites. Wirelesscommunications offer increased mobility and flexibility. In the future some experts believe that wireless devices will also offer high-speed Internet access. C Wires and Cables Wires and cables were the original medium for telecommunications and are still the primary means for telephone connections. Wireline transmission evolved fromtelegraph...

• Discrimination.

  Throughout United States history many other groups have suffered racial or religious discrimination. Since Europeans first came to America, Native Americans havebeen forcibly deprived of their lands and denied civil rights. Congress enacted the Indian Civil Rights Act in 1968, and the federal courts have entertained a number ofsuits designed to restore to Native American tribes ancestral lands and hunting and fishing rights. Many religious groups, including Roman Catholics, Jews, and others,have...

• Africa.

  The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...

• Africa - Geography.

  The highest elevations in Africa are found in the various ranges of East Africa. After Kilimanjaro, the next highest peaks are Mount Kenya (5,199 m/17,057 ft), north ofKilimanjaro in central Kenya; Margherita Peak (5,109 m/ 16,762 ft) in the Ruwenzori Range on the border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo(DRC); Ras Dashen (4,620 m/ 15,157 ft) in the Ethiopian Highlands of northern Ethiopia; Mount Meru (4,565 m/ 14,977 ft), close to Kilimanjaro in Tanzania; and MountElgon (4,...

• Surgery.

  III SURGICAL PROCEDURES Surgical procedures are classified as optional, required, elective, urgent, and emergent based on the patient’s medical condition. Optional surgery consists of operationsthat are not required but which the patient chooses to undergo as with some types of cosmetic surgery. Required surgery is performed when only surgery will correct aproblem—such as cataracts—but the surgery can be delayed for a period of weeks or months. Elective surgical procedures usually involve cond...

• Television.

  A charge-coupled device (CCD) can be much smaller than a camera tube and is much more durable. As a result, cameras with CCDs are more compact and portablethan those using a camera tube. The image they create is less vulnerable to distortion and is therefore clearer. In a CCD, the light from a scene strikes an array ofphotodiodes arranged on a silicon chip. Photodiodes are devices that conduct electricity when they are struck by light; they send this electricity to tiny capacitors. Thecapacitors...

• Conservation.

  cancers, Hodgkin’s disease and leukemia. Unfortunately, human activities have greatly reduced biodiversity around the world. The 20th century encompasses one of the greatest waves of extinction, orelimination of species, to occur on the planet. The greatest threat to biodiversity is loss of habitat as humans develop land for agriculture, grazing livestock, industry,and habitation. The most drastic damage has occurred in the tropical rain forests, which cover less than seven percent of the Earth’...

• Gambling.

  C Lotteries Lotteries are another form of gambling. In a lottery, tickets are sold for a set amount and a share of the proceeds is returned to the winners, usually through a randomdraw. Most games allow players to pick their own numbers or let a computer randomly pick for them. Lotteries offer a wide variety of games, including weekly drawings,instant “scratch” tickets, daily games, and superlottos with prizes increasing until there is a winner. Large lottery prizes sometimes exceed $100 millio...

• Sun - astronomy.

  A The Sun’s Place in the Milky Way The Milky Way Galaxy contains about 400 billion stars. All of these stars, and the gas and dust between them, are rotating about a galactic center. Stars that arefarther away from the center move at slower speeds and take longer to go around it. The Sun is located in the outer part of the galaxy, at a distance of 2.6 × 10 17 km (1.6 × 10 17 mi) from the center. The Sun, which is moving around the center at a velocity of 220 km/s (140 mi/s), takes 250 million y...

• Judaism.

  is learned or memorized”), the earliest document of rabbinic literature, edited in Palestine at the turn of the 3rd century. Subsequent rabbinic study of the Mishnah inPalestine and Babylonia generated two Talmuds (“that which is studied”; also called Gemera, an Aramaic term with the same meaning; see Talmud), wide-ranging commentaries on the Mishnah. The Babylonian Talmud, edited about the 6th century, became the foundation document of rabbinic Judaism. Early rabbinic writings also include exe...

• Planetary Science - astronomy.

  III ORIGINS AND COMPOSITIONS OF PLANETS Astronomers believe that planetary systems are formed of elemental materials that were created in the interiors of giant stars. Some of this material comes from giantstars that shed material into space as they age. Most of the matter to form planets, however, comes from stars that explode as supernovas and spread debris enrichedwith the heavier chemical elements into space. According to the currently accepted views, the most likely first stage in the evo...

• Native American Architecture I INTRODUCTION Native American Architecture, traditional architecture of the peoples of who lived in North America before Europeans arrived.

  Mound Builders who resided in the area.John Elk III/Bruce Coleman, Inc. Another mound building culture, named Hopewell, also appears to have originated in Ohio but expanded west to Iowa, Kansas, and Oklahoma, south to Louisiana,Mississippi, and Alabama, east to Georgia and the Appalachian Mountains, and north to Wisconsin, Michigan, and lower Ontario in Canada. The Hopewell culture lastedfrom about 200 BC to 400 AD. Hopewell people built large, linear mounds to create enclosures in geometrical...

• Soccer.

  Two assistants, known as linesmen or referees’ assistants, aid the referee. Their primary job is to alert the referee when balls go out of the playing area and to assist inmaking offsides calls (see Rules section below). The assistants carry flags, which they wave when the ball leaves the playing area or use to point to the spot where a foul was committed. V EQUIPMENT Soccer is played with a round leather ball. It is between 68 and 71 cm (27 and 28 in) in circumference and weighs between 396...

• Chemical Reaction - chemistry.

  Many groups of elements occur so often as ions that they are given names: nitrate, NO 3-; sulfate, SO 42-; and phosphate, PO 43-. The suffix -ate usually indicates the presence of oxygen. The positive ion, NH 4+, is called ammonium, as in NH 4Cl, ammonium chloride, or (NH 4)3PO4, ammonium phosphate. Rules for naming more complicated compounds exist, but many compounds have been given trivial names—for example, Na 2B4O7·10 H 2O, borax—or proprietary names—F(CF 2)nF, Teflon. These nonsystemat...

• Technology.

  loose soil in this region, known as the Fertile Crescent, was easily scratched for planting, and an abundance of trees was available for firewood. By 5000 BC, farming communities were established in areas known today as Syria, Turkey, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, Greece, and the islands of Crete and Cyprus. Agricultural societies in these places constructed stone buildings, used the sickle to harvest grain, developed a primitive plowstick, and advanced their skills inmetalworking. Trade in flint al...

• Asia - Geography.

  Borneo, the world’s third largest island after Greenland and New Guinea. To the southeast is the Timor Sea separating the Asian island of Timor from the Australiancontinent. The Indian subcontinent is flanked by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. The island of Sri Lanka and the much smaller Maldives andNicobar Islands trail away to the south. The Arabian Sea’s Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea form an arc along the western rim of Asia...

• Asia - History.

  Borneo, the world’s third largest island after Greenland and New Guinea. To the southeast is the Timor Sea separating the Asian island of Timor from the Australiancontinent. The Indian subcontinent is flanked by the Bay of Bengal on the east and the Arabian Sea on the west. The island of Sri Lanka and the much smaller Maldives andNicobar Islands trail away to the south. The Arabian Sea’s Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea form an arc along the western rim of Asia...

• Virus (life science) - biology.

  RNA into DNA earned them their name because this process is the reverse of the usual transfer of genetic information, from DNA to RNA.) The DNA form of theretrovirus genome is then integrated into the cellular DNA and is referred to as the provirus. The viral genome is replicated every time the host cell replicates its DNA and is thus passed on to daughter cells. Hepatitis B virus can also transcribe RNA to DNA, but this virus packages the DNA version of its genome into virus particles. Unlike...

• Terrorism.

  exploitation, ethnic discrimination, and religious persecution. Perceived inequities in the distribution of wealth and political power have led some terrorists to attempt tooverthrow democratically elected governments. To achieve a fairer society, they would replace these governments with socialist or communist regimes. Left-wingterrorist groups of the 1960s and 1970s with such aims included Germany’s Baader-Meinhof Gang, Italy’s Red Brigades, and the Weather Underground ( see Weathermen) in the...

• Jazz I INTRODUCTION Joshua Redman Saxophonist Joshua Redman, a graduate of Harvard University, became a fast-rising star in jazz in the 1990s.

  performed a highly produced, jazz-inspired form of blues that was popular in traveling minstrel shows and vaudeville. Thisexample is from the song “St. Louis Blues,” written by American composer and trumpet player W. C. Handy in 1914 andrecorded by Smith in 1925."St. Louis Blues" performed by Bessie Smith, from The Riverside History of Classic Jazz (Cat.# Riverside RB-005) Riverside Records under master license to Fantasy, Inc. All rightsreserved./Frank DriggsCollection/Archive Photos Jazz is ro...

• Indian Treaties in Canada - Canadian History.

  Pontiac led an attack on British forts in the Great Lakes area to end British domination and to reinforce Indian autonomy. In response, British king George III issued theRoyal Proclamation of 1763 to try to appease the Indians of the interior. The proclamation set aside land for the Indians west of the Appalachian Mountains anddescribed this land as “lands reserved to [Indians] … as their Hunting Grounds.” The proclamation not only recognized Indian land ownership, but also required thattreaties...

• Nicaraguan Revolution.

  Directorate. Within a year Robelo and Violeta Chamorro left the junta, and the Council of State was reorganized to guarantee an overwhelming Sandinista majority.Elections were postponed, restrictions were placed on the media, and relations with the Roman Catholic Church became increasingly tense. Two non-Sandinistasreplaced Robelo and Chamorro on the junta, but they had little power, and the government’s relations with opposition political parties and the private business sectordeteriorated. A D...

• James Madison.

  In the spring of 1784 Madison again ran for election to the Virginia assembly, and won. He served nearly three years there, pursuing the same objectives he had foughtfor in Congress. He advocated strengthening the federal government, which was an unpopular position in Virginia, as it was in most of the states. He consistentlysupported measures, at both state and national levels, that would best safeguard the rights of the individual. Madison also continued to oppose any connection betweenchurch...

• James Madison

  In the spring of 1784 Madison again ran for election to the Virginia assembly, and won. He served nearly three years there, pursuing the same objectives he had foughtfor in Congress. He advocated strengthening the federal government, which was an unpopular position in Virginia, as it was in most of the states. He consistentlysupported measures, at both state and national levels, that would best safeguard the rights of the individual. Madison also continued to oppose any connection betweenchurch...

• James Madison - USA History.

  In the spring of 1784 Madison again ran for election to the Virginia assembly, and won. He served nearly three years there, pursuing the same objectives he had foughtfor in Congress. He advocated strengthening the federal government, which was an unpopular position in Virginia, as it was in most of the states. He consistentlysupported measures, at both state and national levels, that would best safeguard the rights of the individual. Madison also continued to oppose any connection betweenchurch...

• Nevada - geography.

  The Truckee, Carson, and Walker rivers flow out of the Sierra Nevada, thread their way around several of the desert ranges, and also end in closed basins. The Walkerflows into Walker Lake, the Carson into Lahontan Reservoir. The major part of the Truckee’s flow is now diverted to Lahontan Reservoir, although as required by lawsome of it empties into Pyramid Lake. Because these three streams flow constantly, the lakes into which they empty never dry up. Winnemucca Lake formerly receivedoverflow w...

• Nevada - USA History.

  The Truckee, Carson, and Walker rivers flow out of the Sierra Nevada, thread their way around several of the desert ranges, and also end in closed basins. The Walkerflows into Walker Lake, the Carson into Lahontan Reservoir. The major part of the Truckee’s flow is now diverted to Lahontan Reservoir, although as required by lawsome of it empties into Pyramid Lake. Because these three streams flow constantly, the lakes into which they empty never dry up. Winnemucca Lake formerly receivedoverflow w...

• The Souls of Black Folk by W.

  in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his two-ness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in onedark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder. The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife—this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. Inthis merging he wishes neither of the older selves to be lost. He would not Africanize America, f...

• William Shakespeare I INTRODUCTION William Shakespeare (1564-1616), English playwright and poet, recognized in much of the world as the greatest of all dramatists.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• William Shakespeare.

  Shakespeare’s reputation today is, however, based primarily on the 38 plays that he wrote, modified, or collaborated on. Records of Shakespeare’s plays begin toappear in 1594, when the theaters reopened with the passing of the plague that had closed them for 21 months. In December of 1594 his play The Comedy of Errors was performed in London during the Christmas revels at Gray’s Inn, one of the London law schools. In March of the following year he received payment for two playsthat had been per...

• Ronald Reagan.

  deposed shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment, a group of Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehrān and held 53 Americansas hostages. United States media publicized the plight of the hostages and Carter’s failure to win their release. They were eventually released in January 1981, on theday of Reagan’s inauguration. The contrast between the television personalities of the two candidates was also very important. Carter’s stiff, nervous manner had never bee...

• Ronald Reagan - USA History.

  deposed shah of Iran to enter the United States for medical treatment, a group of Iranian revolutionaries stormed the U.S. Embassy in Tehrān and held 53 Americansas hostages. United States media publicized the plight of the hostages and Carter’s failure to win their release. They were eventually released in January 1981, on theday of Reagan’s inauguration. The contrast between the television personalities of the two candidates was also very important. Carter’s stiff, nervous manner had never bee...

• South Africa - country.

  The major soil zones are conditioned largely by climatic factors. In the semiarid north and west, soils are alkaline and poorly developed. In the southern part of WesternCape Province, rain falls mostly in the winter months, and soils there form slowly and are generally thin and immature. The moderate temperatures and summer rainfallof the High Veld and eastern coastal areas create conditions for more productive organic decomposition, leading to dark, fertile soils, or chernozems, similar to tho...

• Protests in the 1960s - U.

  E Youth Culture Young people played an important role in the movements for social change during the 1960s. Numbers alone made them important; more than 76 million babies wereborn during the post-World War II “baby boom.” In addition, these young people spent more years in school and were more affluent than previous generations. In theearly 20th century, most young Americans had moved quickly from childhood to adulthood. In the 1920s only 1 in 5 Americans graduated from high school, and almostal...

• Criminal Law.

  for rehabilitative treatment for the offender. On the other hand, the goals of punishment may at times conflict. The retributive and deterrence theories call for theinfliction of unpleasant experiences upon the criminal, including harsh prison treatment; but the prison environment may not be conducive to, or may even defeat,rehabilitation. No one theory of punishment addresses all the goals of criminal law. A combination of theories and goals plays a part in the thinking of the legislators who e...

• Confucianism.

  IV NEO-CONFUCIANISM After centuries of intellectual and cultural dominance by Buddhism, China began to experience a revival of Confucian thought during the Tang dynasty ( AD 618-907). It was led by poet and essayist Han Yu (Han Yü). Han Yu attacked Buddhism and Daoism, which he believed had kept government officials from seeing how they couldhelp the people. To further public welfare, he urged them to study the way of the ancient sages through the Five Classics . Han Yu almost lost his life f...

• Supreme Court of the United States.

  The Constitution does not specify formal qualifications for membership on the Supreme Court. From the beginning, though, justices have all been lawyers, and mostpursued legal and political careers before serving on the Court. Many justices served as members of Congress, governors, or members of the Cabinet. One president,William Howard Taft, was later appointed chief justice. Some justices came to the Court from private law practice, and others were appointed from positions as lawprofessors. Man...

• Mexico City - geography.

  The park houses some of Mexico's most important public buildings, including Chapultepec Castle. Construction of the castle began in 1783. Positioned on the park’shighest elevation, the castle functioned as a fortress during colonial times. It once served as the presidential residence and now houses the National Museum of History,which includes murals by 20th-century Mexican painter Juan O'Gorman. Los Pinos, the official residence and working offices of the president, is also on the grounds, buti...

• Comedy I INTRODUCTION Laurel and Hardy Stan Laurel, in overalls, and Oliver Hardy, left, formed one of the most popular comedy teams in motion-picture history.

  The elements and techniques of comedy are diverse and differ from culture to culture. More than tragedy or serious drama, comic entertainment is controlled by socialconventions that define the boundaries of acceptable humor and topics that are taboo or off-limits for humor. What is considered funny in one place and time may beforbidden culturally or viewed as infantile or in poor taste in another. Virtually every component of human behavior is subject to comic treatment. This includes bodilyfunc...

• Animal Behavior - biology.

  The first motor program analyzed in much detail was the egg-rolling response of geese. When a goose sees an egg outside its nest, it stares at the egg, stretches itsneck until its bill is just on the other side of the egg, and then gently rolls the egg back into the nest. At first glance this seems a thoughtful and intelligent piece ofbehavior, but it is a mechanical motor program; almost any smooth, rounded object (the sign stimulus) will release the response. Furthermore, removal of the egg on...

• House (architecture) I INTRODUCTION Trulli in Alberobello, Italy Alberobello, in the Apulia region of southeastern Italy, is noted for its unusual limestone houses known as trulli (from Greek trullos, dome).

  Fresco in the Villa of the Mysteries, PompeiiThe Villa of the Mysteries, Pompeii, Italy (built about 50 bc), featured a large hall with this mural encircling it. The mural ispainted in the Second Style of Roman painting. (Historians of art recognize four periods or styles in Roman wall painting.)The mural in the Villa of the Mysteries is thought to depict the initiation rituals of a mystery religion. For this reason, it hasbeen conjectured that the hall was used for cult rituals.Bridgeman Art Li...

• Western Philosophy.

  the popular belief in personal deities, but he failed to explain the way in which the familiar objects of experience could develop out of elements that are totally differentfrom them. Anaxagoras therefore suggested that all things are composed of very small particles, or “seeds,” which exist in infinite variety. To explain the way in whichthese particles combine to form the objects that constitute the familiar world, Anaxagoras developed a theory of cosmic evolution. He maintained that the activ...

• Airplane.

  For example, the Anglo-French Concorde, a commercial supersonic aircraft, was generally limited to over-water routes, or to those over sparsely populated regions ofthe world. This limitation impacted the commercial viability of the Concorde, which ended its regular passenger service in October 2003. Designers today believe theycan help lessen the impact of sonic booms created by supersonic airliners but probably cannot eliminate them. One of the most difficult practical barriers to supersonic fl...

• World War I .

  and troops to Europe from the United States and other overseas sources. In 1914 Britain implemented a sea blockade of Germany to prevent the delivery of importssuch as food and war materials. The same year, Germany began using submarines to disrupt Allied seaborne traffic and prevent supplies from reaching Britain. In 1915Germany instituted a submarine blockade around Britain. From February 1915 to September 1915 and again in 1917, Germany used unrestricted submarine warfare,sinking ships withou...

• Census.

  Prior to any census, a census agency must develop an accurate list of addresses and maps to ensure that everyone is counted. The U.S. Census Bureau obtainsaddresses primarily from the United States Postal Service and from previous census address lists. It also works closely with state, local, and tribal governments tocompile accurate lists. Finally, census agencies often conduct an extensive marketing campaign before Census Day to remind the general population about theimportance of responding t...

• Koala - biology.

  V REPRODUCTION Female koalas become sexually mature around 18 to 24 months of age. They can produce one offspring a year until they reach about 13 years of age. Males begin toproduce sperm around age 2 and, in the absence of older, stronger males, they may breed at that young age. More often, however, a male must grow big enough tocompete with other males for females, and mating generally begins for males at about 4 years of age. The breeding season for koalas is from October to May, during the...

• Crusades.

  modern Lebanon; the Principality of Antioch, in modern Syria; and the County of Edessa, in modern northern Syria and southern Turkey. IV CRUSADES OF THE 12TH CENTURY The Crusades of the 12th century, through the end of the Third Crusade in 1192, illustrate the tensions and problems that plagued the enterprise as a whole. For thelords of Outremer a compromise with the residents and Muslim powers made sense; they could not live in constant warfare. And yet as European transplants theydepended on...

• Crusades .

  modern Lebanon; the Principality of Antioch, in modern Syria; and the County of Edessa, in modern northern Syria and southern Turkey. IV CRUSADES OF THE 12TH CENTURY The Crusades of the 12th century, through the end of the Third Crusade in 1192, illustrate the tensions and problems that plagued the enterprise as a whole. For thelords of Outremer a compromise with the residents and Muslim powers made sense; they could not live in constant warfare. And yet as European transplants theydepended on...