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alkali metal ... allemande

alkali metal any of the six chemical elements that make up Group 1 (Ia) of the periodic table-namely, lithium (Li), sodium (Na), potassium (K), rubidium (Rb), cesium (Cs), and francium (Fr). The alkali metals are so called because reaction with water forms alkalies (i.e., strong bases capable of neutralizing acids). Sodium and ... alkaline phosphatase enzyme that is normally present in high concentrations in growing bone and in bile. It is essential for the deposition of minerals in the bones and teeth. Alkaline phosphatase deficiency is a hereditary trait called hypophosphatasia, which results in bone deformities. In severe cases, the deficiency leads to early death ... alkaline rock any of various rocks in which the chemical content of the alkalies (potassium oxide and sodium oxide) is great enough for alkaline minerals to form. Such minerals may be unusually sodium rich, with a relatively high ratio of alkalies to silica (SiO2), as in the feldspathoids. Other alkaline minerals have ... alkaline-earth metal any of the six chemical elements that comprise Group 2 (IIa) of the periodic table. The elements are beryllium (Be), magnesium (Mg), calcium (Ca), strontium (Sr), barium (Ba), and radium (Ra). alkaloid any of a class of naturally occurring organic nitrogen-containing bases. Alkaloids have diverse and important physiological effects on humans and other animals. Well-known alkaloids include morphine, strychnine, quinine, ephedrine, and nicotine. alkalosis abnormally low level of acidity, or high level of alkalinity, in the body fluids, including the blood. Alkalosis may be either metabolic or respiratory in origin. Metabolic alkalosis results from either acid loss (which may be caused by severe vomiting or by the use of potent diuretics [substances that promote ... Alkan, Valentin French pianist-composer, a notable keyboard virtuoso, and one of the most enigmatic figures in 19th-century music. alkanet any plant of the 50 or so mostly Mediterranean species of the genus Anchusa and the closely related Pentaglottis sempervirens, bearing blue, purple, or white forget-me-not-like flower clusters on hairy, herbaceous stems. They belong to the family Boraginaceae. True alkanet (A. officinalis) bears purple flowers in coiled sprays, on narrow-leaved ... alkaptonuria rare (one in 250,000 to 1,000,000 births) inherited disorder of protein metabolism, the primary distinguishing symptom of which is urine that turns black following exposure to air. It is characterized biochemically by an inability of the body to metabolize the amino acids tyrosine and phenylalanine. In the normal metabolic pathway ... Alkazi, Ebrahim doyen of contemporary theatre in India and one of the country's leading postindependence theatre directors. Alkmaar gemeente (municipality), northwestern Netherlands. It lies along the North Holland Canal, 6 miles (10 km) east of the North Sea. alkyd resin a complex oil-modified polyester that serves as the film-forming agent in some paints and clear coatings. Developed in the 1920s, alkyd-based enamel paints were once one of the most important types of surface coating. Owing to their incorporation of volatile organic solvents and to their low durability on exterior surfaces, ... alkylation in petroleum refining, chemical process in which light, gaseous hydrocarbons are combined to produce high-octane components of gasoline. The light hydrocarbons consist of olefins such as propylene and butylene and isoparaffins such as isobutane. These compounds are fed into a reactor, where, under the influence of a sulfuric-acid or hydrofluoric-acid ... all fours ancestor of a family of card games dating back to 17th-century England and first mentioned in The Complete Gamester of Charles Cotton in 1674. The face card formerly known as the knave owes its modern name of jack to this game. Originally, all fours was regarded as a lower-class game-it ... All in the Family American television situation comedy that aired on the Columbia Broadcasting System (now CBS Corporation) for eight seasons (1971-79). The show continued from 1979 to 1983 under the title Archie Bunker's Place. All My Sons drama in three acts by Arthur Miller, performed and published in 1947. All My Sons was considered Miller's first significant play. With an underlying theme of guilt and responsibility, the drama centres on Joe Keller, a manufacturer of war materials, whose substandard and defective airplane parts cause the death of ... All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. the largest domestic air carrier in Japan, and one of the largest in the world. The company was founded in 1952 and is headquartered in Tokyo. Under the Japanese government's strict regulation of civil aviation, All Nippon Airways was basically restricted to carrying passengers and freight on Japan's major domestic ... All Quiet on the Western Front novel by German-American writer Erich Maria Remarque, published in 1929 as Im Westen nichts Neues. An antiwar novel set during World War I, it was written after the war and reflects the disillusionment of the period. The book is an account of a young man's experiences in battle and of ... All Saints' Day in the Christian church, a day commemorating all the saints of the church, both known and unknown, celebrated on November 1 in the Western churches and on the first Sunday after Pentecost in the Eastern churches. Its origin cannot be traced with certainty, and it has been observed on various ... All Souls' Day in the Roman Catholic church, a day for commemoration of all the faithful departed, those baptized Christians who are believed to be in purgatory because they have died with the guilt of lesser sins on their souls. It is celebrated on November 2. Roman Catholic doctrine holds that the prayers ... All the King's Men novel by Robert Penn Warren, published in 1946. The story concerns the rise and fall of Willie Stark, a character modeled on Huey Long, the governor of Louisiana during the time frame of the novel (late 1920s to early '30s). The book won the Pulitzer Prize in 1947. All's Well That Ends Well comedy in five acts by William Shakespeare, written in 1601-05 and published in the First Folio of 1623 seemingly from a theatrical playbook that still retained certain authorial features or from a literary transcript either of the playbook or of an authorial manuscript. The principal source of the plot was ... All-America team honorific title given to outstanding U.S. athletes in a specific sport in a given year competing at the collegiate and secondary school levels. Originally the term referred to a select group of college gridiron football players. Athletes selected to an All-America team are known as All-Americans. All-American Girls Professional Baseball League American sports organization that, between 1943 and its dissolution in 1954, grew from a stopgap wartime entertainment to a professional showcase for women baseball players. All-India Trade Union Congress India's second largest trade union federation after the Indian National Trade Union Congress. The AITUC was formed by the Indian National Congress (the central organ of the independence movement) in 1920 to represent India at the International Labour Organisation of the League of Nations. During the 1920s British communists, in ... all-or-none law a physiological principle that relates response to stimulus in excitable tissues. It was first established for the contraction of heart muscle by the American physiologist Henry P. Bowditch in 1871. Describing the relation of response to stimulus, he stated, "An induction shock produces a contraction or fails to do so ... All-Star Game in American professional baseball, a game between teams of outstanding players chosen from National and American league teams who oppose each other as league against league. Arch Ward, a Chicago Tribune sports editor, is credited with promoting the first All-Star Game, which was held in Chicago in 1933 in conjunction ... Alla Rakha Indian tabla player, widely acknowledged in his day as one of the finest in India. As a regular accompanist of Indian sitar virtuoso Ravi Shankar in the 1960s and '70s, he was largely responsible for developing interest in the tabla among non-Indian audiences. He traced his lineage to the Punjab ... Allah the one and only God in Islam. Etymologically, the name Allah is probably a contraction of the Arabic al-Ilah, "the God." The name's origin can be traced back to the earliest Semitic writings in which the word for "god" was il or el, the latter being used in the Hebrew ... Allahabad city, southern Uttar Pradesh state, northern India. It is situated at the confluence of the Ganges (Ganga) and Yamuna (Jumna) rivers. Allahabad stands on the site of ancient Prayag, a holy city that was comparable in fame to Varanasi (Benares) and Haridwar. Prayag's importance in the ancient Buddhist period of ... Allais, Maurice French economist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Economics in 1988 for his development of principles to guide efficient pricing and resource allocation in large monopolistic enterprises. Allan, Maud Canadian-born interpretative dancer and teacher, one of the forerunners of modern dance. Allan, Sir Hugh Canadian financier and shipbuilder whose contribution of at least $300,000 to the Conservative Party campaign in 1872 precipitated the Pacific Scandal that brought down Sir John Macdonald's government. allantois an extra-embryonic membrane of reptiles, birds, and mammals arising as a pouch, or sac, from the hindgut. In reptiles and birds it expands greatly between two other membranes, the amnion and chorion, to serve as a temporary respiratory organ while its cavity stores fetal excretions. In mammals other than marsupials ... Allawi, Ayad Iraqi politician who was involved in the Iraqi National Accord, a party opposed to Saddam Hussein, and who later served as prime minister (2004-05) of the interim government in Iraq. In 2010 his coalition was victorious in Iraq's parliamentary election. Allbutt, Sir Thomas Clifford English physician, the inventor of the short clinical thermometer. His investigations also led to the improved treatment of arterial diseases. allee feature of the French formal garden that was both a promenade and an extension of the view. It either ended in a terminal feature, such as a garden temple, or extended into apparent infinity at the horizon. Allee, Warder Clyde zoologist and ecologist noted for his research on social behaviour, aggregations, and distribution of animals in both aquatic and terrestrial environments. Allegany county, western Maryland, U.S. It consists of an irregular neck of land between Pennsylvania to the north and West Virginia to the south (the North Branch Potomac River constituting the border with West Virginia). The county rests on part of the Allegheny Plateau and includes Rocky Gap State Park, Green ... Allegany county, southwestern New York state, U.S., bordered to the south by Pennsylvania and comprising a region of moderate relief. The principal waterways are the Genesee River and Rushford and Cuba lakes. Public lands include the Oil Spring Indian Reservation and state wildlife management areas at Hanging Bog, Rattlesnake Hill, and ... Alleghenian orogeny mountain-building event, occurring almost entirely within the Permian Period (299 million to 251 million years ago), that created the Appalachian Mountains. Allegheny county, southwestern Pennsylvania, U.S., consisting of a hilly region on the Allegheny Plateau bounded to the southeast by the Monongahela and Youghiogheny rivers and to the northeast by the Allegheny River. The Ohio, Allegheny, and Monongahela rivers converge in the centre of the county to form an area known as ... Allegheny College private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Meadville, Pennsylvania, U.S. The college offers bachelor's degrees in the liberal arts and sciences. It also sponsors study-abroad programs in various countries. The college, though affiliated with the United Methodist Church, is nonsectarian. Total enrollment is approximately 1,900. Allegheny Mountains mountainous eastern part of the Allegheny Plateau in the Appalachian Mountains, U.S. The Allegheny range extends south-southwestward for more than 500 miles (800 km) from north-central Pennsylvania to southwestern Virginia. Rising to Mount Davis (3,213 feet [979 m]; highest point in Pennsylvania) and Spruce Knob (4,863 feet [1,482 m]; highest ... Allegheny Plateau western section of the Appalachian Mountains, U.S., extending southwestward from the Mohawk River valley in central New York to the Cumberland Plateau in southern West Virginia. Generally sloping toward the northwest, the plateau has been dissected by streams to form the Catskill, Allegheny, and other mountain ranges. The Allegheny, Delaware, ... Allegheny River river rising in the hilly plateau region of Potter county, Pennsylvania, U.S., and flowing generally northward for about 80 miles (130 km). The river enters New York state where the Allegheny Reservoir is impounded at Allegany State Park. Turning southwest, it continues for 120 miles (190 km), meandering to the ... allegory a symbolic fictional narrative that conveys a meaning not explicitly set forth in the narrative. Allegory, which encompasses such forms as fable, parable, and apologue, may have meaning on two or more levels that the reader can understand only through an interpretive process. (See also fable, parable, and allegory.) Allegret, Marc French motion-picture director known for his exacting film technique. Allegret, Yves French motion-picture director who gained fame for his work in the "film noir" genre that was popular in the late 1940s. allele any one of two or more genes that may occur alternatively at a given site (locus) on a chromosome. Alleles may occur in pairs, or there may be multiple alleles affecting the expression (phenotype) of a particular trait. If the paired alleles are the same, the organism is said to ... allemande processional couple dance with stately, flowing steps, fashionable in 16th-century aristocratic circles; also an 18th-century figure dance. The earlier dance apparently originated in Germany but became fashionable both at the French court (whence its name, which in French means "German") and in England, where it was called almain, or almand. ...