Semiconductor Device

A p-n junction diode is a solid-state device that has two terminals. Depending on impurity distribution, device geometry, and biasing condition, a junction diode can perform various functions. There are more than 50,000 types of diodes with voltage ratings from less than 1 volt to more than 2,000 volts and current ratings from less than 1 milliampere to more than 5,000 amperes. A p-n junction

Bone

The functions of bone include (1) structural support for the mechanical action of soft tissues, such as contraction of

Amsdorf, Nikolaus Von

Educated at Leipzig and then at Wittenberg, where he became a theology professor in 1511, Amsdorf attended the Leipzig Debate with Luther in 1519 and the Diet of Worms two years later, where he participated in the plan to protect Luther from his detractors by pretending to kidnap

Paul V

One of his first acts was to excommunicate the recalcitrant

Los Alamos

The first white settlers arrived in the 1880s, and the county, named for its seat, was established out of parts of Santa Fe and Sandoval counties in 1949; in 1969 the Los Alamos county and city governments were integrated into one government.

Alphabet, Arabic alphabet

The Arabic script descended from the Aramaic through the Nabataean and the neo-Sinaitic alphabets. After the Latin script, it is the most widely used form of alphabetic writing in the modern world. The Arab conquests of the 7th and 8th centuries AD brought the language and the script to the vast expanse of territory extending from India to the Atlantic Ocean. The Arabic

Augustus, Caesar

The inscriptions of the Augustan Age are used to explicate the history of the period in P.A. Brunt and J.M. Moore (eds.), Res Gestae Divi Augusti: The Achievements of the Divine Augustus (1967, reprinted 1988); and Victor Ehrenberg and A.H.M. Jones (compilers), Documents Illustrating the Reigns of Augustus

National Botanic Gardens Of South Africa

Also called �Kirstenbosch Botanic Gardens � one of the world's largest botanical gardens, occupying a 1,305-acre (528-hectare) site in Kirstenbosch, near Cape Town, Western Cape province, South Africa. The 6,200-species collection consists almost exclusively of Cape plants native to the fynbos (scrubland) and forests of southern Africa. The botanical garden was established in 1913. It includes such beautiful flowering plants as

New Hampshire

Constituent state of the United States of America. One of the 13 original U.S. states, it is located in New England at the extreme northeastern corner of the nation. With an area of 9,279 square miles (24,032 square km), it is bounded on the north by the Canadian province of Quebec, on the east by Maine and a 16-mile (25-km) stretch of the Atlantic Ocean, on the south by Massachusetts, and on the west by

Steffen, Albert

Steffen's early works were compassionate messages of alarm at the disastrous effects of modern technological civilization and secularized thought in human relations. Moved by these problems, he joined the

Aalen

City, Baden-W�rttemberg Land (state), southern Germany, on the Kocher River, at the northern foot of the Schw�bische Alb (Swabian Alps), 30 miles (48 km) north of Ulm. It originated around a large Roman fort, much of which remains; nearby are the remains of the Roman limes (frontier wall). It became a free imperial city in 1360 and was severely damaged by fire in 1634. It passed to W�rttemberg in

Adelaide

Capital of the state of South Australia. Situated at the base of the Mount Lofty Ranges, 9 miles (14 km) inland from the centre of the eastern shore of the Gulf St. Vincent, it has a Mediterranean climate with hot summers (February mean temperature 74� F [23� C]), mild winters (July mean 54� F [12� C]), and an average annual rainfall of 21 inches (530 mm). The site, chosen in 1836 by William Light (the colony's first surveyor

Aiken

City, seat of Aiken county, western South Carolina, U.S. Aiken lies 16 miles (26 km) northeast of Augusta, Georgia. It was chartered in 1835 and named for the railroad entrepreneur William Aiken. The city was originally a health resort. During the American Civil War the Confederate forces of General Joseph Wheeler defeated General Hugh J. Kilpatrick's Union troops in the town's main

Heredity, DNA repair

A variety of agents in the cell's environment, both chemical and physical, can damage DNA. Organisms have developed a variety of mechanisms for repairing copying errors produced by damaged DNA, usually by enzymatically excising them. The enzyme DNA polymerase then catalyzes the replacement of the excised segment with the correct nucleotides, using the undamaged

Scale

The specific selection of different tones in any piece of music generally reveals a pattern of relationships among its pitches that can be expressed as a series of fixed distances (intervals) from one pitch to another within the span of an octave. The interval relationships

Bald Cypress

A young bald cypress is symmetrical and pyramidal;

Canastra Mountains

Portuguese �Serra Da Canastra, � mountain range on the Planalto Central (Brazilian Highlands) in western Minas Gerais estado (�state�), southeastern Brazil. Extending 150 miles (240 km) from the Go�as state border in the north to the upper Grande River in the south, the Canastra Mountains rise to an average elevation of 6,000 feet (1,800 m) and form the eastern border of the Tri�ngulo Mineiro, a grassland region between the

Rambutan

Also spelled �Rambotan, Ramboetan, Ramboutan, or Rambustan� (Nephelium lappaceum), tree of the soapberry family (Sapindaceae). It is native to Malaysia, where it is commonly cultivated for its tasty fruit, also called rambutan. The bright-red, oval fruit, about the size of a small hen's egg, is covered with long, soft spines and has a tasty acid pulp. The tree grows to about 10.5 - 12 metres (35 - 40 feet).

Wage-price Control:

Setting of government guidelines for limiting increases in wages and prices. It is a principal tool in incomes policy (q.v.).

Arabia, History Of, Kindah

Kindah was a Bedouin tribal kingdom quite unlike the organized states of Yemen; its kings exercised an influence over a number of associated tribes more by personal prestige than by coercive settled authority. Its area of influence was south central Arabia, from the Yemeni border nearly up to Mecca. The discovery of the tomb of a king of Kindah (datable to perhaps

Mitchell, Maria

Mitchell was educated in schools on her native Nantucket, Massachusetts, including the one conducted by her father. Her interest in astronomy was stimulated by her father, who let her assist in his work of rating chronometers for the Nantucket whaling fleet and who encouraged

Rounding

Unrounding is the opposite of rounding; in unrounded vowels the lips are slack or may be drawn back, as in pronouncing

Lapse, Doctrine Of

In Indian history, formula devised by Lord Dalhousie, governor-general of India (1848 - 56), to deal with questions of succession to Hindu Indian states. It was a corollary to the doctrine of paramountcy, by which Great Britain, as the ruling power of the Indian subcontinent, claimed the superintendence of the subordinate Indian states and so also the regulation of their

Interior Design, Commercial interiors

Contemporary designers are much involved with commercial spaces - such as stores, hotels, motels, and restaurants. Many designers and design firms specialize in highly specific spaces such as restaurants, and others may become specialists in the design of showrooms for the garment industry. Frequently, the design of a restaurant, shop, or hotel must be keyed to a theme.

Wad

Also called �Bog Manganese, � black and earthy substance that consists mainly of hydrated manganese oxides; it is an important ore of manganese. It varies considerably in chemical composition and contains different impurities, often in large amounts. Wad is very soft, readily soils the fingers, and may be considered to be a mixture chiefly of pyrolusite and psilomelane. It results from the decomposition

Mellophone

The mellophone, a circular tenor horn (althorn), is usually built right handed and looks like a French horn. It bears

Yamantaka

In northern Buddhism, one of the eight fierce protective deities. See dharmapala.

Haliburton, Thomas Chandler

Haliburton was admitted to the bar in 1820 and, as a member of the Nova Scotia Legislative Assembly (1826 - 29), led

Dabola

Town, central Guinea, western Africa, situated at the eastern edge of the Fouta Djallon plateau near the Bouka branch of the Tinkisso River. Dabola lies on the Conakry - Kankan railway near the intersection of roads from Mamou, Kouroussa, and Faranah. Dabola is a chief trading centre for rice, peanuts (groundnuts), millet, and cattle and also has a peanut-oil-processing plant.