1212 résultats pour "such"
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Rap
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INTRODUCTION
Jay-Z
Rapper Jay-Z rose to popularity with such albums as Vol.
Run-DMCTypically in rap music, vocalists recite rhyming lyrics in time to a beat that may be sampled from prerecorded music byother groups. Black youths developed rap music on the streets of inner cities in the United States during the 1970s, butthe style has expanded to include a wider variety of performers and audiences. The rap group Run-DMC, shown here, wasa powerful early influence in the genre. The group helped bring rap music into the mainstream when it released “WalkThis Way” (1986), a s...
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Statistics
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INTRODUCTION
Statistics, branch of mathematics that deals with the collection, organization, and analysis of numerical data and with such problems as experiment design and decision
making.
Professional pollsters typically conduct their surveys among sample populations of 1,000 people. Statistical measurementsshow that reductions in the margin of error flatten out considerably after the sample size reaches 1,000.© Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved. The raw materials of statistics are sets of numbers obtained from enumerations or measurements. In collecting statistical data, adequate precautions must be taken tosecure complete and accurate information. The first problem of...
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Mythology
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INTRODUCTION
Mythology, the body of myths of a particular culture, and the study and interpretation of such myths.
usually define a myth as a story that has compelling drama and deals with basic elements and assumptions of a culture. Myths explain, for example, how the worldbegan; how humans and animals came into being; how certain customs, gestures, or forms of human activity originated; and how the divine and human worlds interact.Many myths take place at a time before the world as human beings know it came into being. Because myth-making often involves gods, other supernatural beings, andprocesses beyond...
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Statistics
I
INTRODUCTION
Statistics, branch of mathematics that deals with the collection, organization, and analysis of numerical data and with such problems as experiment design and decision
making.
frequency, column (d), is the ratio of the frequency of an interval to the total count; the relative frequency is multiplied by 100 to obtain the percent relative frequency.The cumulative frequency, column (e), represents the number of students receiving grades equal to or less than the range in each succeeding interval; thus, thenumber of students with grades of 30 or less is obtained by adding the frequencies in column (c) for the first three intervals, which total 53. The cumulative relativef...
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Compositionality
sentence construction, an operation on meanings, such that the meaning of any sentence is mechanically determined by applying the operations on meanings (given by the rules used in constructing the sentence) to the meanings of the simple parts. (Often a host of extra restrictions are incorporated. For example: the operations may be limited to applying function to argument; the order in which operations are applied may be settled by the structure of the sentence.) Some see such principles as prov...
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Diseases of Animals.
infected animal. It may also spread in milk or in garbage that contains contaminated meat. Typical symptoms include blisters that appear on the mouth and feet;animals may become lame when their hooves degenerate. Canine distemper is a highly contagious disease caused by the paramyxovirus, which is transmitted in discharges from the nose and eyes. Symptoms begin with fever,malaise, and nasal and ocular discharges and may progress to convulsions and other nervous system disorders. Parvoviruses aff...
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Articles of Confederation - U.
trade, or any other pretence whatever. VIII ARTICLE IV The better to secure and perpetuate mutual friendship and intercourse among the people of the different states in this union, the free inhabitants of each of thesestates, paupers, vagabonds and fugitives from Justice excepted, shall be entitled to all privileges and immunities of free citizens in the several states; and the people ofeach state shall have free ingress and regress to and from any other state, and shall enjoy therein all the...
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Marketing.
Where advertising reaches a mass audience, personal or direct selling focuses on one customer at a time. That kind of individual attention makes direct sellingexpensive, but it also makes it effective. As the costs of personal selling have risen, the utilization of salespeople has changed. Simple transactions are completed byclerks. Salespeople are now used primarily where the products are complex and require detailed explanation, customized application, or careful negotiation over priceand paym...
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Culture.
form of knowledge, such as scientific discoveries; objects, such as works of art; and traditions, such as the observance of holidays. C1 Ethnocentrism and Cultural Relativism Self-identity usually depends on culture to such a great extent that immersion in a very different culture—with which a person does not share common ways of life orbeliefs—can cause a feeling of confusion and disorientation. Anthropologists refer to this phenomenon as culture shock. In multicultural societies —societies s...
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Pollution.
One of the greatest challenges caused by air pollution is global warming, an increase in Earth’s temperature due to the buildup of certain atmospheric gases such ascarbon dioxide. With the heavy use of fossil fuels in the 20th century, atmospheric concentrations of carbon dioxide have risen dramatically. Carbon dioxide and othergases, known as greenhouse gases, reduce the escape of heat from the planet without blocking radiation coming from the Sun. Because of this greenhouse effect,average glob...
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Programming Language.
Logic languages use logic as their mathematical base. A logic program consists of sets of facts and if-then rules, which specify how one set of facts may be deducedfrom others, for example: If the statement X is true, then the statement Y is false. In the execution of such a program, an input statement can be logically deduced from other statements in the program. Many artificial intelligence programs are writtenin such languages. IV LANGUAGE STRUCTURE AND COMPONENTS Programming languages use...
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Fungus - biology.
Many fungi can reproduce by the fragmentation of their hyphae. Each fragment develops into a new individual. Yeast, a small, single-celled fungus, reproduces bybudding, in which a bump forms on the yeast cell, eventually partitioning from the cell and growing into a new yeast cell. V CLASSIFICATION OF FUNGI Scientists have long disagreed about how to classify fungi, and the classification systems are still developing. The first description of fungi was published in 1729 byItalian botanist Pier...
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Law.
I
INTRODUCTION
Law, body of official rules and regulations, generally found in
their rules are reviewable by the courts. U.S. constitutional law is the most extensive and pervasive of any country in the world. It is embodied in the Constitution and in the opinions of the U.S. Supreme Courtrendered over time. Through its power of judicial review, the Supreme Court may invalidate any legislation or other governmental actions that it finds to be in violationof the Constitution. Constitutional courts in some civil-law countries have similar powers. In the United Kingdom no equ...
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Endangered Species - biology.
Red List database assesses the status of, and threats to, animal species worldwide. To add to this and other biodiversity databases, nongovernmental organizationssuch as Conservation International and World Wildlife Fund conduct periodic rapid assessments (focused, intensive evaluations) of biodiversity in varioushotspots— regions like Madagascar that are both rich in endemic species and environmentally threatened. This information is used in the administration of international agreements such...
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Collectibles and Collecting.
common blond and thus commands a higher price. If there are different variations to a collectible, the least common one is usually worth more. Often there areinteresting stories behind rarities, such as the highly sought-after 1909 Honus Wagner baseball card. At that time tobacco companies manufactured and distributedbaseball cards, and when the antitobacco Wagner complained, his card was pulled from production. Very few copies in good condition have ever been found. C Age Age is often an indic...
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Ecology.
an input of nutrients exceeding the capability of the ecosystem to process them. Nutrients eroded and leached from agricultural lands, along with sewage and industrialwastes accumulated from urban areas, all drain into streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These pollutants destroy plants and animals that cannot tolerate theirpresence or the changed environmental conditions caused by them; at the same time they favor a few organisms more tolerant to changed conditions. Thus,precipitation filled...
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Ecology - biology.
an input of nutrients exceeding the capability of the ecosystem to process them. Nutrients eroded and leached from agricultural lands, along with sewage and industrialwastes accumulated from urban areas, all drain into streams, rivers, lakes, and estuaries. These pollutants destroy plants and animals that cannot tolerate theirpresence or the changed environmental conditions caused by them; at the same time they favor a few organisms more tolerant to changed conditions. Thus,precipitation filled...
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Snake (reptile).
in their heads that conduct sound. They are able to hear low-frequency sounds and to sense vibrations that travel through the ground or water. The majority of snakeshave good eyesight, especially for detecting moving objects, although most burrowing snakes can only distinguish between light and dark. Pit vipers, boas, and pythons have an unusual adaptation for detecting warm-blooded prey and predators. On the heads of these snakes are small pits lined with cellsthat are extremely sensitive to he...
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Folktales
I
INTRODUCTION
"Little Red Riding Hood"
The popular children's story "Little Red Riding
seemed important to them. Thus, the Grimms postulated a common Indo-European origin for folktales, and the German philologist Theodor Benfey as well as theScottish writer William Clouston believed that stories diffused by way of travelers migrating east and west from India. Such theories, however, have proven incompleteand inadequate. Nevertheless, the research of these and other scholars greatly stimulated interest in folklore and folktales. The German scholar Max Muller held thatmyths originat...
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Computer Science.
theoretical research is called algorithmic complexity. Computer scientists in this field seek to develop techniques for determining the inherent efficiency of algorithmswith respect to one another. Another area of theoretical research called computability theory seeks to identify the inherent limits of computation. Software engineers use programming languages to communicate algorithms to a computer. Natural languages such as English are ambiguous—meaning that theirgrammatical structure and vocab...
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Mammal - biology.
On land, mammals live in many different habitats, and at a wide range of altitudes. Many mammals dig burrows as refuges or as places to raise their young, but somehave developed a largely subterranean lifestyle, feeding on small animals or plant roots beneath the soil's surface. These animals, including moles and mole-rats, digthrough the ground either with spadelike front paws or with their teeth, and they detect danger by being highly sensitive to vibrations transmitted through the soil.Most m...
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Schizophrenia.
alcohol than other people. The use of alcohol and drugs often worsens the symptoms of schizophrenia, resulting in relapses and hospitalizations. IV CAUSES Schizophrenia appears to result not from a single cause, but from a variety of factors. Most scientists believe that schizophrenia is a biological disease caused by geneticfactors, an imbalance of chemicals in the brain, structural brain abnormalities, or abnormalities in the prenatal environment. In addition, stressful life events maycontri...
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Classification - biology.
species based on the fewest number of shared changes that have occurred from generation to generation. IV HISTORY OF CLASSIFICATION SYSTEMS Classification is one of the oldest sciences, but despite its age it is still a vigorous field full of new discoveries and methods. Much like other fields of science, greatthinkers have shaped the course of classification. One of the earliest classification schemes was established by Greek philosopher Aristotle, who lived in the 300s BC. Aristotle believe...
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Religion.
By the end of the 19th century, scholars were making religion an object of systematic inquiry. Müller’s comparative approach was adopted in many European andJapanese universities, and as a result the common features of world religions (such as gods, prayer, priesthood, and creation myths) were the subjects of sustainedscholarly investigation. In addition, field anthropologists had begun to compile firsthand accounts of the religions of peoples who previously had been dismissed assavages. The stu...
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Hydrogen - chemistry.
Hydrogen gas does not usually react with other chemicals at room temperature. That is, it does not split into two hydrogen atoms to combine with other chemicals. Thebond between the hydrogen atoms is very strong and can only be broken with a large amount of energy. However, when heated with a flame or a spark, hydrogen gaswill react violently with oxygen in the air to produce water in the following reaction: 2H2 + O 2 → 2H 2O This chemical equation shows that two hydrogen molecules (H 2) and o...
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Accounting and Bookkeeping.
The proliferation of mandated notes that accompany financial statements is a particularly visible example. Such notes disclose information that is not already included inthe body of the financial statement. One of the very first notes identifies the accounting methods adopted when acceptable alternative methods also exist, or when theunique nature of the company's business justifies an otherwise unconventional approach. The notes also disclose information about lease commitments, contingent liab...
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Internet.
usually pays a fixed monthly fee for a dedicated connection. In exchange, the company providing the connection agrees to relay data between the user’s computer andthe Internet. Dial-up is the least expensive access technology, but it is also the least convenient. To use dial-up access, a subscriber must have a telephone modem, a device thatconnects a computer to the telephone system and is capable of converting data into sounds and sounds back into data. The user’s ISP provides software that con...
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Electronic Games.
arcade game of all time. With Pizza Time Theaters legitimizing the idea of arcades and hits such as Ms. Pac-Man , Asteroids , Donkey Kong , Tempest , Frogger , and Defender bringing new excitement to gaming, the coin-operated video game business boomed. In 1981 Americans spent 75,000 person-years and $5 billion playing video games at anestimated 4,300 arcades in the United States. Many popular arcade games also were translated for use on the Atari 2600 and its chief rivals in the homemarket—M...
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Stone Age.
limestone, quartzite, and indurated shale. Ground stone tools could be made on a wider range of raw material types, including coarser grained rock such as granite. Flaking produces several different types of stone artifacts, which archaeologists look for at prehistoric sites. The parent pieces of rock from which chips have beendetached are called cores, and the chips that have been removed from cores are called flakes. A flake that has had yet smaller flakes removed from one or more edgesin orde...
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Autism.
may also repeat body movements, such as spinning, rocking, or flapping hands. When upset or excited, they may also harm themselves by skin-biting or head-banging. They may also show significant aggression toward other people or inanimateobjects, or may have episodes of extreme anger or frustration. D Associated Symptoms Some children with autism show other symptoms that do not contribute to the diagnosis of autism itself. Sensory sensitivity is quite common, especially to some textures, sounds,...
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Astrobiology - astronomy.
water to help reactions along. American chemists Stanley Miller and Harold Urey tested part of Oparin and Haldane’s hypothesis in the early 1950s by simulating conditions of the early Earth. In whathas become known as the Miller-Urey experiment, the two scientists connected two flasks with a loop of glass tubing that allowed the gases to pass between the flasks.They filled the upper flask with methane, ammonia, and hydrogen—components thought to have been in the early atmosphere. They filled the...
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Animal - biology.
Vertebrates are customarily divided into cold-blooded and warm-blooded animals, but these labels are not very precise. Biologists normally use the terms ectoderm and endoderm to describe temperature regulation more accurately. An ectoderm is an animal whose temperature is dictated by its surroundings, while an endoderm is one that keeps its body at a constant warm temperature by generating internal heat. Reptiles, amphibians, and fish are ectoderms. Although they do not maintain a constant wa...
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Primate - biology.
The primate order includes a handful of species that live entirely on meat (carnivores) and also a few that are strict vegetarians (herbivores), but it is composed chieflyof animals that have varied diets (omnivores). The carnivorous primates are the four species of tarsiers, which live in Southeast Asia. Using their long back legs, thesepocket-sized nocturnal hunters leap on their prey, pinning it down with their hands and then killing it with their needle-sharp teeth. Tarsiers primarily eat in...
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Shark - biology.
Sharks have two-chambered hearts that are relatively small compared to the rest of their bodies. Blood flows from the heart to the gills, where it collects oxygen fromwater and then distributes it to the other organs and tissues. The small heart produces weak blood pressure, and many sharks must swim continuously to create themuscular contractions needed to circulate blood throughout their bodies. Most sharks are cold-blooded—that is, they do not generate heat by digesting food. Instead, the bod...
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Birding - biology.
swallows, and rock doves nest on buildings in cities, towns, and farms. The chimney swift has abandoned hollow trees for chimneys as a nest site in urban areas.Mallards and Canada geese—once exclusively wild, migratory species—now live year-round in the open spaces found in city parks and golf courses. Nearly all purplemartins, a songbird species that once used the abandoned nests of woodpeckers or the natural cavities of cliffs or dead trees, now live primarily in structures specificallyconstru...
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Molecule - chemistry.
attracted to the negatively charged electrons between them. The electrons belong to the molecule as a whole. However, each hydrogen atom now has a complete outershell of two electrons. The formula H 2 describes a hydrogen molecule, a discrete unit. When a molecule contains just two atoms, such as the hydrogen molecule does, it is called a diatomic molecule. Some atoms can form covalent bonds with more than one other atom and thus create a larger molecule. Atoms form molecules with covalent bo...
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Volcano.
before eruption. Very violent explosive eruptions are called Plinian eruptions, after Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder. These eruptions can last for several hours to daysand eject a large amount of pyroclastic material. Some volcanoes can produce much more energetic eruptions that eject materials farther from the vents because oftheir andesitic and dacitic composition. Andesitic and dacitic lava is generally thicker than basaltic lava. Stiff lava generally produces more-explosive eruptions. B No...
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Water - chemistry.
flourides in drinking water has been found to reduce tooth decay. See Fluorine. Seawater contains, in addition to concentrated amounts of sodium chloride, or salt, many other soluble compounds, as the impure waters of rivers and streams areconstantly feeding the oceans. At the same time, pure water is continually lost by the process of evaporation, and as a result the proportion of the impurities that givethe oceans their saline character is increased. See Ocean and Oceanography. VII WATER...
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Native American Religions.
In the worldview of most of the indigenous peoples of North America, there were also spiritual beings to be avoided. Native Americans of the Southwest in particular,such as the Navajo and Apache, dreaded contact with ghosts, who were believed to resent the living. These peoples disposed of the bodies of deceased relativesimmediately and attempted to distance themselves from the spirits of the dead, avoiding their burial sites, never mentioning their names, and even abandoning thedwellings in whi...
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Child Abuse.
C Social Isolation and Low Community Involvement Parents and caretakers who abuse children tend to be socially isolated. Few violent parents belong to any community organizations, and most have little contact withfriends or relatives. This lack of social involvement deprives abusive parents of support systems that would help them deal better with social or family stress. Moreover,the lack of community contacts makes these parents less likely to change their behavior to conform with community va...
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Stress (psychology).
blood flow is diverted from the internal organs and skin to the brain and muscles. Breathing speeds up, the pupils dilate, and perspiration increases. This reaction issometimes called the fight-or-flight response because it energizes the body to either confront or flee from a threat. Another part of the stress response involves the hypothalamus and the pituitary gland, parts of the brain that are important in regulating hormones and many otherbodily functions. In times of stress, the hypothal...
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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...
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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...
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Immune System.
The humoral immune response involves a complex series of events after antigens enter the body. First, macrophages take up some of the antigen and attach it to classII MHC molecules, which then present the antigen to T helper cells. The T helper cells bind the presented antigen, which stimulates the T helper cells to divide andsecrete stimulatory molecules called interleukins. The interleukins in turn activate any B lymphocytes that have also bound the antigen. The activated B cells then divide...
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Horse - biology.
Horses reach sexual maturity at about one and a half years. The estrous cycle in the mare—a mature female horse—typically lasts 21 days. During the first five days ofthe cycle, the mare is usually receptive to mating. The estrous cycle stops during winter and resumes in the spring, which is the start of the breeding season. Astallion—a mature male horse—approaching a mare in estrus engages in various courtship rituals. These include uttering nickering sounds and sniffing and licking themare’s ge...
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Colleges and Universities.
and (3) large universities that include undergraduate programs in addition to graduate and professional schools. D Graduate and Professional Schools Professional schools are typically divisions of large universities. They offer specialized education in a variety of professional fields, such as education, business, medicine,law, social work, agriculture, journalism, architecture, fine arts, nursing, engineering, and music. Some professional schools offer four- or five-year programs leading toa b...
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Human Disease.
disease can be transmitted through food infected with mutated proteins. B Spread of Infectious Disease Some pathogens are spread from one person to another by direct contact. They leave the first person through body openings, mucous membranes, and skin wounds,and they enter the second person through similar channels. For example, the viruses that cause respiratory diseases such as influenza and the common cold are spreadin moisture droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes. A hand that...
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Map - geography.
Relief MapRelief maps are three-dimensional models of the terrain in an area; on them, color and scale are used to indicate geographicalfeatures rather than simply to delineate political boundaries. Because of this feature, relief maps are extensively used in engineeringand the military. This map shows portions of Alaska and northwestern Canada.United States Geological Survey Among the most important of the special-purpose maps are hydrographic and aviation charts. Hydrographic charts are used f...
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Biodiversity.
a common molecule, ribonucleic acid (RNA), and most also have deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). These molecules direct the production of proteins—molecules responsiblefor the structure and function of virtually all living cells. This is the evolutionary chain of life. All species are descended from a single common ancestor. From that ancient single-celled microbe, all inherited RNA. As time goesby, species diverge and develop their own peculiar attributes, thus making their own contribution to biodiv...
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Biodiversity - biology.
a common molecule, ribonucleic acid (RNA), and most also have deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). These molecules direct the production of proteins—molecules responsiblefor the structure and function of virtually all living cells. This is the evolutionary chain of life. All species are descended from a single common ancestor. From that ancient single-celled microbe, all inherited RNA. As time goesby, species diverge and develop their own peculiar attributes, thus making their own contribution to biodiv...