Moi Vm6i\, Daniel (Toroitich) arap (b. 1924, Sacho, Kenya Colony) Five-term president of Kenya (1978-2002). Trained as a teacher, Moi served in the cabinet and as vice president (1967-78) under Pres. Jomo Kenyatta before succeeding him as president. Head of the dominant Kenya African National Union (KANU) party, he governed autocratically, finally permitting multiparty elections in 1991, when international pressure forced his hand. His subsequent electoral victories (1992, 1997) led to civil unrest and charges of stealing the elections. During his time in office some sectors of the economy grew, but critics have attributed this to the strong political patronage system. Under Kenya’s constitution, Moi was
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© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
1276 I Moiseyev ► Moldova
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Mohs Hardness Scale
Mineral
Mohs
no.
Other
materials
Description
Talc
1
very easily scratched by the fingernail; has a greasy feel
Gypsum
2
~2.2 fingernail
can be scratched by the fingernail
Calcite
3
~3.2 copper penny
very easily scratched with a knife and just scratched with a copper coin
Fluorite
4
very easily scratched with a knife but not as easily as calcite
Apatite
5
~5.1 pocketknife ~5.5 glass plate
scratched with a knife with difficulty
Orthoclase
6
~6.5 steel needle
cannot be scratched with a knife, but scratches glass with difficulty
Quartz
7
~7.0 streak plate
scratches glass easily
Topaz
8
scratches glass very easily
Corundum
9
cuts glass
Diamond
10
used as a glass cutter
not allowed to stand in the 2002 presidential election and was succeeded by the winner, opposition candidate Mwai Kibaki.
Moiseyev \m6i-'sa-ef\, Igor (Aleksandrovich) (b. Jan. 21, 1906, Kiev, Ukraine, Russian Empire) Russian dancer, choreographer, and founder-director of the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble, popularly called the Moiseyev Ensemble. He joined the Bolshoi Ballet in 1924. In 1936 he became head choreographer at Moscow’s Theatre of Folk Art, and he later founded the State Academic Folk Dance Ensemble, in which ballet professionals performed dances from all U.S.S.R. republics. His choreography combined authentic folk-dance steps with theatrical effects, and he created more than 170 dances for the ensemble. The ensemble served as a model for other countries in subsequently forming their own folk-dance ensembles.
Mojave \mo-'ha-ve\ or Mohave North American Indian farmers liv¬ ing mostly in Arizona, U.S. The Mojave language is a member of the Yuman language family. The traditional territory of the people was the Mojave Desert along the lower Colorado River. This valley was a patch of green surrounded by barren desert. In addition to farming, the Mojave fished, hunted, and gathered wild plants. The essential social unit was the patrilineal family. There were no settled villages; wherever there was suitable floodland for farming, the Mojave built scattered houses. They believed in a supreme creator and attached great significance to dreams, considered the source of all special powers. About 1,500 Mojave live on or near the Colorado River reservation in Arizona.
Mojave \mo-'ha-ve\ Desert or Mohave Desert Arid region, south¬ eastern California, U.S. Occupying more than 25,000 sq mi (65,000 sq km), it extends from the Sierra Nevada to the Colorado Plateau and merges with the Great Basin Desert to the north and the Sonoran Desert to the south and southeast. Together with the Sonoran, Great Basin, and Chi- huahuan deserts it forms the North American Desert. The Mojave Desert receives an average annual rainfall of 5 in. (13 cm). It is the location of Joshua Tree National Park.
moksha or moksa Vmok-shoX In Hinduism and Jainism, the ultimate spiritual goal, the soul’s release from the bonds of transmigration. The soul, once entered upon a bodily existence, remains trapped in a chain of successive rebirths until it has attains the perfection or enlightenment that allows it release. The methods by which release is sought and attained differ from one philosophical school to the next, but most schools con¬ sider moksha to be the highest purpose of life.
mol See mole
Molcho Vm6l-ko\, Solomon orig. Diogo Pires (b. c. 1500, Portugal—d. 1532, Mantua) Portuguese Jewish martyr. Born into a Mar- rano family, he became royal secretary in a Portuguese high court of jus¬ tice. When an Arabian adventurer, David Reubeni (d. c. 1532), arrived in Portugal, mystic visions convinced Pires that Reubeni was a herald of the messiah. After circumcising himself and changing his name, he preached the coming of the messiah in Turkey, Palestine, and Rome. In 1532 he and Reubeni were imprisoned by Charles V and turned over to the Inqui¬ sition. Molcho refused to recant his faith and was burned at the stake.
mold In biology, a conspicuous mass of mycelium and fruiting structures produced by various fungi (division Mycota; see fungus). Molds of the genera Aspergillus, Penicillium, and Rhizopus are associated with food spoilage and plant diseases, but some have beneficial uses, as in the manu¬ facture of ANTIBIOTICS (e.g., PENICILLIN) and certain cheeses. Neurospora, or orange bread mold, has been invalu¬ able in the study of biochemical genetics. Water molds live in fresh or brackish water or wet soils, absorb¬ ing dead or decaying organic matter.
See also slime mold.
. i . „ . Mold on surface of jelly
mold In manufacturing, a cavity or INGMAR ho1MA sen
surface in which a fluid or plastic -
substance is shaped into a desired
finished product. A molten substance, such as metal or plastic, is poured or forced into a mold and allowed to harden. Molds are made of various materials, depending on the application; sand is frequently used for metal casting, hardened steel for molds for plastic materials, and plaster for various purposes. See also ingot, patternmaking, tool and die making.
Mold Town (pop., 1995 est.: 9,000), historic and present county of Flint¬ shire, northeastern Wales. Situated between the industrial centres of Dee- side and Wrexham, it grew up around a motte-and-bailey castle built by the Normans in the 12th century. In the area native Briton Christians had defeated the pagan Picts and Scots in a battle waged in ad 430. Long a market hub, it is the administrative centre and historic county seat of Flintshire.
Moldavia \mal-'da-ve-9\ Former principality, southeast-central Europe. Located on the lower Danube River, it was founded in the 14th century by the Vlachs and achieved independence in 1349. In the mid-16th century it was part of the Ottoman Empire. In 1774 it came under Russian control; it soon lost its northwestern territory, Bukovina, to Austria and its east¬ ern portion and Bessarabia to Russia. In 1859 Moldavia and Walachia formed the state of Romania. In 1918 the territories earlier ceded by Mol¬ davia joined Romania. In 1924 the Soviet Union created a Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic on territory east of the Dniester River, within the Ukrainian S.S.R. See also Moldova.
molding In architecture and the decorative arts, a defining, transitional, or terminal element that serves to contour or outline edges and surfaces. The surface of a molding may be plain or modeled with recesses and reliefs, which either maintain a constant profile along its length or are set in rhythmically repeated patterns. Types of flat or angular moldings are the fascia, chamfer (or bevel), and fillet (narrow band). Single curved moldings include the cavetto (concave, with a quarter-circle profile), scotia (deep concave), flute (grooved), ovolo (convex, with a quarter- circle profile), torus (semicircular convex), roll (rounded convex), and astragal (narrow semicircular convex). Among the most common com¬ pound moldings are the projecting, double-curved cyma recta or ogee, often used as a crown molding, and the cyma reversa, used for crown or base. The profiles of moldings are traditionally enhanced by flower or leaf forms, geometric motifs, or spirals. See illustration opposite.