myxedema V.mik-so-'de-moX Physiological reaction to low levels of thyroid hormone in adults, either due to thyroid-gland removal, lack of function, or atrophy, or secondary to a pituitary-gland disorder. Gradual changes include enlarged tongue, thick, puffy skin, drowsiness, cardiac enlargement, and slow metabolism. Low thyroid hormone affects levels of other hormones, and may result in low blood sodium and disorders of the reproductive system (including reduced fertility), adrenal glands, and circulatory system. Treatment is with thyroid hormone.
Myxomycetes See slime mold
myxovirus X.mik-so-'vI-rosV Any of a group of viruses that are agents of influenza and can cause the common cold, mumps, and measles in humans, canine distemper, rinderpest in cattle, and Newcastle disease in fowl. The virus particle is encased in a fatty membrane, variable in shape from spheroidal to threadlike, and studded with spikelike protein projections; it contains RNA. These viruses react with a protein on the surface of red blood cells; many of them cause red blood cells to clump together.
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NAACP ► Nadir Shah I 1321
NAACP in full National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Oldest and largest U.S. civil rights organization. It was founded in 1909 to secure political, educational, social, and eco¬ nomic equality for African Americans; W.E.B. Du Bois and Ida B. Wells were among its 60 founders. Headquartered in Baltimore, Md., the NAACP has undertaken litigation, political activity, and public education programs. In 1939 it organized the independent Legal Defense and Edu¬ cation Fund as its legal arm, which sued for school desegregation in Brown v. Board of Education (1954). During World War II it pressed for desegregation of the armed forces, which was achieved in 1948. In 1967 its general counsel, Thurgood AAarshall, became the U.S. Supreme Court’s first African American justice.
Naber, John (b. Jan. 20, 1956, Evanston, Ill.,
U.S.) U.S. swimmer. He swam for the University of Southern California, winning 15 championships. At the 1976 Olympics he won four gold medals and a sil¬ ver; his world-record times in the 100-m and 200-m backstroke stood for seven years.
Nabis \'na-bez\ (from Hebrew navi, “prophet” or “seer”) Group of French artists who paved the way for the development of abstract art in the early 20th century.
The Nabis preached that a work of art is the visual expression of an artist’s synthesis of nature and his or her personal aesthetic. They were influenced by Paul Gauguin and the Pont-Aven school, as well as by Japa¬ nese woodcuts. Symbolist painting, and the Pre- Raphaelites. Paul Serusier (1865-1927), the group’s founder, painted the first Nabi work, Landscape at the Bois d’Amour at Pont-Aven (also called Talis¬ man', 1888). Original members included Pierre Bonnard and Edouard Vuil¬ lard; a later member was Aristide Maillol.
Nabisco in full National Biscuit Company Former U.S. snack food and bakery product company. It was formed in 1989 when the Ameri¬ can Biscuit Company merged with the New York Biscuit Company and went on to introduce a number of popular consumer brands such as Oreo cookies (1912) and Ritz crackers (1934). After being acquired by R.J. Reynolds in 1985 and becoming part of RJR Nabisco, Nabisco was sold to Philip Morris Cos. (renamed Altria Group, Inc.), which was the parent company of Kraft Foods, Inc.
Nabokov Vno-'bo-kof, 'na-bo-.koA, Vladimir (Vladimirovich) (b.
April 22, 1899, St. Petersburg,
Russia—d. July 2, 1977, Montreux,
Switz.) Russian-bom U.S novelist and critic. Bom to an aristocratic family, he had an English-speaking governess. He published two collec¬ tions of verse before leaving Russia in 1919 for Cambridge University, but by 1925 he had turned to prose as his main genre. During 1919-40 he lived in England, Germany, and France. His life before he moved to the U.S. in 1940 is recalled in his superb autobiography. Speak,
Memory (1951). Beginning with King, Queen, Knave (1928), his writ¬ ing began to feature intricate stylis¬ tic devices. His novels are principally concerned with the prob¬ lem of art itself, presented in various disguises, as in Invitation to a Beheading (1938). Parody is frequent in The Gift (1937-38) and later works. His novels written in English include the notorious and greatly admired best-seller Lolita (1955), which brought him wealth and interna¬ tional fame; Pale Fire (1962); and Ada (1969). His critical works include a monumental translation of and commentary on Aleksandr Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin, 4 vol. (1964).
Nabu \'na-,bu\ Major god in the Assyrian-Baby Ionian pantheon, the son of Marduk. He was patron of the art of writing and a god of vegetation. As the recorder of the fates assigned to humans by the gods, Nabu’s sym¬ bols were the clay tablet and the stylus. His holy city was Borsippa. God¬
desses associated with Nabu were Nana, a Sumerian deity; the Assyrian Nissaba; and the Akkadian Tashmetum.
Nabuco \na-'bu-ko\ (de Araujo), Joaquim (Aurelio Barretto)
(b.Aug. 19,1849, Recife, Braz.—d. Jan. 17,1910, Washington, D.C., U.S.) Leader of Brazil’s abolitionist movement. Both in the national Chamber of Deputies (from 1878) and in the Brazilian Anti-Slavery Society, which he founded, Nabuco worked tirelessly to end slavery in Brazil. Emancipation was proclaimed in 1888, and in the ensuing economic disruption the emperor Pedro 11 was overthrown (1889) and a republic established. A mon¬ archist, Nabuco retired from public life until 1900, when he accepted the republic and entered its service. As ambassador to the U.S. he distinguished himself as an advocate of Pan-Americanism.
Nadar \na-'dar\ orig. Gaspard-Felix Tour- nachon (b. April 5, 1820, Paris, France—d. March 21, 1910, Paris) French photographer, caricatur¬ ist, and writer. When his father’s bankruptcy forced him to leave medical school in 1838, he settled in Paris and began selling caricatures to humour magazines. By 1853 he had become an expert photographer and had opened a portrait studio. His studies of prominent Pari¬ sians such as Charles Baudelaire (1855) and Eugene Dela¬ croix (1855) were exceptional in their naturalness, in contrast to the stiff formality of most portraits of the time. His studio became a favourite meeting place of the Paris intelligentsia and was the site of the first Impres¬ sionist exhibit. A tireless innovator, in 1855 he patented the idea of using aerial photographs in mapmaking and surveying, and in 1858 he himself made the first suc¬ cessful aerial photograph, from a balloon. He also wrote novels, essays, satires, and autobiographical works.
Nader, Ralph (b. Feb. 27, 1934, Winsted, Conn., U.S.) U.S. lawyer and consumer advocate. The son of Lebanese immigrants, he attended Princeton University and Harvard Law School. In 1963 he left his private law practice in Hartford, Conn., to hitchhike to Washington, D.C., where he began public interest work. His concern about unsafe car designs resulted in the best-selling book Unsafe at Any Speed (1965), which led directly to the passage of national auto-safety standards. Since then he and his associates, known as “Nader’s Raiders,” have performed numer¬ ous studies on consumer health, safety, and financial issues and have lob¬ bied for greater government regulation of business and industry in a variety of areas. He was instrumental in the passage of the Freedom of Information Act (1966) and in establishing the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Consumer Product Safety Commis¬ sion, and the Environmental Protec¬ tion Agency. He also founded the consumer organization Public Citi¬ zen and the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, an umbrella orga¬ nization for other public interest research groups. As the Green Party candidate in the 2000 U.S. presiden¬ tial election, he won 3% of the national vote. His work has had major and lasting effects on many aspects of American life.