pepper, black See back pepper
Pepper, Claude (Denson) (b.
Sept. 8, 1900, Dudleyville, Ala.,
U.S.—d. May 30, 1989, Washington,
D.C.) U.S. politician. He practiced law in Florida before being elected to the U.S. Senate (1937-51), where he supported legislation that created Social Security, a minimum wage, and medical assistance for the elderly. Elected to the U.S. House of Repre¬ sentatives (1963-89), he chaired the committee on aging and sponsored legislation abolishing mandatory retirement in federal agencies and rais¬ ing the retirement age to 70 in the private sector (1968). In 1989 he was awarded the Medal of Freedom.
peppermint Strongly aromatic perennial herb (. Mentha piperita, mint family), source of a widely used flavouring. Native to Europe and Asia, it has been naturalized in North America. The stalked, smooth, dark green leaves and blunt, oblong clusters of pinkish lavender flowers are dried for use as a flavouring agent. Oil of peppermint is widely used to flavour confectionery, chewing gum, toothpastes, and medicines. The oil also contains menthol, long used medicinally as a soothing balm.
PepsiCo, Inc. U.S. conglomerate. The soft drink Pepsi-Cola was cre¬ ated by a pharmacist, Caleb D. Bradham, who gave his tonic its name (from Greek pepsis, “digestion”) in 1898 and incorporated the Pepsi-Cola Co. in 1902. After two bankruptcies and several reincorporations, the Pepsi-Cola trademark and assets were bought in 1931 by Charles G. Guth, who improved the formula and marketed a 12-ounce bottle for five cents with huge success. Pepsi-Cola merged with the soda-fountain chain Loft, Inc., in 1941, and in 1965 it merged with Frito-Lay, Inc., adopting its cur¬ rent name, PepsiCo, Inc. In the 1970s and ’80s PepsiCo bought restau¬ rant chains such as Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, and Kentucky Fried Chicken, but in 1997 it spun off its restaurant business into a separate company, Tricon Global Restaurants. In 2001 the Quaker Oats Co. merged with PepsiCo.
pepsin Powerful enzyme in gastric juice (see stomach) that partially digests proteins in food. Glands in the stomach lining make pepsinogen, a zymogen (enzyme precursor) converted to pepsin by the hydrochloric acid in gastric juice. Pepsin is active only in the acid environment of the stom¬ ach (pH 1.5-2.5 or less); it is ineffective in the intestine (pH 7, neutral). It is used commercially in some cheese making, in the leather industry to remove hair and residual tissue from hides, and in the recovery of silver from discarded photographic films by digesting the gelatin layer that holds the silver.
peptic ulcer Sore that develops in the mucous membrane of the stom¬ ach (more frequent in women) or duodenum (accounting for 80% of ulcers and more frequent in men) when its ability to resist acid in gastric juice is reduced. It causes burning ache and hungerlike pain. Ulcers can bleed, perforate the abdominal wall, or block the gastrointestinal tract. Stress and
Red peppers (Capsicum annuum ) from which paprika is made G.R. ROBERTS
© 2006 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc.
peptide ► Percy I 1471
diet were blamed until Helicobacter pylori bacteria and long-term use of aspirin and similar drugs were shown to be the two major causes. The former is treated with combination drug therapy and the latter by stop¬ ping the causative drugs if possible or with drugs that reduce acid pro¬ duction. A rare cause is Zollinger-Ellison syndrome, in which a tumour causes increased acid secretion. Cigarette smoking slows healing and pro¬ motes recurrence.
peptide Organic compound composed of a series of amino acids linked by peptide bonds (see covalent bond) between a carbon atom of one and a nitrogen atom of the next. Peptide chains longer than a few dozen amino acids are called proteins. Biosynthesis of peptides from a succession of amino acids carried by transfer RNA molecules takes place on ribosomes and is catalyzed and controlled by enzymes. Many hormones, antibiotics, and other compounds that participate in life processes are peptides.
Pepys \'peps\, Samuel (b. Feb. 23, 1633, London, Eng.—d. May 26, 1703, London) English diarist and public official. Born into a humble family, Pepys was appointed about 1659 as a clerk in the office of the Exchequer, where on Jan. 1, 1660, he began the diary for which he is chiefly known. He steadily improved his position, in time becoming sec¬ retary of the Admiralty, a member of Parliament, president of the Royal Society, trusted confidant of Charles II and James II, and friend of the great scholars of his age. His diary (pub¬ lished 1825), which he kept through 1669, presents a fascinating picture of the official and upper-class life in Restoration London, with vivid, hon¬ est accounts of ordinary as well as great events, including the Plague and the Great Fire of London.
Pequot \'pe-,kwat\ North Ameri¬ can Indian people now living in east¬ ern Connecticut, U.S. Pequot is an Algonquian language, and the name is derived from an Algonquian word meaning “destroyers.” Pequot sub¬ sistence was based on corn cultivation, hunting, and fishing. The people were at one time united with the Mohegan. For a brief period the Pequot lived amicably with the American colonists, but relations became strained as land pressures grew. Puritan clergymen encouraged violence against the Pequot as infidels, and in 1636 war broke out, resulting in large losses. Further destruction resulted when the remaining Pequot were placed under the control of other tribes. In 1655 the few remaining Pequot were resettled on the Mystic River. The two groups of Pequot number about
1 , 000 .
Perahia \p3-'ri-3\, Murray (b. April 19, 1947, New York, N.Y., U.S.) U.S. pianist. He was trained at the Mannes College of Music in New York City. He won the Leeds International Piano Competition by unanimous vote in 1972, and in 1975 he shared the first Avery Fisher Prize. From 1982 he was music director of the Aldeburgh Festival and made his home in England. He is best known for his sensitive recordings of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart’s concertos, conducted from the keyboard.
Peranakan \,per-3-'na-k3n\ Any native-born Indonesian of mixed Indonesian and foreign ancestry. The term often refers to the Peranakan Chinese, the largest and most important Peranakan group, who formed a stable community by the mid-19th century, partly adopting the indigenous way of life and generally speaking the native tongue. By contrast, in the early 20th century a large wave of Chinese immigration created a Totok (foreign-bom) Chinese community. Unlike the Peranakans, the Totoks retained their own Chinese dialects and remained China-oriented.
perception Process of registering sensory stimuli as meaningful expe¬ rience. The differences between sensation and perception have varied according to how the terms are defined. A common distinction is that sen¬ sations are simple sensory experiences, while percepts are complex con¬ structions of simple elements joined through association. Another is that perception is more subject to the influence of learning. Though hearing, smell, touch, and taste perceptions have all been explored, vision has received the most attention. Structuralist researchers such as Edward Brad¬
ford Titchener focused on the constituent elements of visual perceptions, whereas Gestalt psychology has stressed the need to examine organized wholes, believing humans are disposed to identifying patterns. Visual objects tend to appear stable despite continually changing stimulus fea¬ tures (such as ambient light, perspective, ground vs. figure arrangement), which enables an observer to match a perceived object with the object as it is understood to exist. Perceptions may be influenced by expectations, needs, unconscious ideas, values, and conflicts.