ejaasaari/simplewiki-2025-04-01 huggingface dataset:
The medlar is a tree and the name of the fruit of this tree. Its Latin name is "Crataegus germanica", or "German medlar", but it is not from Germany. It grows in the Near East and South-Eastern Europe, and the Romans took it to Germany. Near the Caspian Sea, people grew the medlar about three thousand years ago. It came to Greece in about 700 BC and to Rome in about 200 BC. It was an important fruit plant in Roman and medieval times. But by 1600-1700, people started eating other fruits and not the medlar. Today people do not grow it very often. The medlar needs warm summers and mild (not too cold) winters and likes to grow in sunny, dry places. In the best places, the plant can grow up to eight metres tall. The medlar is "deciduous": it is not green all year. Usually, it is shorter than a tree. It lives between thirty and fifty years. Medlar leaves are dark green, maximum fifteen centimetres long and three centimetres wide. The plant has flowers in late spring. The flowers are white. The red-brown medlar fruits are similar to apples and grow to two to three centimetres. They are very hard and acidic, and we can only eat them after the cold weather makes them soft.
Atheism is the idea that rejects the belief in a God or gods. It is the opposite of theism, which is the belief that at least one god exists. A person who rejects belief in gods is called an atheist. Adding an "a", meaning "without", before the word "theism" results in "atheism", or literally, "without theism". Atheism is not the same as agnosticism: agnostics say that there is no way to "know" whether gods exist or not. Being an agnostic does not have to mean a person rejects or believes in god. Some agnostics are theists, believing in god. The theologian Kierkegaard is an example. Other agnostics are atheists. Gnosticism refers to a claim of knowledge. A gnostic has sufficient knowledge to make a claim. Adding an "a", meaning "without", before the word "gnostic" results in "agnostic", or literally, "without knowledge". While theism refers to "belief" in one or more gods, gnosticism refers to "knowledge". In practice, most people simply identify as a theist, atheist, or agnostic. History of atheism. Anaxagoras was the first known atheist. He was an Ionian Greek, born in Clazomenae in what is now Asia Minor. He travelled to other Greek cities, and his ideas were well known in Athens. Socrates mentioned that his works could be bought in Athens for a drachma. Eventually he was prosecuted and condemned for impiety, and banished from Athens. Anaxagoras' beliefs were interesting. He thought the Sun was not a god, and was not animated (alive). The Sun was "a red-hot mass many times larger than the Peloponnese". The Moon was a solid body with geographical features, and made of the same substance as the Earth. The world was a globe (spherical). Reasons for atheism. Atheists often give reasons why they do not believe in a god or gods. Three of the reasons that they often give are the problem of evil, the argument from inconsistent revelations, and the argument from nonbelief
Hippocrates (c. 460 – c. 370 BC) was a Greek doctor who is called the "father of medicine". He was the first person to teach that people got sick for scientific reasons. Previously, people believed that disease was caused by angry gods. Many of Hippocrates' writings are still important to doctors. For example, patient confidentiality, meaning that doctors can only discuss a patient with the patient themselves. Another of his ideas is to never knowingly lead a patient to suffering or death. These kinds of ideas are part of medical ethics. The Hippocratic Oath is named after him. This is a set of rules which doctors promise to obey. We don't exactly know what the original was, but this is an example of a modern "Hippocratic Oath: "I do solemnly swear by all I hold most sacred: The oldest version we have is AD 275, and that is just fragments.
Commensurability is a concept in the philosophy of science. Scientific theories are described as "commensurable" if one can compare them to find out which is more accurate. If there is no way one can compare them to determine which is more accurate, they are "incommensurable". Behind this is the idea that it is possible to see the world in multiple ways, and that there is not one fair method to see which way is right. Some think that scientific traditions (or "paradigms") can be incommensurable: it is not really possible to say which one is right. This idea has been defended by Thomas Kuhn. He wrote: "when paradigms change, the world changes with them". Paul Feyerabend was another philosopher who said that incommensurability was possible in scientific topics. He wrote that it is important to remember this, because it means that it is possible to say things that are not scientific, but also not wrong. These ideas were mainly aimed at Karl Popper and his ideas on falsification. Two theories may not be comparable if one cannot find a way to compare them and decide which is right. In popular culture. The concept of incommensurability is dramatized in the 2006 movie "Idiocracy", when U.S. Army scientist Joe Bauers attempts to explain before a full Cabinet meeting his theory that the nation's crops would be better irrigated with water rather than with a sports drink.
To harvest means to collect what has been planted and grown in the ground. It is usually done by farmers. They can do this by picking crops. Crop failure (also known as harvest failure) is a loss or reduced crop yield due to plants being damaged, killed, or destroyed. Sometimes it brings famine. "Harvest" can also mean to collect other things than plants such as cultivated bivalves including oysters, scallops, and other animals.
ELISPOT stands for "Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Spot Assay". It is a laboratory technique for detecting cells that make (or "secrete") various substances. These substances include specific types of cytokines or antibodies. The ELISPOT method is typically used with blood cells, and is a helpful tool in studying the human immune system and various treatments for disease (e.g. vaccines). In the ELISPOT technique, tiny wells are used to contain the cells, with a variety of other substances. The substances cause colored spots to form near the cells that secrete the substances in question. These spots can then be counted manually (using a microscope, for example) or automatically using specialized equipment with computer vision capabilities. The ELISPOT technique is very sensitive, and can detect even a single substance-producing cell. It is also very versatile, since it can be tailored to detect a wide variety of very specific secretions.
The Aztecs were Native American people who lived in Mesoamerica. They ruled the Aztec Empire from the 14th century to the 16th century. The name "Aztec" comes from the phrase "people from Aztlan". Legends say that Aztlan was the first place the Aztecs ever lived. "Aztlan" means "place of the herons" in the Nahuatl language.p. 8 Often the term "Aztec" refers just to the people of Tenochtitlan. This was a city on an island in Lake Texcoco. These people called themselves the Mexica which is why the country is called Mexico, or the Nahua which is why their language is called Nahuatl. History. Before the Spanish Empire conquered them, the indigenous (native) people lived in many separate city-states. These were small cities with farmland around them. Each state had its own ruler. Around 1100 AD, these city-states started to fight each other for power and control of the area's resources. Historians think the Aztecs came to central Mesoamerica around 1200. They came from what is now northwest Mexico. According to historian Lisa Marty: By 1325, the Aztecs had built Tenochtitlan on an island in Lake Texcoco. Tenochtitlan became a city-state that gradually became more and more powerful. By about 1400, three city-states had grown into small empires. In 1428, these two empires fought the Tepanec War for control of the area. The Texcoco empire made an alliance with some other powerful city-states, including Tenochtitlan, and won the war. These allies were supposed to share power equally as they started to gain control of more land. However, by 1430, Tenochtitlan became the most powerful member of the alliance. It became the capital city of the Aztec Empire, and its ruler became the 'high king' of the Empire. The Aztec Empire. The Aztec Empire existed between about 1438 AD and 1521 AD. When the Empire was largest, it spread across
Billion is a name for a large number. There are two different meanings for the term: Some examples of billion meaning thousand million: Billion may also refer to:
Richard Milhous Nixon (January 9, 1913 – April 22, 1994) was an American politician who was the 37th president of the United States from 1969 to 1974, when he became the only president to resign. Before that, Nixon was the 36th vice president (from 1953 to 1961 under President Dwight D. Eisenhower), and a U.S. Representative and Senator from California. He was a Republican. Nixon was born in Yorba Linda, California. He attended Duke University and graduated from its law school in 1937. After graduating, he returned to California to practice law. In 1942, he and his wife Pat moved to Washington to work for the federal government. During World War II, he served on active duty in the Naval Reserve. Nixon began his career in politics after he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1946. During this time, he became well known as an anti-Communist. In 1950, he was elected to the Senate. In 1953, he became the vice president of the United States, under President Dwight D. Eisenhower. He served in this position for eight years. In 1960, Nixon ran for president. He was defeated by John F. Kennedy. Two years later, in 1962, Nixon ran for governor of California. He also lost this election to Pat Brown. In 1968, he ran for president for a second time. He won the election, defeating Hubert Humphrey and George Wallace in a close election. As president, Nixon got the United States to stop being involved in the Vietnam War. He ended the military draft in 1973. In 1972, Nixon visited China. This visit would eventually create diplomatic relations between the two nations. The same year, he signed the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty with the Soviet Union. Domestically, Nixon imposed wage and price controls for 90 days. He had Southern schools desegregated (ending the separation of people by their race). He established the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as well as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). He also
Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.; July 14, 1913 — December 26, 2006) was an American politician who had served as the 38th president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. Before becoming president, he was the 40th vice president from 1973 to 1974 under Richard Nixon. As a member of the Republican Party, he was also a member of the House of Representatives from 1949 to 1973, becoming its minority leader in 1965. He is the only president who wasn't elected to either office as vice president or president. Ford was born in Omaha, Nebraska. He attended the University of Michigan and Yale Law School. After Pearl Harbor was attacked in 1941, he joined the U.S. Naval Reserve and served from 1942 to 1946. Ford began his career in politics in 1949 as the U.S. representative from Michigan's 5th congressional district. In 1965, he became the House Minority Leader. In December 1973, he became the vice president of the United States, replacing Spiro Agnew, who had resigned two months before. This made Ford the first person to become vice president due to the 25th Amendment. In August 1974, Ford became president after Richard Nixon resigned. As president, Ford signed the Helsinki Accords. It was created to ease tensions between the Western world and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. In 1975, South Vietnam collapsed. This event ended US participation in the Vietnam War. Domestically, Ford had to work with economic downturn. There was growing inflation and a recession during his presidency. Ford also gave a presidential pardon to his predecessor, Richard Nixon, for his role in the Watergate scandal. The pardon was one of the most controversial things he did as president. Foreign policy was characterized in procedural terms by the bigger role Congress began to play, and by the restraining of the powers of the president. In 1976, Ford ran for reelection. He defeated former California Governor Ronald Reagan for the Republican nomination. He narrowly lost the presidential election to the Democratic candidate
John Forbes Kerry (born December 11, 1943) is an American politician. He is a former United States Secretary of State and former Senator from Massachusetts and the Democratic nominee for president in 2004. He lost to George W. Bush. He has served in the Senate for 23 years and has also served as the lieutenant governor of Massachusetts under Michael Dukakis. In November 2020, then President-elect Joe Biden named Kerry as the U.S. Special Presidential Envoy for Climate. He resigned in early 2024 to help with Biden's re-election campaign. Early life. Kerry was born on December 11, 1943 at Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado. His father was an officer in the United States Army Air Force. He studied at Yale University and at Boston College Law school. Kerry was raised as a Roman Catholic by his Catholic father and Episcopalian mother. It was discovered in 2003 by Felix Gundacker, a genealogist working with "The Boston Globe", that Kerry's paternal grandparents, who had been born Jewish, as "Fritz Kohn" and "Ida Löwe", in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, changed their names to "Frederick and Ida Kerry" in 1900 and converted from Judaism to Roman Catholicism in 1901 Career. In 1968 and 1969, Kerry was a United States Navy officer in Vietnam. During the 2012 Obama reelection campaign, Kerry participated in one on one debate prep with the president, impersonating the Republican candidate Mitt Romney. Kerry's vice presidential candidate was John Edwards. The ticket lost the election to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. One of the reasons Kerry lost is because people said he was an elitist (he did not understand most Americans) and also because a group called "Swift Boat Veterans for Truth" attacked his service in Vietnam. In November 2006, Kerry once apologizes after saying that college students needed to study hard or else they would "get stuck in Iraq." Secretary of State. On December 21, 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Kerry to succeed Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. The committee
The job of white blood cells (also called "leukocytes") is to fight infections and cancer. They also remove poison, waste and damaged cells from the body. The number of white blood cells increases when a person is fighting infection or disease and decrease when a person is healthy. Types of white blood cells. Lymphocytes. Lymphocytes are round white blood cells a bit bigger than a red blood cell. Their center is round and they have little cytoplasm. Part of the lymphatic system, these target specific germs or poisons using their antibodies. There are three known types of lymphocytes, called T-cells, B-cells, and natural killer cells (NK cells). B-cells make antibodies, which are little molecules that attach to viruses or bad cells. These act like flags to tell other cells to destroy the viruses or bad cells. T-cells can either help make more B-cells, or kill cells with antibodies. Natural killer cells kill cells in the body that have been infected by a virus or that are part of a tumor. They are part of the innate immune system. Monocytes. Monocytes are reserve cells which turn into macrophages and dendritic cells, which work together in tissues to fight disease. Monocytes have a kidney bean shaped center and lots of cytoplasm. They may appear as macrophages in a non-round shape when they pass through tissue to eat germs, "junk" cells, and dead cells. Granulocytes. The next three types of white blood cells are referred to as granulocytes since they all contain rough, grain-like particles that assist in attacking viruses and bacteria. Granulocytes are also called polymorphonuclear leukocytes because of the shape of the nucleus, which has three segments. Neutrophils. Neutrophils are the most abundant type of white blood cells in mammals, 70% of leukocytes. They are an essential part of the immune system. They get to the site of an injury within minutes, and make up much of the content of pus. They have a short life-span of a couple of days. The nucleus, which looks like a string of beads, does not take up stain
Lymphocytes are a type of white blood cell (or "leukocyte"). They help an organism to fight infections. They occur in the immune system of all vertebrates. All lymphoctes have a large, blob-like nucleus. Lymphocytes can be divided into three main types: Types. Natural killer cells. Natural killer (NK) cells are a part of the immune system a person is born with. They protect the organism from tumours and from cells infected by viruses. Natural killer cells are made active by chemicals released by damaged cells called interferons. Natural killer cells can tell the difference between infected cells, tumours, and normal cells. They recognise changes in the level of a surface molecule called MHC (major histocompatibility complex) class I. The NK cells then release cytotoxic (cell-killing) granules which then destroy the altered cells. T and B cells. T cells (thymus cells) and B cells (bone cells) are the main cells of the adaptive immune response. They tackle infections, and they cause the immune system to 'remember' the event. The function of T cells and B cells is to recognize foreign antigens. Antigens are surface molecules on a cell. Once they have identified an invader, the cells respond to remove pathogens or pathogen-infected cells. B cells respond to pathogens by producing large numbers of antibodies which then destroy foreign objects like bacteria and viruses. Some T cells, called T helper cells, produce cytokines that direct the immune response. Cytokines signal to other immune cells that there is a foreign antigen present. Other T cells, called cytotoxic T cells, produce toxic granules which cause the death of infected cells. Once they are made active, B cells and T cells produce "memory cells". Throughout the lifetime of an animal, these cells will 'remember' each specific pathogen encountered, and are able to make a strong response if the pathogen is detected again. Memory cells live a long time in the body, and are how vaccinations work. Development. Mammalian stem cells change or differentiate into several kinds of blood cell within the bone marrow. This process is called haematopoiesis (= blood growth).
An author is a person who makes an original piece of work. Most people use author to mean writer. While a writer is a type of author, authors often do more than write. Anyone who creates something original is an author. This could be written items such as books, stories or poems. This could also be other types of art, such as sculpture or music. Any type of work can be made by an author. "Writer" and "author". The term author is commonly used to refer to a person who writes as a profession. It is also believed by many that the term is used for writers who are distinguished and who have had their works published. These explanations are common with people who work with those that write professionally. An author does not always have to be a writer. If a person dictates a letter to a secretary, then the secretary is a writer but the person who dictated the letter is the author. Examples. Other examples of someone being called "author": French usage. When talking about movies, the French word for author, "auteur", is often used about someone who has been both the writer and director of a movie.
Pedipalps are the two appendages on the front of a spider's head. Other arachnids, and chelicerates that are not arachnids also have pedipalps. Some spiders seem to have ten legs and not eight, because these pedipalps look like an extra pair of legs. The pedipalps are used rather like arms. Spiders often use them to hold insects (for example crickets) for them to eat. Male spiders also use pedipalps for mating. The male spiders make some silk, put sperm onto the silk, and then put their pedipalps into the sperm. The pedipalps then hold the sperm, and the spider can use it to mate with a female by putting them inside her epigynum. Diversity of pedipalps. The pedipalps of all chelicerates vary: Ricinulei, Thelyphonida, Amblypygi, some Opiliones, Schizomida, scorpions and pseudoscorpions all have theirs as pincers, with the Amblypygi's being their entire pedipalps shaped like mantids. The Palpigradi's pedipalps have some of the strangest roles of arachnids as they use theirs for locomotion. The pedipalps of Solifugae act as antennae.
In chemistry, an ionic compound is a compound made of ions. They have strong ionic bonds between particles. Lots of energy (heat) is required to break the bond apart, resulting in high melting and boiling points. The ions join because they have different charges. Compounds of metals and non-metals are usually ionic. They are made when two or more atoms come close together and an electron goes from one atom to the other atom. The electron does this because both atoms want a full outer shell, similar to those of the noble gases. Note 1: carbon and silicon in Group 4 usually form covalent bonds by sharing electrons. Note 2: the elements in Group 0 do not react with other elements to form ions
The ELISA method (Enzyme Linked Immuno-Sorbent Assay) is a technique used in biochemistry to determine if a certain substance--such as a specific cytokine or antigen--is present within a sample. It is sometimes abbreviated as "EIA." This technique uses special antibodies that attach themselves to the substance. These antibodies generate a specific color. The amount of color indicates the amount of substance present. (Sometimes, the substance must be viewed under ultraviolet light for the antibodies to generate this color.) Another set of antibodies are used to "capture" the substance. These antibodies adhere to both the substance and the testing container, thus holding the substance in place. A more sophisticated and sensitive technique, the ELISPOT method, was derived from the ELISA techique.