• Testimony (novel by Turow)

    Scott Turow: In 2017 Turow published Testimony, about an attorney in the midst of a midlife crisis who is asked by the International Criminal Court to investigate potential war crimes involving a Roma refugee camp after the Bosnian conflict. In The Last Trial (2020), a criminal defense attorney takes his final…

  • Testimony of the Spade, The (work by Bibby)

    archaeology: Excavation: …Past (1930) and Geoffrey Bibby’s Testimony of the Spade (1956) might appear to give credence to that view. Actually, much of the work of excavation is careful work with trowel, penknife, and brush. It is often the recovery of features that are almost indistinguishable from nonarchaeological aspects of the buried…

  • testing (behavior)

    clinical psychology: …activities under three main headings: assessment (including diagnosis), treatment, and research. In assessment, clinical psychologists administer and interpret psychological tests, either for the purpose of evaluating individuals’ relative intelligence or other capabilities or for the purpose of eliciting mental characteristics that will aid in diagnosing a particular mental disorder. The…

  • testing (technology)

    computer science: Software engineering: Sophisticated techniques for testing software have also been designed. For example, unit testing is a strategy for testing every individual module of a software product independently before the modules are combined into a whole and tested using “integration testing” techniques.

  • testing machine (materials testing)

    testing machine, Machine used in materials science to determine the properties of a material. Machines have been devised to measure tensile strength, strength in compression, shear, and bending (see strength of materials), ductility, hardness, impact strength (see impact test), fracture toughness,

  • Testing of Luther Albright, The (novel by Scott)

    MacKenzie Scott: Career, marriages, and writings: …Bezos published her debut novel, The Testing of Luther Albright, which traces the travails of a dam engineer and his family. The book received generally positive reviews—The New York Times called it a “quietly absorbing first novel”—and it earned a 2006 American Book Award. In 2013 Bezos published her second…

  • testing, psychological

    psychological testing, the systematic use of tests to quantify psychophysical behaviour, abilities, and problems and to make predictions about psychological performance. The word “test” refers to any means (often formally contrived) used to elicit responses to which human behaviour in other

  • Testing-Tree, The (work by Kunitz)

    Stanley Kunitz: With The Testing-Tree (1971), Kunitz departed from the formal structure and rational approach of his earlier verse and wrote shorter, looser, and more emotional poetry. Included in the book are “The Illumination,” a compact poem about life’s regrets, and “King of the River,” which contemplates the…

  • Testino, Mario (Peruvian photographer)

    Mario Testino is a Peruvian fashion photographer known for his evocative portraits and vivid advertisements. Testino, who was of Irish, Spanish, and Italian descent, found his inspiration in the work of British celebrity and fashion photographer Cecil Beaton. Though Testino studied law and

  • testis (anatomy)

    testis, in animals, the organ that produces sperm, the male reproductive cell, and androgens, the male hormones. In humans the testes occur as a pair of oval-shaped organs. They are contained within the scrotal sac, which is located directly behind the penis and in front of the anus. In humans each

  • teston (currency)

    shilling, former English and British coin, nominally valued at one-twentieth of a pound sterling, or 12 pence. The shilling was also formerly the monetary unit of Australia, Austria, New Zealand, and Ireland. Today it is the basic monetary unit in Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. A silver coin

  • testoon (currency)

    shilling, former English and British coin, nominally valued at one-twentieth of a pound sterling, or 12 pence. The shilling was also formerly the monetary unit of Australia, Austria, New Zealand, and Ireland. Today it is the basic monetary unit in Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda. A silver coin

  • Testorf, Helga (German-American model)

    Andrew Wyeth: …and 1985 Wyeth secretly painted Helga Testorf, his neighbour in Chadds Ford, creating hundreds of images of her, including nudes.

  • Testori, Giovanni (Italian author)

    Italian literature: Theatre: …Pasolini and the Milanese expressionist Giovanni Testori, an uncompromising extremist who progressed from narrative fiction to the theatre and from subproletarian Neorealism to violent Roman Catholic mysticism. Otherwise, late 20th-century Italian theatre was dominated more by innovative directors and performers than by noteworthy new plays. Outstanding directors included Giorgio Strehler,…

  • testosterone (hormone)

    testosterone, hormone produced by the male testis that is responsible for development of the male sex organs and masculine characteristics, including facial hair and deepening of the voice. Testosterone was isolated from testicular extracts in 1935. Its discovery followed that of an androgen (male

  • Testudines (reptile)

    turtle, (order Testudines), any reptile with a body encased in a bony shell, including tortoises. Although numerous animals, from invertebrates to mammals, have evolved shells, none has an architecture like that of turtles. The turtle shell has a top (carapace) and a bottom (plastron). The carapace

  • Testudinidae (reptile)

    tortoise, (family Testudinidae), any member of the turtle family Testudinidae. Formerly, the term tortoise was used to refer to any terrestrial turtle. The testudinids are easily recognized because all share a unique hind-limb anatomy made up of elephantine (or cylindrical) hind limbs and hind

  • Testudo elephantopus (reptile)

    migration: Reptiles and amphibians: In the Galápagos Islands, giant land tortoises (Testudo elephantopus) stay chiefly in the upper humid zone, where food is abundant, but go down to the dry zone to lay their eggs. Despite their great body weight and slow pace, they travel some 50 kilometres (30 miles) across rough country.

  • Testut, Jean-Léo (French anatomist)

    Chancelade skeleton: …studied by the French anatomist Jean-Léo Testut, who declared it to be of Eskimo type and established it as the type specimen of a supposed “Chancelade race.” Although its Eskimo affinities were long accepted by many paleoanthropologists, later experts have generally agreed that the Chancelade skull is Cro-Magnon. The Cro-Magnons…

  • Tet (festival)

    Lunar New Year, festival typically celebrated in China and other Asian countries that begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later. The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, so the dates of the holiday vary

  • Tet Offensive (Vietnam War [1968])

    Tet Offensive, attacks staged by North Vietnamese forces beginning in the early hours of January 31, 1968, during the Vietnam War. The Tet Offensive consisted of simultaneous attacks by some 85,000 troops under the direction of the North Vietnamese government. The attacks were carried out against

  • Tetä Paraguáype

    Paraguay, landlocked country in south-central South America. Paraguay’s recent history has been characterized by turbulence and authoritarian rule. It was involved in two of the three major wars on the continent—the War of the Triple Alliance (1864/65–70), against Argentina, Brazil, and Uruguay,

  • tetanospasmin (toxin)

    tetanus: The neurotoxic component, tetanospasmin, is one of the deadliest poisons known. Once tetanospasmin has entered the body, it rapidly spreads by way of the lymphatic and vascular systems to the central nervous system, where it attacks motor neurons. Within the neurons, the toxin directly inhibits the activity of…

  • Tetanurae (dinosaur infraorder)

    dinosaur: Tetanurae: These comprise birds and all the theropods closer to birds than to Ceratosaurus. They would include the true carnosaurs and coelurosaurs described below as well as a few relatively large carnivorous basal forms (such as Torvosaurus, Spinosaurus, Baryonyx, Afrovenator, and

  • tetanus (disease)

    tetanus, acute infectious disease of humans and other animals, caused by toxins produced by the bacillus Clostridium tetani and characterized by rigidity and spasms of the voluntary muscles. The almost constant involvement of the jaw muscles accounts for the popular name of the disease. Spores of

  • tetanus (physiology)

    muscle: Twitch and tetanus responses: …pulse is given, and the tension will appear in waves in phase with the stimulation, causing an unfused tetanus. It is possible to stimulate the muscle at a frequency between these extremes so that the tension developed by the muscle remains constant. This latter type of contraction is called a…

  • tetanus antitoxin (biochemistry)

    Emil von Behring: immunity against tetanus by injecting it with the blood serum of another animal infected with the disease. Behring applied this antitoxin (a term he and Kitasato originated) technique to achieve immunity against diphtheria. Administration of diphtheria antitoxin, developed with Paul Ehrlich and first successfully marketed in 1892,…

  • tetanus toxoid (vaccine)

    tetanus: Active immunization with tetanus toxoid (prepared by chemical modification of toxin) is a relatively slow process, requiring weeks or months to become effective, and must be renewed every few years (booster doses). A first dose should be given to every accident victim, followed by two more doses several…

  • tetany (disease)

    tetany, condition characterized by rhythmic cramping of the muscles of the hands and feet, muscle twitching, and possible spasms of the larynx, with difficulty breathing, nausea, vomiting, convulsions, and pain. Tetany results from a metabolic imbalance; it may be caused by too little calcium,

  • Tete (Mozambique)

    Tete, port city, west-central Mozambique. Tete is situated on the right bank of the Zambezi River near the rich coal mines of Moatize. Under Portuguese influence Tete had become a market centre for ivory and gold by the mid-17th century. Given a town charter in 1761, it became a city in 1959. It is

  • Tête à Tête, The (painting by William Hogarth)

    The Tête à Tête, oil painting, also known as Shortly After the Marriage, by English artist William Hogarth. It is the second of a sequence of six scenes in his Marriage A-la-Mode series, which was commissioned about 1743 to censure the marriage customs of the upper classes. In this series, Hogarth

  • Tête contre les murs, La (work by Bazin)

    Hervé Bazin: …Tête contre les murs (1949; Head Against the Wall), a novel about penal institutions and the judicial system that supports them, and in a second autobiographical novel, La Mort du petit cheval (1950; “The Death of a Small Horse”).

  • Tetens, Johannes Nikolaus (German mathematician, economist, and philosopher)

    Johannes Nikolaus Tetens was a German psychologist, mathematician, economist, educator, and empiricist philosopher who strongly influenced the work of Immanuel Kant. Tetens became professor of physics at Bützow University in 1760 and five years later was made director of the Pädagogium (“Academy”)

  • Teteoinnan (Aztec deity)

    Coatlicue, Aztec earth goddess, symbol of the earth as both creator and destroyer, mother of the gods and mortals. The dualism that she embodies is powerfully concretized in her image: her face is of two fanged serpents and her skirt is of interwoven snakes (snakes symbolize fertility); her breasts

  • Tethya aurantium (sponge)

    sponge: Size range and diversity of structure and colour: …as in Tethya aurantium, the sea orange; others may be cup- or fan-shaped. Calcareous sponges of the genus Scypha are shaped like tubular sacs, with an opening (osculum) at the tip. Members of the Hexactinellida are erect or cylindrical, with a stalklike base.

  • Tethyan Mountain System (mountains, Eurasia)

    mountain: The Alpine-Himalayan, or Tethyan, System: The interconnected system of mountain ranges and intermontane plateaus that lies between the stable areas of Africa, Arabia, and India on the south and Europe and Asia on the north owes its existence to the collisions of different continental fragments during the past…

  • Tethyan Sea (ancient ocean, Mesozoic Era)

    Tethys Sea, tropical body of salt water that existed from the end of the Paleozoic Era (541 million to about 252 million years ago) until the Cenozoic Era (66 million years ago to the present). Initially, it separated the supercontinent of Laurasia in the north from Gondwana in the south during

  • Tethyidae (gastropod family)

    nudibranch: Those of the family Tethyidae can swim. Among bottom creepers in cold northern seas is the bushy-backed sea slug (Dendronotus frondosus), named for its stalked, lacy cerata. Occurring worldwide in warm seas are the blue sea slug (Glaucus marina, or G. atlanticus) and the doridacean nudibranchs such as Doris…

  • Tethys (moon of Saturn)

    Tethys, major regular moon of Saturn, remarkable for a fissure that wraps around the greater part of its circumference. It was discovered in 1684 by the Italian-born French astronomer Gian Domenico Cassini and named for a Titan in Greek mythology. Tethys has a diameter of 1,066 km (662 miles), and

  • Tethys Geosyncline (ancient ocean, Mesozoic Era)

    Tethys Sea, tropical body of salt water that existed from the end of the Paleozoic Era (541 million to about 252 million years ago) until the Cenozoic Era (66 million years ago to the present). Initially, it separated the supercontinent of Laurasia in the north from Gondwana in the south during

  • Tethys Himalayas (mountain range, Asia)

    Himalayas: Physical features: …Range (Great Himalayas); and the Tethys, or Tibetan, Himalayas. Farther north lie the Trans-Himalayas in Tibet proper. From west to east the Himalayas are divided broadly into three mountainous regions: western, central, and eastern.

  • Tethys Sea (ancient ocean, Mesozoic Era)

    Tethys Sea, tropical body of salt water that existed from the end of the Paleozoic Era (541 million to about 252 million years ago) until the Cenozoic Era (66 million years ago to the present). Initially, it separated the supercontinent of Laurasia in the north from Gondwana in the south during

  • Tethysides (geological region, Asia)

    Asia: Paleozoic events in the Tethysides: Along the northern margin of the Tethysides, there was a continuous transition from the Altaid evolution into the Tethyside or, more strictly speaking, into the Cimmeride evolution. In northern Tibet the Kunlun Mountains (a part of the Cimmerides) may also be considered the southernmost…

  • Tethytheria (mammal group)

    proboscidean: …sirenians are together classified as tethytherians, in reference to the ancient sea of Tethys, where both groups are hypothesized to have originated. On land the closest proboscidean relative is the hyrax (order Hyracoidea), a small rodentlike animal of Africa and southwestern Asia. Tethytheria and Hyracoidea are grouped together as Uranotheria.

  • tethytherian (mammal group)

    proboscidean: …sirenians are together classified as tethytherians, in reference to the ancient sea of Tethys, where both groups are hypothesized to have originated. On land the closest proboscidean relative is the hyrax (order Hyracoidea), a small rodentlike animal of Africa and southwestern Asia. Tethytheria and Hyracoidea are grouped together as Uranotheria.

  • Teti (king of Egypt)

    ancient Egypt: The 6th dynasty (c. 2305–c. 2118 bce): …the reigns of Unas and Teti, the first king of the 6th dynasty. Around Teti’s pyramid in the northern portion of Ṣaqqārah was built a cemetery of large tombs, including those of several viziers. Together with tombs near the pyramid of Unas, this is the latest group of private monuments…

  • Tetiaroa (island, French Polynesia)

    Îles du Vent: Tetiaroa, 25 miles (40 km) north of Tahiti, comprises 13 islets, with a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.5 square km). Mehetia (1 square mile [2.6 square km]), 60 miles (95 km) east of Tahiti, is uninhabited.

  • Tetley, Glen (American dancer)

    Glen Tetley was an American dancer, choreographer, and ballet director, whose performances and compositions integrated elements of modern dance and classical ballet. Tetley began his dance career relatively late for a professional performer. In 1946, dissatisfied with his premedical studies at

  • Tetley, Glenford Andrew Tetley, Jr. (American dancer)

    Glen Tetley was an American dancer, choreographer, and ballet director, whose performances and compositions integrated elements of modern dance and classical ballet. Tetley began his dance career relatively late for a professional performer. In 1946, dissatisfied with his premedical studies at

  • Tetmajer, Kazimierz (Polish author)

    Kazimierz Tetmajer was a poet and short-story writer who was a member of the Young Poland movement. Tetmajer belonged to a landowner’s family from the foothills of the Tatra Mountains. He studied philosophy in Kraków and in Heidelberg, Germany. Much of his lyric poetry received publication in the

  • Tetmajer, Kazimierz Przerwa (Polish author)

    Kazimierz Tetmajer was a poet and short-story writer who was a member of the Young Poland movement. Tetmajer belonged to a landowner’s family from the foothills of the Tatra Mountains. He studied philosophy in Kraków and in Heidelberg, Germany. Much of his lyric poetry received publication in the

  • Tetnuld, Mount (mountain, Georgia)

    Georgia: Relief, drainage, and soils: …in Georgia, and Mounts Rustaveli, Tetnuld, and Ushba, all of which are above 15,000 feet. The cone of the extinct Mkinvari (Kazbek) volcano dominates the northernmost Bokovoy range from a height of 16,512 feet. A number of important spurs extend in a southward direction from the central range, including those…

  • Teton (people)

    Black Hills: …and sacred territory of the Western Sioux Indians. At least portions of the region were also sacred to other Native American peoples—including the Cheyenne, Kiowa, and Arapaho—and the area had also been inhabited by the Crow. Rights to the region were guaranteed to Sioux and Arapaho by the Second Treaty…

  • Teton Dam (dam, United States)

    Snake River: In 1976 the Teton Dam collapsed, causing disastrous flooding of the upper Snake River valley. Principal tributaries below Heise are Henrys Fork (the largest), Blackfoot, Portneuf, Raft, and Big Wood rivers. Henrys Fork and Big Wood enter the Snake River from the north. Other northern side streams sink…

  • Teton Range (mountains, Wyoming, United States)

    Teton Range, segment of the Middle Rocky Mountains in the western United States, extending southward for 40 miles (64 km) across northwestern Wyoming, from the southern boundary of Yellowstone National Park to Teton Pass, just west of Jackson. Some foothills reach into southeastern Idaho. Many

  • Teton River (river, Montana, United States)

    Teton River, river in Teton county, north-central Montana, U.S. The Teton rises northeast of the Sun River on the east slopes of the Continental Divide and is joined from the south by Deep Creek and from the north by Muddy Creek. It flows 143 miles (230 km) east and slightly south, joining the

  • Tétouan (Morocco)

    Tétouan, city, north-central Morocco. It lies along the Martil River (Wadi Martil), 7 miles (11 km) from the Mediterranean Sea. The city stands on a rocky plateau detached from the southern flank of Mount Dersa. The Roman settlement of Tamuda stood immediately above the present-day city. Tétouan

  • tetra (fish)

    tetra, any of numerous attractively coloured freshwater fishes of the characin family, Characidae, often kept in home aquariums. Tetras are characteristically small, lively, hardy, and unaggressive. They are native to South America and Africa. Tetras are egg layers and breed, as do most other

  • tetra-calcium aluminoferrite (chemical compound)

    cement: Chemical composition: … (3CaO · Al2O3), and a tetra-calcium aluminoferrite (4CaO · Al2O3Fe2O3). In an abbreviated notation differing from the normal atomic symbols, these compounds are designated as C3S, C2S, C3A, and C4AF, where C stands for calcium oxide (lime), S for silica, A for alumina, and F for iron

  • Tetrabiblos (work by Ptolemy)

    Ptolemy: Astronomer: …Influences”), later known as the Tetrabiblos for its four volumes. He believed that astrology is a legitimate, though inexact, science that describes the physical effects of the heavens on terrestrial life. Ptolemy accepted the basic validity of the traditional astrological doctrines, but he revised the details to reconcile the practice…

  • Tetrabranchia (former cephalopod taxon)

    cephalopod: Critical appraisal: …forms, which were considered as Tetrabranchia because Nautilus has four gills rather than two. This unnatural classification, accepted by the French zoologist Alcide d’Orbigny in 1838, was gradually modified through the efforts of the Swiss zoologist Adolph Naef and the German zoologist Georg Grimpe and later workers to the form…

  • tetrabromobisphenol A (chemical compound)

    microplastics: Properties: …polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs), and tetrabromobisphenol A (TBBPA), are typically also present in microplastics, and many of these chemical additives leach out of the plastics after entering the environment.

  • tetrabromoethane (chemical compound)

    bromine: Production and use: …various dyes and the compounds tetrabromoethane (C2H2Br4) and bromoform (CHBr3), which are used as liquids in gauges because of their high specific gravity. Until the development of barbiturates in the early 20th century, bromides of potassium, sodium, calcium, strontium

  • tetrabromofluorescein (biochemistry)

    dye: Xanthene and related dyes: Tetrabromofluorescein, or eosin, is a red dye used for paper, inks, and cosmetics; its tetraiodo analog, erythrosine, is a red food dye (see below Food dyes).

  • tetracarbonylnickel (chemical compound)

    nickel: Compounds: …other important commercial compounds are nickel carbonyl, or tetracarbonylnickel, Ni(CO)4. This compound, in which nickel exhibits a zero oxidation state, is used primarily as a carrier of carbon monoxide in the synthesis of acrylates (compounds utilized in the manufacture of plastics) from acetylene and alcohols. It was the first of…

  • Tetracentron (plant genus)

    magnoliid clade: Vegetative structures: The exceptions, Trochodendron (Trochodendraceae) and Tetracentron (Tetracentraceae), show definite links with the magnoliids but are classified in the Eudicot clade. Of the magnoliids, all Winteraceae (Canellales) and Amborellaceae (Laurales) lack vessels.

  • Tetracentron sinense (plant)

    Trochodendrales: Tetracentron sinense, of central and south-central China, Nepal, and northern Myanmar (Burma), is a medium-sized tree, 4.5 to 27 metres (about 15 to 88.5 feet) tall, with palmately (fingerlike) veined leaves. Unlike Trochodendron, Tetracentron has small, wind-pollinated flowers arranged in dangling, slender catkins; the flowers…

  • tetrachlorethylene (chemical compound)

    tetrachloroethylene, a colourless, dense, nonflammable, highly stable liquid belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds. Tetrachloroethylene is a powerful solvent for many organic substances. By the mid-20th century it had become the most widely used solvent in dry cleaning (displacing

  • tetrachloroethane (chemical compound)

    tetrachloroethane, either of two isomeric colourless, dense, water-insoluble liquids belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds. One isomer, 1,1,2,2-tetrachloroethane, also called acetylene tetrachloride, is highly toxic. Almost the entire production of the compound is consumed in

  • tetrachloroethylene (chemical compound)

    tetrachloroethylene, a colourless, dense, nonflammable, highly stable liquid belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds. Tetrachloroethylene is a powerful solvent for many organic substances. By the mid-20th century it had become the most widely used solvent in dry cleaning (displacing

  • tetrachloromethane (chemical compound)

    carbon tetrachloride, a colourless, dense, highly toxic, volatile, nonflammable liquid possessing a characteristic odour and belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds, used principally in the manufacture of dichlorodifluoromethane (a refrigerant and propellant). First prepared in 1839 by

  • tetrachlorophenol (chemical compound)

    chlorophenol: Tetrachlorophenol is an insecticide and a bactericide and is used as a preservative for latex, wood, and leather. Pentachlorophenol (PCP) is a disinfectant, a fungicide, and an extremely effective preservative for wood. However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has regulations requiring that it be applied…

  • tetrachord (music)

    tetrachord, musical scale of four notes, bounded by the interval of a perfect fourth (an interval the size of two and one-half steps, e.g., c–f). In ancient Greek music the descending tetrachord was the basic unit of analysis, and scale systems (called the Greater Perfect System and the Lesser

  • Tetraclinis articulata (plant)

    arartree, (Tetraclinis articulata), only species of the genus Tetraclinis of the cypress family (Cupressaceae), found in hot, dry areas of southeastern Spain, Malta, and northern Africa. A pyramidal tree 12 to 15 metres (about 40 to 50 feet) tall, the arartree has fragrant, brown or reddish-brown

  • tetracolon (prosody)

    tetracolon, in classical prosody, a period made up of four colons, or a unit of four metrical sequences that each constitute a single metrical phrase of not more than about 12 syllables. A tetracolon recurs as a unit within a

  • Tetractinella (fossil brachiopod genus)

    Tetractinella, genus of extinct brachiopods (lamp shells) found as fossils in Triassic marine rocks (the Triassic period lasted from 251 million to 200 million years ago). Its distinctive shell has prominent ribs and intervening troughs radiating from its apex and margins extending in a weblike

  • Tetractinella trigonella (brachiopod)

    Tetractinella: Tetractinella trigonella, a Middle Triassic species from Italy, is remarkably similar to the unrelated Cheirothyris fleuriausa, from the Late Jurassic (about 150 million years ago) marine rocks of Germany. The two forms are separated by a great geographic distance and by a large span of…

  • tetracycline (antibiotic group)

    tetracycline, any of a group of broad-spectrum antibiotic compounds that have a common basic structure and are either isolated directly from several species of Streptomyces bacteria or produced semisynthetically from those isolated compounds. Tetracyclines act by interfering with the ability of a

  • tetrad (chromosome)

    meiosis: Each pair of chromosomes—called a tetrad, or a bivalent—consists of four chromatids. At this point, the homologous chromosomes exchange genetic material by the process of crossing over (see linkage group). The homologous pairs line up along the midline of the cell in metaphase I and then separate in anaphase I,…

  • tetrad (bacterial shape)

    coccus: …cells in a square arrangement, tetrads. These characteristic groupings occur as a result of variations in the reproduction process in bacteria. See also Staphylococcus; Streptococcus.

  • tetradecanoic acid (chemical compound)

    carboxylic acid: Saturated aliphatic acids: …from C12 to C18 (lauric, myristic, palmitic, and stearic), are present in the fats and oils of many animals and plants, with palmitic and stearic acids being the most prevalent. Lauric acid (C12) is the main acid in coconut oil (45–50 percent) and palm kernel oil (45–55 percent). Nutmeg butter…

  • tetradymite (mineral)

    tetradymite, a sulfide mineral of bismuth and tellurium (Bi2Te2S). It is commonly found in gold-quartz veins and contact-metamorphic deposits, as in Idu, Japan; Sorata, Bolivia; Boliden, Sweden; and Boulder county, Colo., U.S. Tetradymite is classified in a group of metallike sulfide minerals

  • tetraethyl lead (chemical compound)

    tetraethyl lead (TEL), organometallic compound containing the toxic metal lead that for much of the 20th century was the chief antiknock agent for automotive gasoline, or petrol. Beginning in the 1970s, “leaded gasoline” was phased out, first in the United States and then in Europe and around the

  • tetraethyl pyrophosphate (chemical compound)

    tetraethyl pyrophosphate, an organic phosphorus compound used as an insecticide, particularly for the control of aphids and red spider mites. Tetraethyl pyrophosphate is extremely poisonous to humans, the toxic effects being similar to those of parathion. It decomposes in water to nontoxic esters

  • tetraethylammonium (drug)

    drug: Drugs that affect skeletal muscle: …that facilitate acetylcholine release, including tetraethylammonium and 4-aminopyridine. They work by blocking potassium-selective channels in the nerve membrane, thereby prolonging the electrical impulse in the nerve terminal and increasing the amount of acetylcholine released. This can effectively restore transmission under certain conditions, but these drugs are not selective enough for…

  • tetraethyllead (chemical compound)

    tetraethyl lead (TEL), organometallic compound containing the toxic metal lead that for much of the 20th century was the chief antiknock agent for automotive gasoline, or petrol. Beginning in the 1970s, “leaded gasoline” was phased out, first in the United States and then in Europe and around the

  • tetraethylthiuram disulfide (drug)

    organosulfur compound: Thiocarbonyl compounds: The related compound disulfiram (Antabuse; R = CH2CH3) is used in treating alcoholism. A thioamide, ethionamide, is an important drug used in the treatment of tuberculosis, and other thioamides are used as peptide analogs and in peptide synthesis.

  • tetrafluoroethylene (chemical compound)

    tetrafluoroethylene, a colourless, odourless, faintly toxic gas belonging to the family of organic halogen compounds; it is the starting material in the manufacture of polytetrafluoroethylene (q.v.), a valuable synthetic resin. Tetrafluoroethylene is produced by heating chlorodifluoromethane, which

  • tetragametic chimera (genetics)

    chimera: The different tissues of tetragametic chimeras are made up of cells derived from one or both zygotes; for example, while one tissue type may consist of cells from one zygote, other tissues may consist of cells from the other zygote or may be cellular composites of both zygotes. Indications…

  • tetragametic individual (genetics)

    chimera: … fuse together, producing a so-called tetragametic individual—an individual originating from four gametes, or sex cells. (Under normal circumstances, in the absence of zygote fusion, two fertilized eggs result in the production of dizygotic, or fraternal, twins.) Dispermic chimerism can also occur when a zygote fuses with a fertilized polar body…

  • Tetragnathidae (spider)

    spider: Annotated classification: Family Tetragnathidae (long-jawed orb weavers) 1,000 species worldwide. Males with long chelicerae; epigynum often secondarily lost. Family Pholcidae (daddy longlegs spiders) About 960 species worldwide. Similar to the nonspiders called daddy longlegs of the order Opiliones.

  • tetragonal system (crystallography)

    tetragonal system, one of the structural categories to which crystalline solids can be assigned. Crystals in this system are referred to three mutually perpendicular axes, two of which are equal in length. If the atoms or atom groups in the solid are represented by points and the points are

  • Tetragonuridae (fish, family Tetragonuridae)

    perciform: Annotated classification: Ariommidae, Amarsipidae, and Tetragonuridae Eocene to present; slender to ovate, deep-bodied fishes; dorsal fin continuous or spinous portion set off from soft portion by deep notch; in the most generalized species, which resemble Kyphosidae, the soft dorsal is preceded by about 6 low, stoutish spines; other species resemble…

  • tetragrammaton

    Yahweh, name for the God of the Israelites, representing the biblical pronunciation of “YHWH,” the Hebrew name revealed to Moses in the book of Exodus. The name YHWH, consisting of the sequence of consonants Yod, Heh, Waw, and Heh, is known as the tetragrammaton. After the Babylonian Exile (6th

  • tetragrammaton pentagram

    pentagram: …this concept with the “tetragrammaton pentagram,” which includes a variety of symbols that represent human existence. In addition to planetary and astrological symbols, this pentagram includes symbols of the four elements and Hebrew letters. The pentagram was also used by the Freemasons, who sometimes placed a G in the…

  • Tetragraptus (graptolite genus)

    Tetragraptus, genus of extinct graptolites (colonial animals related to the chordates) that occur as fossils in marine rocks of the Early Ordovician Epoch (505 to 478 million years ago). The genus is a useful guide, or index, fossil for the Early Ordovician; long-distance correlations between rock

  • tetrahedral arrangement (molecular shape)

    chemical bonding: Molecular shapes and VSEPR theory: …one another, as in the tetrahedral arrangement of hydrogen atoms around the central carbon atom in methane, CH4, or the angular arrangement of atoms in H2O.

  • tetrahedral theory (geology)

    continent: …as explanation are: (1) the tetrahedral (four-faced) theory, in which a cooling earth assumes the shape of a tetrahedron by spherical collapse; (2) the accretion theory, in which younger rocks attached to older shield areas became buckled to form the landforms; (3) the continental-drift theory, in which an ancient floating…

  • tetrahedral-octahedral-tetrahedral strip (mineralogy)

    amphibole: Crystal structure: …(t-o-t) strips, also known as I beams, are approximately twice as wide in the b direction as the equivalent t-o-t strips in pyroxenes because of the doubling of the chains in the amphiboles. The t-o-t I beams are schematically shown in Figure 4B. The structure ruptures around the stronger I…

  • tetrahedrite (mineral)

    tetrahedrite, common sulfosalt mineral, an antimony sulfide of copper, iron, zinc, and silver [(Cu,Fe,Zn,Ag)12Sb4S13], that is an important ore of copper and sometimes of silver. It forms gray to black metallic crystals or masses in metalliferous hydrothermal veins. Tetrahedrite forms a solid