prenatal testing, any of several screening and diagnostic procedures that provide information on the health of a developing human fetus. Prenatal screening tests generally are used to assess the likelihood that a baby will be affected by certain conditions. When screening tests indicate that a

John Barry British composer who provided the musical scores for more than 100 motion pictures and television programs, notably 11 movies featuring Ian Fleming’s iconic spy James Bond—From Russia with Love (1963), Goldfinger (1964), Thunderball (1965), You Only Live Twice (1967), On Her Majesty’s

Maurice Prendergast was an American watercolourist, one of the first artists in the United States to use the broad areas of colour characteristic of Post-Impressionism. During the 1880s Prendergast studied art for two years in Paris, where he was influenced by the work of the French Impressionists

Maurice Prendergast was an American watercolourist, one of the first artists in the United States to use the broad areas of colour characteristic of Post-Impressionism. During the 1880s Prendergast studied art for two years in Paris, where he was influenced by the work of the French Impressionists

plant disease: Symptoms: …one of four major categories: prenecrotic, necrotic, hypoplastic, and hyperplastic or hypertrophic. These categories reflect abnormal effects on host cells, tissues, and organs that can be seen without a hand lens or microscope.

formal logic: Logical manipulations in LPC: …is said to be in prenex normal form (PNF). Wffs that are in PNF are often more convenient to work with than those that are not. For every wff of LPC, however, there is an equivalent wff in PNF (often simply called its PNF). One effective method for finding the…

Jean-Luc Godard: Later work and awards of Jean-Luc Godard: …films—Passion (1982), Prénom Carmen (1983; First Name: Carmen), and the highly controversial Je vous salue, Marie (1985; Hail Mary)—that served as personal statements on femininity, nature, and Christianity.

Violeta Barrios de Chamorro: …Cardenal, editor of the newspaper La Prensa, which was often critical of the Somoza family dictatorship. The Chamorros were forced into exile in 1957 and lived in Costa Rica for several years before returning to Nicaragua after the Somoza government declared an amnesty.

La Prensa, Argentine daily newspaper that, soon after its founding in Buenos Aires in 1869, broke with the traditional emphasis on propaganda to stress professional, accurate news reporting and independent expressions of editorial opinion. La Prensa is widely regarded as the finest Spanish-language

Pedro Gerado Beltrán: …of the influential Lima newspaper La Prensa (“The Press”). An ultraconservative in social and economic matters, he helped organize in 1936 the National Party, whose candidate lost the presidential election that year. After returning from his post as the ambassador to the United States (1944–45), he used his newspaper to…

Nova Herculis: …by the British amateur astronomer J.P.M. Prentice, in the northern constellation Hercules. It reached an apparent visual magnitude of 1.4 and remained visible to the unaided eye for months. At its centre was found an eclipsing binary pair of small stars, revolving around each other with a period of 4…

deindividuation: The role of accountability: …the 1980s the American psychologists Steven Prentice-Dunn and Ronald Rogers reformulated Diener’s theory by introducing the distinction between public and private self-awareness in deindividuated contexts. Public self-awareness is said to decrease as a result of anonymity, so that people become less aware of how they appear publicly to others. Anonymous…

Elizabeth Payson Prentiss was an American writer of popular children’s books of a pious and homely character. Elizabeth Payson was the daughter of a well-known minister and revivalist. At age 19 she opened a short-lived school, but ill health made it difficult for her to establish herself. In 1845

American frontier: The role of women on the frontier: In the mid-1830s Narcissa Whitman and Eliza Spalding became the first white women to cross the Continental Divide when they accompanied their husbands—Marcus Whitman and Henry Harmon Spalding—on a Congregationalist mission in the Northwest. Only when settlers came to clear a bit of land and establish a homestead…

In Harm’s Way: Cast: Assorted References

prenuptial agreement, in family law, a contract made between two persons before their marriage to, or civil union with, each other that establishes the financial rights, responsibilities, or obligations of one or both persons should the marriage or union end in divorce or should one of the partners

prenuptial agreement, in family law, a contract made between two persons before their marriage to, or civil union with, each other that establishes the financial rights, responsibilities, or obligations of one or both persons should the marriage or union end in divorce or should one of the partners

isoprenoid: Isoprenoids of plants and animals: The so-called prenylated proteins do not function without the isoprenoid. These modifications occur in proteins that induce cancers, and scientists believe that drugs that block protein prenylation can be a means to prevent the spread of the disease in an individual.

German literature: After reunification: …German writers, known as the Prenzlauer Berg poets after the district in Berlin where they lived, were shown to have acted as informants for the secret police. The resulting discussions stimulated a probing reexamination of the problem of autonomous art and the relation of aesthetics to ideology.

Olga Preobrajenska was a Russian prima ballerina who was known for her lyrical dancing style and who also became known as an influential teacher. Preobrajenska began her ballet training in 1879 at the Imperial Theatre School, St. Petersburg, where her teachers included Christian Johansson, Lev

Kizhi Island: The Preobranzhenskaya (Transfiguration) Church (1714), 121 feet (37 m) in height, with its three tiers and 22 cupolas, is often compared to St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow’s Red Square. The Preobranzhenskaya houses a collection of iconostases (each a screen or partition with doors and tiers of…

Olga Preobrajenska was a Russian prima ballerina who was known for her lyrical dancing style and who also became known as an influential teacher. Preobrajenska began her ballet training in 1879 at the Imperial Theatre School, St. Petersburg, where her teachers included Christian Johansson, Lev

Russia: The Petrine state: …in the chancery of the Preobrazhensky Guards, the tsar’s own regiment, which became a much-dreaded organ of political police and repression. Under different names the police apparatus remained a permanent feature of the imperial regime. The police were also the instrument of the ruler’s personal intervention, an essential function for…

Seamus Heaney: …these essays have appeared in Preoccupations: Selected Prose, 1968–1978 (1980) and Finders Keepers: Selected Prose, 1971–2001 (2002). A collection of his lectures at Oxford was published as The Redress of Poetry (1995).

human behaviour: Piaget’s theory: …to 2 years, (2) the preoperational stage from 2 to 7 years, (3) the concrete-operational stage from 7 to 12 years, and (4) the stage of formal operations that characterizes the adolescent and the adult. One of Piaget’s fundamental assumptions is that early intellectual growth arises primarily out of the…

chemoreception: Territorial behavior: However, the preorbital glands, located on the side of the face with an opening just in front of the eyes, are the best known in relation to territorial behavior. In species such as the South African bontebok, the preorbital glands are larger in males than in females.…

pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP), medication taken prior to having unprotected sex or sharing needles that helps lower the risk of becoming infected with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus), the cause of AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome). The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved

preparatory school, school that prepares students for entrance to a higher school. In Europe, where secondary education has been selective, preparatory schools have been those that catered to pupils wishing to enter the academic secondary schools. In North America, where secondary education has

health maintenance organization: …main types of HMOs, the prepaid group practice model and the medical care foundation (MCF), also called individual practice association. The prepaid group practice type of health care plan was pioneered by the Ross-Loos Medical Group in California, U.S., in 1929. In this model, physicians are organized into a group…

Maurice Wilkes: Wheeler and Stanley Gill The Preparation of Programs for an Electronic Digital Computer (1951), the first book on computer programming. EDSAC was used for research in physics, astronomy, and meteorology, and biochemist John Kendrew used EDSAC to determine the three-dimensional structure of the muscle protein

separation and purification: Chromatography: …at the microgram-to-milligram level and preparative-scale liquid chromatography at the tens-of-grams level have been developed. In biotechnology, preparative-scale liquid chromatography is especially important for purification of proteins and peptide hormones made by recombinant technology.

Anna Julia Cooper: …a faculty member at the M Street High School (established in 1870 as the Preparatory High School for Negro Youth) in Washington, D.C. There she taught mathematics, science, and, later, Latin.

preparatory school, school that prepares students for entrance to a higher school. In Europe, where secondary education has been selective, preparatory schools have been those that catered to pupils wishing to enter the academic secondary schools. In North America, where secondary education has

natural childbirth, any of the systems of managing parturition in which the need for anesthesia, sedation, or surgery is largely eliminated by physical and psychological conditioning. Until the early 20th century, the term natural childbirth was thought of as synonymous with normal childbirth. In

baking: Prepared mixes and doughs: Prepared doughs for such products as biscuits and other quick breads, packaged in cans of fibre and foil laminates, are available in refrigerated form. These products carry the mix concept two steps further; the dough or batter is premixed and shaped. Unlike ordinary canned products,…

baking: Prepared mixes and doughs: Prepared dry mixes, available for home use and for small and medium-size commercial bakeries, vary in complexity from self-rising flour, consisting only of salt, leavening ingredients, and flour, to elaborate cake mixes. Mixes offer the consumer ingredients measured with greater accuracy…

John Cage: …instruments such as the “prepared piano” (a piano modified by objects placed between its strings in order to produce percussive and otherworldly sound effects). Cage also experimented with tape recorders, record players, and radios in his effort to step outside the bounds of conventional Western music and its concepts…

Homo sapiens: Behavioral influences: This is the “prepared-core” tool, whereby a stone core was elaborately shaped until a single blow, perhaps with a hammer made of a “soft” material such as bone, would detach a virtually finished tool with a continuous cutting surface around its periphery. The great masters of this technique…

Preparedness Movement, in U.S. history, a campaign that began prior to U.S. entry into World War I (April 1917) to increase U.S. military capabilities and to convince the U.S. citizenry of the need for American involvement in the conflict and ongoing military preparedness. Almost immediately after

The proliferation of legal services and software available on the Web makes creating your will quick and easy—and some experts argue that creating a will online is better than having no will at all. But much like going to the doctor for treatment instead of diagnosing yourself online, hiring an

joint disease: Bursitis: The prepatellar bursa, located on the lower part of the kneecap, is especially subject to involvement in brucellosis (undulant fever).

postal system: Prepayment is ordinarily made by means of postage stamps, franking machine impression, or printed indication of postage paid; payment is not usually required of the addressee.

Austronesian languages: Phonetic types: …either of two types: “preploded” nasals, in which nasal consonants are heard as /-pm/, /-tn/, and /-kng/ at the end of a word, and what might be called “postploded” nasals /-mb-/, /-nd-/, or /-ngg-/, in which a nasal consonant between vowels is followed by a stop that is almost…

preposition, a word that indicates the relationship of a noun, pronoun, or noun phrase (a group of words that function collectively as a noun) to another word or phrase in a sentence. It is one of eight parts of speech in English grammar. Prepositions have a variety of functions and meanings, which

noun: Objective cases: …preposition and are parts of prepositional phrases. Objects of prepositions are shown in italics in the examples below.

history of Mesopotamia: The emergence of Mesopotamian civilization: …bce and are classified as prepottery. The finds included querns (primitive mills) for grinding grain (whether wild or cultivated is not known), the remains of huts about 13 feet in diameter, and a cemetery with grave goods. The presence of copper beads is evidence of acquaintance with metal, though not…

materials science: Polymer-matrix composites: …of composite structures is the preimpregnated tape, or “prepreg.” There are two categories of prepreg: tapes, generally 75 millimetres (3 inches) or less in width, intended for fabrication in automated, computer-controlled tape-laying machines; and “broad goods,” usually several metres in dimension, intended for hand lay-up and large sheet applications. To…

fish processing: Preprocessing: Preprocessing of fish prepares the raw material for final processing. It is often performed on shipboard or in a shore-based plant and includes such operations as inspection, washing, sorting, grading, and butchering of the harvested fish.

human behaviour: Physiological aspects: …said to be in the prepubescent phase. When most of those bodily changes that will eventually take place have been initiated, the person is in the pubescent phase. Finally, when most of those bodily changes have already occurred, the person is in the postpubescent phase; this period ends when all…

reproductive system disease: Tumours of the external genitalia: …origin and usually involve the foreskin (prepuce) or glans. Penile cancer is rarely found in men who have been circumcised during infancy. The growth arises on the glans or inner surfaces of the prepuce, and metastases (secondary growths at distant parts of the body) occur through lymph vessels that travel…

prequel, a literary or dramatic work whose story precedes that of an earlier-written work. For example, Lillian Hellman’s play Another Part of the Forest (1946) portrays the earlier lives of the characters she first wrote about in The Little Foxes

prerogative court, in English law, court through which the discretionary powers, privileges, and legal immunities reserved to the sovereign were exercised. Prerogative courts were originally formed during the period when the monarch exercised greater power than Parliament. The royal prerogative is

Lester Young was an American tenor saxophonist who emerged in the mid-1930s Kansas City, Mo., jazz world with the Count Basie band and introduced an approach to improvisation that provided much of the basis for modern jazz solo conception. Young’s tone was a striking departure from the accepted

Josquin des Prez was one of the greatest composers of Renaissance Europe. Josquin’s early life has been the subject of much scholarly debate, and the first solid evidence of his work comes from a roll of musicians associated with the cathedral in Cambrai in the early 1470s. During the late 1470s

Prospero Alpini: …culminated in his widely acclaimed De praesagienda vita et morte aegrotontium (1601; The Presages of Life and Death in Diseases).

Léonide Massine: …created his first symphonic ballet, Les Présages, using Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s Fifth Symphony. Although dancers such as Isadora Duncan had previously used symphonic music, Massine’s choreography more completely paralleled the structure of the music. The symbolic characterizations of Les Présages were innovative because they relied on dance itself rather than…

Liturgy of the Presanctified, a service of worship in Eastern Orthodox and Eastern-rite churches in communion with Rome that is celebrated on Wednesdays and Fridays of Lent and the first three days of Holy Week (the week preceding Easter). Initiated by the Roman pope Gregory I the Great in the late

Athenagoras: 177; Embassy for the Christians) is one of the earliest works to use Neoplatonic concepts to interpret Christian belief and worship for Greek and Roman cultures and to refute early pagan charges that Christians were disloyal and immoral.

Theodore Metochites: In his Presbeutikos (“Embassy Papers”), Metochites left a valuable historical account of these negotiations as well as a concrete description of Byzantine influence on Slavic royalty.

metalogic: Decidability and undecidability: …discovered by the Polish logician M. Presburger and by Skolem (both in 1930) that arithmetic with addition alone or multiplication alone is decidable (with regard to truth) and therefore has complete formal systems. Another well-known positive finding is that of the Polish-American semanticist and logician Alfred Tarski, who developed a…

presbycusis, gradual impairment of hearing in old age. Ordinarily it is not experienced until after the age of 60. The affected person notices that he has increasing difficulty in hearing high-pitched sounds and in understanding conversation. There is neither medical nor surgical treatment that can

memory disorder: Diffuse brain diseases: …syndrome, the disturbance is called presbyophrenia. In most cases the amnesia is complicated by failure in judgment and changes in character. It has been suggested that severe memory complications in an older adult carries a poor prognosis, being related to such factors as a shortened survival time and an increased…

presbyopia, loss of ability to focus the eye sharply on near objects as a result of the decreasing elasticity of the lens of the eye. The eye’s ability to focus on near and far objects—the power of accommodation—depends upon two forces, the elasticity of the lens of the eye and the action of the

presbyter, (from Greek presbyteros, “elder”), an officer or minister in the early Christian Church intermediate between bishop and deacon or, in modern Presbyterianism, an alternative name for elder. The word presbyter is etymologically the original form of “priest.” The history of presbyterial

Prester John, legendary Christian ruler of the East, popularized in medieval chronicles and traditions as a hoped-for ally against the Muslims. Believed to be a Nestorian (i.e., a member of an independent Eastern Christian church that did not accept the authority of the patriarch of Constantinople)

presbyterian, form of church government developed by Swiss and Rhineland Reformers during the 16th-century Protestant Reformation and used with variations by Reformed and Presbyterian churches throughout the world. John Calvin believed that the system of church government used by him and his

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), U.S. Protestant denomination formed on June 10, 1983, in the merger of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (headquartered in New York City) and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (headquartered in Atlanta). The merger ended a North-South split among

John Gresham Machen: …of America, which became the Orthodox Presbyterian Church in 1939. Machen was a major theological voice in support of conservative Christianity.

Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), theologically conservative U.S. evangelical Presbyterian denomination founded in 1973. In the first quarter of the 21st century, the denomination claimed more than 340,000 members and 1,400 churches, making it the second largest Presbyterian denomination in the

Presbyterian Church in Ireland, church organized in 1840 by merger of the Secession Church and the Synod of Ulster. In 1854 the Synod of Munster merged into the church. Presbyterianism in Ireland, except for scattered Puritan groups, began with the plantation of Ulster by King James I in 1610. He

Church of Scotland, national church in Scotland, which accepted the Presbyterian faith during the 16th-century Reformation. According to tradition, the first Christian church in Scotland was founded about 400 by St. Ninian. In the 6th century, Irish missionaries included St. Columba, who settled at

Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), U.S. Protestant denomination formed on June 10, 1983, in the merger of the United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. (headquartered in New York City) and the Presbyterian Church in the United States (headquartered in Atlanta). The merger ended a North-South split among

Presbyterian Church of England, church organized in 1876 by merger of the United Presbyterian Church and various English and Scottish Presbyterian congregations in England. The United Presbyterian Church had resulted from the merger of some Scottish and English Presbyterian congregations in England

Presbyterian Church of Wales, church that developed out of the Methodist revivals in Wales in the 18th century. The early leaders were Howel Harris, a layman who became an itinerant preacher after a religious experience of conversion in 1735, and Daniel Rowlands, an Anglican curate in Cardiganshire

National Covenant, solemn agreement inaugurated by Scottish churchmen on Feb. 28, 1638, in the Greyfriars’ churchyard, Edinburgh. It rejected the attempt by King Charles I and William Laud, archbishop of Canterbury, to force the Scottish church to conform to English liturgical practice and church

Solemn League and Covenant, (1643), agreement between the English and Scots by which the Scots agreed to support the English Parliamentarians in their disputes with the royalists and both countries pledged to work for a civil and religious union of England, Scotland, and Ireland under a

insurance: United States: …the American colonies was the Presbyterian Ministers’ Fund, organized in 1759. By 1820 there were 17 stock life insurance companies in the state of New York alone. Many of the early property insurance companies failed from speculative investments, poor management, and inadequate distribution systems. Others failed after the Great Chicago…

Episcopal Church in Scotland: …with control alternating between the Presbyterian Party (those who believed in the presbyterian form of church government) and the Episcopal Party (those who believed the church should be governed by bishops). After the Restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the two parties merged into a modified episcopacy, which might have…

University of Tulsa, private, coeducational institution of higher learning in Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. It is affiliated with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.). The university offers undergraduate degrees through the Henry Kendall College of Arts and Sciences, the College of Business Administration, and

presbytery, in Western architecture, that part of a cathedral or other large cruciform church that lies between the chancel, or choir, and the high altar, or sanctuary. As an element of a cruciform church (i.e., one laid out in the shape of a cross), the presbytery may be located geographically

presbytery, in church government, ruling body in Presbyterian churches that consists of the ministers and representative elders from congregations within a given district (see

langur: The gray, or Hanuman, langur (S. entellus) of the Indian subcontinent is almost black when newborn and gray, tan, or brown as an adult. Regarded as sacred in Hinduism, it spends a good deal of time on the ground and roams at will in villages and temples of…

langur: …in the smallest species, the white-fronted langur (Presbytis frontata) of Borneo, up to 15 kg in the female and 19 kg in the male of the Himalayan langur (Semnopithecus schistaceus). Leaf monkeys have long fur, and many species have characteristic caps or crests of long hair. Colour varies among species…

preschool education, education during the earliest phases of childhood, beginning in infancy and ending upon entry into primary school at about five, six, or seven years of age (the age varying from country to country). (Read Arne Duncan’s Britannica essay on “Education: The Great Equalizer.”) The

Prescott, city, seat (1864) of Yavapai county, west-central Arizona, U.S. It is situated in a mile-high basin among pine-dotted mountains, in an area that is rich in minerals. Gold mining brought the first settlers to the site (1863); farmers and cattlemen followed. Fort Whipple was built and the

Prescott: The city is home to Prescott College (1966), a four-year liberal arts college, and Yavapai (community) College (1966). Inc. 1883. Pop. (2000) 33,938; Prescott Metro Area, 167,517; (2010) 39,843; Prescott Metro Area, 211,033.

John Prescott was a British politician who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party (1994–2007) and as deputy prime minister under Tony Blair (1997–2007). Prescott came from a working-class family; his grandfather was a coal miner and his father a railwayman. After leaving school at age 15,

Dak Prescott is an American football player who is one of the NFL’s premier quarterbacks, known for his strong arm and leadership abilities. After playing college football at Mississippi State University (MSU), Prescott was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 in the fourth round. Prescott was

Edward C. Prescott was an American economist who, with Finn E. Kydland, won the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2004 for contributions to two areas of dynamic macroeconomics: the time consistency of economic policy and the driving forces behind business cycle fluctuations. Prescott studied

Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford was an American writer whose Gothic romances are set apart by luxuriant description and her unconventional handling of the female stereotypes of her day. Harriet Prescott moved from her native Maine to Newburyport, Massachusetts, in 1849 and attended the

John Prescott was a British politician who served as deputy leader of the Labour Party (1994–2007) and as deputy prime minister under Tony Blair (1997–2007). Prescott came from a working-class family; his grandfather was a coal miner and his father a railwayman. After leaving school at age 15,

Dak Prescott is an American football player who is one of the NFL’s premier quarterbacks, known for his strong arm and leadership abilities. After playing college football at Mississippi State University (MSU), Prescott was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in 2016 in the fourth round. Prescott was

canning: In the late 19th century, Samuel C. Prescott and William Underwood of the United States set canning on a scientific basis by describing specific time-temperature heating requirements for sterilizing canned foods.

Battle of Bunker Hill: The Siege of Boston: William Prescott of Massachusetts, were detached to carry out the project. By some error, never explained, Prescott fortified Breed’s Hill, which, though nearer Boston than Bunker’s, not only was lower but could be more easily surrounded by the British. Prescott and his men had completed…

William H. Prescott was an American historian, best known for his History of the Conquest of Mexico, 3 vol. (1843), and his History of the Conquest of Peru, 2 vol. (1847). He has been called America’s first scientific historian. Prescott was from a prosperous, old New England family. He received

William H. Prescott was an American historian, best known for his History of the Conquest of Mexico, 3 vol. (1843), and his History of the Conquest of Peru, 2 vol. (1847). He has been called America’s first scientific historian. Prescott was from a prosperous, old New England family. He received

prescribed fire, form of land management in which fire is intentionally applied to vegetation. Prescribed fires are conducted under desired conditions to meet specific objectives, such as to restore fire regimes in adapted ecosystems or to limit the amount of dry brush in an area prone to

prescribed fire, form of land management in which fire is intentionally applied to vegetation. Prescribed fires are conducted under desired conditions to meet specific objectives, such as to restore fire regimes in adapted ecosystems or to limit the amount of dry brush in an area prone to

prescription, in both domestic and international law, the effect of the lapse of time in creating and destroying rights. Prescription is either acquisitive, in that an individual is allowed, after a specified period of time, to acquire title, or extinctive—i.e., barring for a period of time certain