gastropod: Classification: Superfamily Viviparacea Large, 2.5- to 5-cm globular pond and river snails of the Northern Hemisphere (Viviparidae) and tropical regions (Ampullariidae); frequently used in freshwater aquariums with tropical fish. Superfamily Littorinacea Periwinkles, on rocky shores

gastropod: Classification: …of the Northern Hemisphere (Viviparidae) and tropical regions (Ampullariidae); frequently used in freshwater aquariums with tropical fish. Superfamily Littorinacea Periwinkles, on rocky shores (Littorinidae) of all oceans; land snails of the West Indies, part of Africa, and Europe (Pomatiasidae).

viviparity, retention and growth of the fertilized egg within the maternal body until the young animal, as a larva or newborn, is capable of independent existence. The growing embryo derives continuous nourishment from the mother, usually through a placenta or similar structure. This is the case in

eelpout: …eggs; others, including the abundant European eelpout, or viviparous blenny (Zoarces viviparus), give birth to live young.

reptile: North temperate zone: The viviparous lizard (L. vivipara, or Z. vivipara) and the European viper (V. berus) are the most northerly distributed reptiles. A portion of each reptile’s geographic range occurs just north of the Arctic Circle, at least in Scandinavia. Other reptiles—the slowworm (Anguis fragilis), the sand lizard…

John James Audubon: Drawings: …1840–44), and a new work, Viviparous Quadrupeds of North America, 3 vol. (150 plates, 1845–48), and the accompanying text (3 vol., 1846–53), completed with the aid of his sons and the naturalist John Bachman.

viviparity, retention and growth of the fertilized egg within the maternal body until the young animal, as a larva or newborn, is capable of independent existence. The growing embryo derives continuous nourishment from the mother, usually through a placenta or similar structure. This is the case in

Bituriges: …known as Berry; and the Vivisci, with a capital at the port of Burdigala (modern Bordeaux) on the shore of the Gironde Estuary. During the Gallic revolt of 52 bc, the Cubi defended Avaricum, but Julius Caesar destroyed the town and its inhabitants. Both groups were later included in the…

What do you think? Explore the ProCon debate vivisection, operation on a living animal for experimental rather than healing purposes; more broadly, all experimentation on live animals. It is opposed by many as cruelty and supported by others on the ground that it advances medicine; a middle

Zoe Saldaña: …to the animated musical film Vivo, which featured songs by Lin-Manuel Miranda, and the TV miniseries Maya and the Three, about a Mesoamerican warrior princess. The following year she appeared in David O. Russell’s period satire Amsterdam, the action comedy The Adam Project, and the Netflix limited

Claude Lelouch: …directed Vivre pour vivre (1967; Live for Life), Mariage (1974; Marriage), Robert et Robert (1978; “Robert and Robert”), and À nous deux (1979; Us Two). For Toute une vie (1974; And Now My Love), he and Uytterhoeven received Oscar nominations for their original screenplay. Lelouch’s later notable movies included the…

Jean-Luc Godard: Breathless and filmmaking style and themes: Vivre sa vie (1962; My Life to Live), a study of a young Parisian prostitute, used, with ironical solipsism, pastiches of documentary form and clinical jargon. Godard’s 1963 film Le Mépris (Contempt), based on a story by the Italian novelist Alberto Moravia, marked his only venture into orthodox and…

comic strip: Europe: …kind of comic, such as Viz (begun 1979), which, in a crude Beano-like style and in Beano parody, offered story lines complete with juvenile sex, profanity, and scatology to a market composed chiefly of males ages 18–25. Viz reached a peak audience of 1.25 million a month in 1990, but…

Visakhapatnam, city and port, northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. It lies on a small embayment of the Bay of Bengal, about 380 miles (610 km) northeast of Chennai in Tamil Nadu state. Visakhapatnam is a major commercial and administrative centre with road, rail, and air connections.

viscacha: …digs elaborate burrow systems called vizcacheras with its forelegs, pushing the soil away with its nose and marking the entrances with piles of anything it can carry, including sticks, stones, bones, dung, and other objects. Although it will eat any vegetation, seeds and grasses are preferred, which makes the viscacha…

Madrid: Development under the Bourbon kings: …north, under the direction of Joaquín Vizcaíno, a nobleman who was also mayor (as was customary at the time). He is also known as the man who introduced such innovations as street numbers for buildings, street lighting, and municipal refuse collection. The Paseo del Prado was extended by a new…

Juan Rulfo was a Mexican writer who is considered one of the finest novelists and short-story creators in 20th-century Latin America, though his production—consisting essentially of two books—was very small. Because of the themes of his fiction, he is often seen as the last of the novelists of the

San Diego: History: …de Henares in 1602 by Sebastián Vizcaíno. Gaspar de Portolá founded a presidio (military post) there on July 16, 1769, and, on the same day, Father Junípero Serra dedicated the first of the California missions (restored 1931). Settlement was confined inside the presidio walls until the 1820s, when residents began…

Dina Boluarte: Political career: Martín Vizcarra had dissolved that body. Again Boluarte failed to attain office when Free Peru came up short of the 5 percent threshold necessary to secure seats for its candidates.

Vizcaya, provincia (province) in the comunidad autónoma (autonomous community) of Basque Country, northern Spain. Originally a tribal territory of the Vascones (4th century), Vizcaya was vested in the crown of Castile and Leon in 1379, but the central government has always had difficulties ruling

Bay of Biscay, wide inlet of the North Atlantic Ocean indenting the coast of western Europe. Forming a roughly triangular body with an area of about 86,000 square miles (223,000 square km), it is bounded on the east by the west coast of France and on the south by the north coast of Spain. Its

viscount: Spain: …Spain introduced the system of vizcondados previos (regulations of 1631 and of 1664); under this, no one could proceed to the rank of conde (count) or marqués (marquess) unless he had previously been vizconde. A fee of 750 ducats had to be paid for this habilitating title (except in the…

Vizetelly family, family of Italian descent active in journalism and publishing from the late 18th century in England and later in France (briefly) and the United States. James Henry Vizetelly (died 1838) published Cruikshank’s Comic Almanack and other British annuals. His son Henry Richard

Vizetelly family: Francis Horace (afterward Frank) Vizetelly (1864–1938), Henry Richard’s only son by a second marriage, emigrated to the United States (1891), where he formed a lifetime association with the publishing house of Funk and Wagnalls. Beginning as assistant on the Standard Dictionary of the English Language (1894), he was from…

Vizetelly family: His younger brother Frank (1830–83?) helped to establish (1857) the Paris periodical Le Monde illustré, which he edited for two years. He later served for 24 years (1859–83) as a war correspondent for The Illustrated London News in Giuseppi Garibaldi’s Italy, in Spain, in the American Civil War,…

Vizetelly family: James Henry Vizetelly (died 1838) published Cruikshank’s Comic Almanack and other British annuals. His son Henry Richard (1820–94) was a correspondent (chiefly in Paris) for The Illustrated London News and the founder of two brief competitors. In 1852 he published a best-selling cheap reprint of…

Vizianagaram, city, northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. It is situated in the heart of the Eastern Ghats, about 15 miles (24 km) west of the Bay of Bengal and 25 miles (40 km) north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. Vizianagaram derives its name from the Vijayanagar empire, a powerful

Vizianagaram, city, northeastern Andhra Pradesh state, southern India. It is situated in the heart of the Eastern Ghats, about 15 miles (24 km) west of the Bay of Bengal and 25 miles (40 km) north-northeast of Visakhapatnam. Vizianagaram derives its name from the Vijayanagar empire, a powerful

vizier, originally the chief minister or representative of the ʿAbbāsid caliphs and later a high administrative officer in various Muslim countries, among Arabs, Persians, Turks, Mongols, and other eastern peoples. The office took shape during its tenure by the Barmakid (Barmecide) family in the

Omar Vizquel is considered one of the greatest fielding infielders in the history of baseball. The Venezuelan shortstop won 11 Gold Glove awards (1993–2001, 2005–06) during his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was also named to three All-Star teams (1998–99, 2002). After playing

Omar Vizquel is considered one of the greatest fielding infielders in the history of baseball. The Venezuelan shortstop won 11 Gold Glove awards (1993–2001, 2005–06) during his 24 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He was also named to three All-Star teams (1998–99, 2002). After playing

Vizsla, breed of sporting dog whose ancestors were probably brought to Hungary by the Magyars more than a thousand years ago. The dog can generally work both as a pointer and as a retriever. Developed on the open plains of Hungary, it was bred to be a swift and cautious hunter, wary of alerting its

Greek literature: Demoticism and folklorism, 1880–1922: …of the Greek short story, Geórgios Vizyenós, combined autobiography with an effective use of psychological analysis and suspense. The most famous and prolific short-story writer, Aléxandros Papadiamándis, produced a wealth of evocations of his native island of Skiáthos imbued with a profound sense of Christian tradition and a compassion for…

Vizetelly family, family of Italian descent active in journalism and publishing from the late 18th century in England and later in France (briefly) and the United States. James Henry Vizetelly (died 1838) published Cruikshank’s Comic Almanack and other British annuals. His son Henry Richard

Very Large Array (VLA), radio telescope system situated on the plains of San Agustin near Socorro, New Mexico, U.S. The VLA went into operation in 1980 and is the most powerful radio telescope in the world. It is operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory. The VLA consists of 27 parabolic

Dutch language, a West Germanic language that is the national language of the Netherlands and, with French and German, one of the three official languages of Belgium. Although speakers of English usually call the language of the Netherlands “Dutch” and the language of Belgium “Flemish,” they are

Belgium: >Flemish Brabant, Antwerp, and Limburg). Just north of the boundary between Walloon Brabant (Brabant Walloon) and Flemish (Vlaams) Brabant lies the officially bilingual but majority French-speaking Brussels-Capital Region, with approximately one-tenth of the total population. (See also

Flanders, region that constitutes the northern half of Belgium. Along with the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region, the self-governing Flemish Region was created during the federalization of Belgium, largely along ethnolinguistic lines, in the 1980s and ’90s. Its elected government has

Belgium: Relief, drainage, and soils: …the Schelde is the low-lying plain of Flanders, which has two main sections. Maritime Flanders, extending inland for about 5 to 10 miles (8 to 16 km), is a region of newly formed and reclaimed land (polders) protected by a line of dunes and dikes and having largely clay soils.…

Flanders, medieval principality in the southwest of the Low Countries, now included in the French département of Nord (q.v.), the Belgian provinces of East Flanders and West Flanders (qq.v.), and the Dutch province of Zeeland (q.v.). The name appeared as early as the 8th century and is believed to

Flanders, region that constitutes the northern half of Belgium. Along with the Walloon Region and the Brussels-Capital Region, the self-governing Flemish Region was created during the federalization of Belgium, largely along ethnolinguistic lines, in the 1980s and ’90s. Its elected government has

Vlaardingen, gemeente (municipality), southwestern Netherlands. It lies along the Nieuwe Maas and Het Scheur, just west of Rotterdam. An early Dutch naval victory was won nearby when Dirk IV defeated Emperor Henry III in 1037; the victories of Count William V (1351) near the town established the

Vlach, any of a group of Romance-language speakers who live south of the Danube in what are now southern Albania, northern Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, and southwestern Bulgaria. Vlach is the English-language term used to describe such an individual. The majority of Vlachs speak Aromanian,

Matthias Flacius Illyricus was a Lutheran Reformer, pioneer in church historical studies, and theological controversialist who created a lasting rift within Lutheranism. From 1539, after studies in Venice with the humanist Baptista Egnatius, Flacius attended the universities of Basel, Tübingen, and

logarithm: History of logarithms: In 1628 the Dutch publisher Adriaan Vlacq brought out a 10-place table for values from 1 to 100,000, adding the missing 70,000 values. Both Briggs and Vlacq engaged in setting up log trigonometric tables. Such early tables were either to one-hundredth of a degree or to one minute of arc.…

Vlad the Impaler: …into the noble family of Vlad II Dracul. His sobriquet Dracula (meaning “son of Dracul”) was derived from the Latin draco (“dragon”) after his father’s induction into the Order of the Dragon, created by Holy Roman Emperor Sigismund for the defense of Christian Europe against the Ottoman Empire. Vlad moved…

Vlad the Impaler was a voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia (1448; 1456–1462; 1476) whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe. Some in the scholarly community have suggested that Bram Stoker’s Dracula character was based on Vlad. Vlad was the

Vlad the Impaler was a voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia (1448; 1456–1462; 1476) whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe. Some in the scholarly community have suggested that Bram Stoker’s Dracula character was based on Vlad. Vlad was the

Vlad the Impaler was a voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia (1448; 1456–1462; 1476) whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe. Some in the scholarly community have suggested that Bram Stoker’s Dracula character was based on Vlad. Vlad was the

Vlad the Impaler was a voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia (1448; 1456–1462; 1476) whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe. Some in the scholarly community have suggested that Bram Stoker’s Dracula character was based on Vlad. Vlad was the

Vlad the Impaler was a voivode (military governor, or prince) of Walachia (1448; 1456–1462; 1476) whose cruel methods of punishing his enemies gained notoriety in 15th-century Europe. Some in the scholarly community have suggested that Bram Stoker’s Dracula character was based on Vlad. Vlad was the

Bihor Massif: A northern extension, Vlădeasa, is a volcanic range reaching 6,023 feet (1,836 m). These mountains are the source of several important rivers. The Vlădeasa spawns the Crișu Repede and the Someșu Cald in a striking gorge.

Bulgaria: The arts of Bulgaria: …Lyubomir Pipkov, Petko Stainov, and Pancho Vladigerov. Bulgarian composers in the second half of the 20th century experimented with new tonality in vocal and instrumental music. Recordings and concert tours abroad won much wider audiences for traditional Bulgarian vocal music.

Montenegro: Under the prince-bishops: In Montenegro the position of vladika, as the prince-bishop was known, brought stability to the territory’s leadership. The link between church and state elevated it in the eyes of the peasantry, institutionalized a form of succession, and excluded the possibility of compromising alliances with the Turks.

Vladikavkaz, city and capital of North Ossetia republic, southwestern Russia. It lies along the Terek River and on the northern slopes of the Caucasus Mountains. Founded in 1784, Vladikavkaz was designed as the key fortress to hold the Georgian Military Highway through the Terek River valley and

Vladimir, oblast (region), western Russia. It is centred on Vladimir city and lies east of Moscow in the basin of the Oka River. The greater part is a low plain, with extensive swamps in the south. The oblast has spruce, pine, and oak, but much of the forest has been cleared. Industries produce

Vladimir, city and administrative centre of Vladimir oblast (region), western Russia, situated on the Klyazma River. Vladimir was founded in 1108 by Vladimir II Monomakh, grand prince of Kiev. The community became the centre of a princedom, deriving importance from trade along the Klyazma. In 1157

Ukraine: Theatre and motion pictures: …theatre was the historical play Vladimir (1705) by Feofan Prokopovich (Ukrainian: Teofan Prokopovych). After a period of decline, a Ukrainian ethnographic theatre developed in the 19th century. Folk plays and vaudeville were raised to a high level of artistry by such actors as Mykola Sadovsky and Mariia Zankovetska in the…

Boris I: Boris’s eldest son and heir, Vladimir (889–893), abandoned his father’s policy and became the instrument of a pagan reaction and a leader of the opponents of Slavic letters and literature. Boris then returned to active politics. With the aid of loyal boyars and the army, Boris drove his son from…

Vladimir I ; feast day July 15) was the grand prince of Kyiv and the first Christian ruler in Kievan Rus. His military conquests consolidated the provinces of Kyiv and Novgorod into a single state, and his Byzantine baptism determined the course of Christianity in the region. Vladimir was the son

Vladimir II Monomakh was the grand prince of Kiev from 1113 to 1125. Vladimir was the son of Grand Prince Vsevolod I Yaroslavich (ruled Kiev 1078–93) and Irina, the daughter of the Byzantine emperor Constantine IX Monomachus. He became active in the politics of Kievan Rus, helping his father and

Vladimir I ; feast day July 15) was the grand prince of Kyiv and the first Christian ruler in Kievan Rus. His military conquests consolidated the provinces of Kyiv and Novgorod into a single state, and his Byzantine baptism determined the course of Christianity in the region. Vladimir was the son

Vladimir I ; feast day July 15) was the grand prince of Kyiv and the first Christian ruler in Kievan Rus. His military conquests consolidated the provinces of Kyiv and Novgorod into a single state, and his Byzantine baptism determined the course of Christianity in the region. Vladimir was the son

Vladimir I ; feast day July 15) was the grand prince of Kyiv and the first Christian ruler in Kievan Rus. His military conquests consolidated the provinces of Kyiv and Novgorod into a single state, and his Byzantine baptism determined the course of Christianity in the region. Vladimir was the son

Mikhail Matveyevich Kheraskov: …by Ivan the Terrible, and Vladimir vozrozhdyonny (1785; “Vladimir Reborn”) is concerned with St. Vladimir’s introduction of Christianity to Russia. Kheraskov composed 20 plays, including tragedies and comedies, embodying classical principles of dramaturgy. He also edited literary magazines. His didactic poem Plody nauk (1761; “The Fruits of the Sciences”) was…

Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tarakanova was an adventuress and pretender to the Russian throne who claimed to be the daughter of the unmarried empress Elizabeth (reigned 1741–62) and Count Aleksey G. Razumovsky. She claimed to have been reared in St. Petersburg, but she was probably not Russian, and her

Vladimir I ; feast day July 15) was the grand prince of Kyiv and the first Christian ruler in Kievan Rus. His military conquests consolidated the provinces of Kyiv and Novgorod into a single state, and his Byzantine baptism determined the course of Christianity in the region. Vladimir was the son

Suzdal, medieval principality that occupied the area between the Oka River and the Upper Volga in northeastern Russia. During the 12th to 14th centuries, Suzdal was under the rule of a branch of the Rurik dynasty. As one of the successor regions to Kiev, the principality achieved great political

Vladimir-Suzdal school, school of medieval Russian mural and icon painting that flourished in the 12th and 13th centuries around the neighbouring cities of Vladimir and Suzdal in the Suzdal region of northeastern Russia. Vladimir-Suzdal, along with the city of Novgorod in northwestern Russia, was

Volodymyr-Volynskyy, city, northwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the Luha River where it is crossed by the Kovel-Lviv railway. It was founded by Vladimir I, grand prince of Kiev, in the 10th century and became the capital of one of the chief princedoms of Kievan Rus. After coming under

Tudor Vladimirescu was a national hero, leader of the popular uprising of 1821 in Walachia. A participant in the Russo-Turkish War (1806–12), Vladimirescu was influenced by the anti-Ottoman autonomist movement in Serbia. He initially allied himself with the Greek revolutionary society—the Philikí

Poland: The rule of Jagiełło: …and rector of Kraków University Paweł Włodkowic (Paulus Vladimiri) denounced the Knights’ policy of conversion by the sword and maintained that the pagans also had their rights. Similarly, the Poles were sympathetic to Jan Hus of Bohemia, who was condemned as a heretic by the council, and lent discreet support…

Yelizaveta Alekseyevna Tarakanova was an adventuress and pretender to the Russian throne who claimed to be the daughter of the unmarried empress Elizabeth (reigned 1741–62) and Count Aleksey G. Razumovsky. She claimed to have been reared in St. Petersburg, but she was probably not Russian, and her

Vladislas II was the king of Bohemia from 1471 and of Hungary from 1490 who achieved the personal union of his two realms. The eldest son of Casimir IV Jagiełło, king of Poland, Vladislas was elected king of Bohemia in 1471. The early part of his reign was spent in conflict with the Hungarian king

Western architecture: Eastern Europe: The interior of his Vladislav Hall, Prague (1493–1510), with its intertwining ribbon vaults, represents the climax of the late Gothic; but as the work on the exterior continued, the ornamental features of windows and portals are Classical. Religious architecture continued in the Gothic mode, and most secular architecture was…

Czechoslovak history: The Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia (895–1306): Another ruler, Vladislav I, became the “supreme cupbearer” to the emperor (1114), one of the highest court offices, which entitled him to participate as one of seven electors in choosing the head of the Holy Roman Empire. Vladislav II (ruled 1140–73) participated in the campaigns of Emperor…

Czechoslovak history: The Přemyslid rulers of Bohemia (895–1306): Vladislav II (ruled 1140–73) participated in the campaigns of Emperor Frederick I (Barbarossa) in Italy. He was named king and crowned by the emperor at Milan in 1158.

Vladivostok, seaport and administrative centre of Primorsky kray (territory), extreme southeastern Russia. It is located around Zolotoy Rog (“Golden Horn Bay”) on the western side of a peninsula that separates Amur and Ussuri bays on the Sea of Japan. The town was founded in 1860 as a Russian

The Masses: …City by the Dutch immigrant Piet Vlag; his goal was to educate the working people of America about art, literature, and socialist theory, but he and the magazine’s first editor quit within 18 months. From 1912 Max Eastman was editor; during his tenure the magazine followed a more radical socialist…

Vlach, any of a group of Romance-language speakers who live south of the Danube in what are now southern Albania, northern Greece, the Republic of Macedonia, and southwestern Bulgaria. Vlach is the English-language term used to describe such an individual. The majority of Vlachs speak Aromanian,

Maurice de Vlaminck was a French painter who was one of the creators of the painting style known as Fauvism. Vlaminck was noted for his brash temperament and broad interests; he was at various times a musician, actor, racing cyclist, and novelist. He was also a self-taught artist who proudly

Dirck Hartog: …in 1696 another Dutch explorer, Willem de Vlamingh, landed on Dirk Hartog Island, found Hartog’s plate, replaced it with a newly inscribed dish, and sent the original to Amsterdam, where it can now be seen in the Rijksmuseum. Hartog continued northward, charting the coast as far as North West Cape…

Vlach: The question of Vlach origins and how that affects their status: …the origin of Aromanian and Meglenoromanian (and Romanian) from Balkan Latin is beyond question, it is unclear to what extent contemporary Balkan Romance speakers are descended from Roman colonists or from indigenous pre-Roman Balkan populations who shifted to Latin. The question itself is of historical interest, but the potential answers…

Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov was an anti-Stalinist military commander who, captured by the Germans early in World War II, became a turncoat and fought with the Germans against the Soviet Union. The son of a kulak, Vlasov was drafted into the Red Army in 1919 and fought in the Russian Civil War. He

Leo Tolstoy: Fiction after 1880 of Leo Tolstoy: …life, Vlast tmy (written 1886; The Power of Darkness). After his death, a number of unpublished works came to light, most notably the novella Khadji-Murat (1904; Hadji-Murad), a brilliant narrative about the Caucasus reminiscent of Tolstoy’s earliest fiction.

Serbia: The early Slav states: …political identity was created by Vlastimir in about 850. This state was centred on an area in what is now eastern Montenegro and southern Serbia known as Raška and extended over the valleys of the Piva, Tara, Lim, and Ibar rivers (or roughly between the Durmitor and Kopaonik mountain ranges).…

radio telescope: Radio telescope arrays: The Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) consists of ten 25-metre (82-foot) dishes spread across the United States from the Virgin Islands to Hawaii. The VLBA operates at wavelengths from 3 mm (0.1 inch) to 1 metre (3 feet) and is used to study quasars, galactic nuclei,…

radio telescope: Very long baseline interferometry: In conventional interferometers and arrays, coaxial cable, waveguide, or even fibre-optic links are used to distribute a common local-oscillator reference signal to each antenna and also to return the received signal from an individual antenna to a central laboratory where it…

radio telescope: Radio telescope arrays: …(26-foot) dish, known as the VLBI Space Observatory Program (VSOP), in Earth orbit. Working with the VLBA and other ground-based radio telescopes, VSOP gave interferometer baselines up to 33,000 km (21,000 miles). (VSOP was also known as the Highly Advanced Laboratory for Communication and Astronomy [HALCA].) In 2003 the VSOP…

tanker: Very large crude carriers (VLCCs). These ships, with a length of some 330 metres (1,100 feet), have capacities between 200,000 and 320,000 dwt. They carry in the area of two million barrels. Suezmax. The largest ships that can transit the Suez Canal, these tankers are…

therapeutics: Obesity: …of these diets is the very-low-calorie diet (VLCD) that results in rapid fat loss while minimizing the loss of lean muscle tissue. These diets require supplementation with potassium and a vitamin-mineral complex. Fad diets that eliminate one foodstuff, such as carbohydrate or protein, may give short-term results but fail in…

Guy Verhofstadt: …of the PVV to the Liberal and Democratic Flemish Party (VLD) in hopes of attracting more centrist voters. In 1997 he was reelected as president of the VLD. In elections in 1999 the VLD defeated Prime Minister Jean-Luc Dehaene’s centre-left coalition, and Verhofstadt became the first liberal prime minister of…

lipid: Very low-density lipoproteins (VLDL): VLDL is a lipoprotein class synthesized by the liver that is analogous to the chylomicrons secreted by the intestine. Its purpose is also to deliver triglycerides, cholesteryl esters, and cholesterol to peripheral tissues. VLDL is largely depleted of its triglyceride content…

John H. Van Vleck was an American physicist and mathematician who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1977 with Philip W. Anderson and Sir Nevill F. Mott. The prize honoured Van Vleck’s contributions to the understanding of the behaviour of electrons in magnetic, noncrystalline solid materials.

playa, flat-bottom depression found in interior desert basins and adjacent to coasts within arid and semiarid regions, periodically covered by water that slowly filtrates into the ground water system or evaporates into the atmosphere, causing the deposition of salt, sand, and mud along the bottom

Till Eulenspiegel, German peasant trickster whose merry pranks were the source of numerous folk and literary tales. The historical Till Eulenspiegel is said to have been born at Kneitlingen, Brunswick, and to have died in 1350 at Mölln, Schleswig-Holstein, where his gravestone has been known since

telecommunications media: The radio-frequency spectrum: …from very low frequency (VLF), starting at 3 kilohertz, and extending to extremely high frequency (EHF), ending at 300 gigahertz.

Captain Beefheart was an innovative American avant-garde rock and blues singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist. Performing with the shifting lineup of musicians known as His Magic Band, Captain Beefheart produced a series of albums from the 1960s to the ’80s that had limited commercial appeal but

Vlissingen, gemeente (municipality), southwestern Netherlands. It is situated on the southern coast of Walcheren, at the mouth of the Western Schelde (Scheldt) estuary. A medieval trading town with emphasis on herring fishing, its importance lay in its position controlling the approach to Antwerp.

Komsomol, in the history of the Soviet Union, organization for young people aged 14 to 28 that was primarily a political organ for spreading Communist teachings and preparing future members of the Communist Party. Closely associated with this organization were the Pioneers (All-Union Lenin Pioneer