| | - decoherence
- (from the article "quantum computer") ...A quantum computer must maintain coherence between its qubits (known as quantum entanglement) long enough to perform an algorithm; because of nearly inevitable interactions with the environment (decoherence), practical methods of detecting and correcting errors need to be devised; and, ...
- decoking
- (from the article "petroleum refining") Decoking is a routine daily occurrence accomplished by a high-pressure water jet. First the top and bottom heads of the coke drum are removed. Next a hole is drilled in the coke from the top to the bottom of the ...
- decolonization
- (from the article "international relations") Islamic and South Asian nationalism, first awakened in the era of the first World War, triumphed in the wake of the second, bringing on in the years 1946-50 the first great wave of decolonization. The British and French fulfilled their ...
- decolorization
- (from the article "sugar") Melt syrup is clarified either by phosphatation, in which phosphoric acid and lime are added to form calcium phosphates, which are removed by surface scraping in a flotation clarifier, or by carbonatation, in which carbon dioxide gas and lime form ...
- decomposer
- (from the article "carbon cycle") ...CO2 directly to the atmosphere as a by-product of their respiration. The carbon present in animal wastes and in the bodies of all organisms is released as CO2 by decay, or decomposer, organisms (chiefly bacteria and fungi) in a series ...
- decomposition
- (from the article "soap and detergent") ...as it passes from towns through drains to sewers and sewage systems, then to rivers, and finally to the sea. It has caused difficulties with river navigation; and, because the foam retards biological degradation of organic material in sewage, it ...
- decomposition reaction
- (from the article "chemical reaction") Decomposition reactions are processes in which chemical species break up into simpler parts. Usually, decomposition reactions require energy input. For example, a common method of producing oxygen gas in the laboratory is the decomposition of potassium chlorate (KClO3) by heat.carbene ...
- decompression sickness
- physiological effects of the formation of gas bubbles in the body because of rapid transition from a high-pressure environment to one of lower pressure. Pilots of unpressurized aircraft, underwater divers, and caisson workers are highly susceptible to the sickness because ... [12 Related Articles]
- decongestant
- any drug used to relieve swelling of the nasal mucosa accompanying such conditions as the common cold and hay fever. When administered in nasal sprays or drops or in devices for inhalation, decongestants shrink the mucous membranes lining the nasal ... [1 Related Articles]
- deconstruction
- form of philosophical and literary analysis, derived mainly from work begun in the 1960s by the French philosopher Jacques Derrida, that questions the fundamental conceptual distinctions, or "oppositions," in Western philosophy through a close examination of the language and logic ... [10 Related Articles]
- decontamination
- (from the article "chemical weapon") A number of methods have been found useful in decontaminating areas and people covered with chemical agents, including spraying with supertropical bleach (chlorinated lime) or washing contaminated surfaces or garments with warm soapy water. The challenge is finding and using ...
- decor bois
- (French: "wood decoration"), in decorative arts, trompe l'oeil decoration of porcelain and faience to simulate grained and knotted wood with the likeness of an engraving "nailed" to it. This device appeared in the mid-18th century on cups, plates, and jars ...
- decorative art
- (from the article "decorative art") any of those arts that are concerned with the design and decoration of objects that are chiefly prized for their utility, rather than for their purely aesthetic qualities. Ceramics, glassware, basketry, jewelry, metalware, furniture, textiles, clothing, and other such goods ...
- Decorative Arts, Museum of
- (from the article "Czech Republic") ...the republic's many museums, three in Prague are especially noteworthy: the National Museum (founded 1818), the National Gallery (1796; whose collection is exhibited in several locations), and the Museum of Decorative Arts (1885), the latter housing one of the world's ...
- Decorative Arts, Museum of
- (from the article "Carrier-Belleuse, Albert") ...A master of anatomy and characterization, he was a highly sought-after portraitist. He also was a major force behind the establishment in the early 1860s of what later became the Museum of Decorative Arts, an institution that elevated the status ...
- decorum
- in literary style, the appropriate rendering of a character, action, speech, or scene. The concept of literary propriety, in its simplest stage of development, was outlined by Aristotle. In later classical criticism, the Roman poet Horace maintained that to retain ... [4 Related Articles]
- decoupage
- (French: "cutting out"), the art of cutting and pasting cutouts to simulate painting on a wood, metal, or glass surface. There are many variations in technique, but the four basic steps of decoupage generally are cutting out the pictures, arranging ...
- Decoux, Jean
- governor-general of French Indochina for the provisional (Vichy) French government during World War II (1940-45). His reforms, which were designed to undermine Japanese influence in the area, unwittingly helped lay the groundwork for Vietnamese nationalist resistance to French rule after ... [2 Related Articles]
- decoy
- (from the article "radar") ...cloud consisting of a large number of tiny metallic reflecting strips that create strong echoes over a large area to mask the presence of real target echoes or to create confusion, and (4) decoys, which are small, inexpensive air vehicles ...
- decreasing marginal utility
- (from the article "probability and statistics") ...them was Nicolas's cousin Daniel Bernoulli, whose solution depended on the idea that a ducat added to the wealth of a rich man benefits him much less than it does a poor man (a concept now known as decreasing marginal ...
- decree nisi
- (from the article "interlocutory decree") ...a judicial decision that is not final or that deals with a point other than the principal subject matter of the controversy at hand. An interlocutory decree of divorce in the United States or a decree nisi in England, for ...
- decreolization
- (from the article "African American English") ...American Southeast, or a descendant of 17th-century West African Pidgin English. The possibility that the structure of modern Ebonics is the result of decreolization has also been widely studied. (Decreolization, or debasilectalization, is the process by which a vernacular loses ...
- decreta
- (from the article "constitutiones principum") ...or instructions to subordinates, especially provincial governors, (3) rescripta, written answers to officials or others who consulted the emperor, in particular on a point of law, and (4) decreta, or decisions of the emperor sitting as a judge.
- decretal
- a reply in writing by the pope to a particular question of church discipline that has been referred to him. In modern usage, such a document is referred to as a rescript (reply). Decretals issued in response to particular questions ... [6 Related Articles]
- Decroly method
- (from the article "education") The Decroly method can be characterized as a program of work based on centres of interest and educative games. Its basic feature is the workshop-classroom, in which children can go freely about their own occupations. Behind the complex of individual ...
- Decroly, Ovide
- Belgian pioneer in the education of children, including those with physical disabilities. Through his work as a physician, Decroly became involved in a school for disabled children and consequently became interested in education. One outcome of this interest was his ... [2 Related Articles]
- decryption
- (from the article "data encryption") the process of disguising information as "ciphertext," or data unintelligible to an unauthorized person. Conversely, decryption, or decipherment, is the process of converting ciphertext back into its original format. Manual encryption has been used since Roman times, but the term ...
- DeCuir, John
- (from the article "1956: Other Winners") ...Color: Lionel Lindon for Around the World in 80 DaysArt Direction, Black-and-White: Malcolm F. Brown and Cedric Gibbons for Somebody up There Likes MeArt Direction, Color: John DeCuir and Lyle R. Wheeler for The King and IMusic Score of a ...
- decurio
- in ancient Rome, the head of a group of 10. The title had two applications, one civil, the other military. In the first usage decurio was applied to a member of the local council or senate of a colonia (a ...
- Dedalus, Stephen
- (from the article "Joyce, James") ...(1914). Three stories, The Sisters, Eveline, and After the Race, had appeared under the pseudonym Stephen Dedalus before the editor decided that Joyce's work was not suitable for his readers. Meanwhile ...
- Dede Korkut
- (from the article "Islamic arts") ...had as its basis the Turco-Iranian legend of an 8th-century hero, Abu Muslim, another the Turkish tales of the knight Danishmend. Other epics, such as the traditional Turkish tale of Dede Korkut, were preserved by storytellers who improvised certain parts ...
- Dedeaux, Rod
- American baseball coach (b. Feb. 17, 1914, New Orleans, La.-d. Jan. 5, 2006, Glendale, Calif.), modeled his coaching style on that of his friend and major league baseball coach Casey Stengel and guided the University of Southern California (USC) Trojans ...
- Dedekind cut
- (from the article "Dedekind, Richard") ...that the character of the continuum need not depend on the quantity of points on a line segment (or continuum) but rather on how the line submits to being divided. His method, now called the Dedekind cut, consisted in separating ...
- Dedekind, Richard
- German mathematician who developed a major redefinition of irrational numbers in terms of arithmetic concepts. Although not fully recognized in his lifetime, his treatment of the ideas of the infinite and of what constitutes a real number continues to influence ... [8 Related Articles]
- Dedham
- town (township), Norfolk county, eastern Massachusetts, U.S., on the Charles River, just southwest of Boston. One of the oldest inland settlements of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, it was founded in 1635 and named for Dedham, Essex, England, and incorporated in ...
- Dedieu, Virginie
- (from the article "Swimming") ...medals each, capturing the duet free, the free routine combination, and the duet technical. Natalya Ishchenko took the solo technical contest to account for the fourth Russian gold. Only France's Virginie Dedieu, who came out of a premature retirement, could ...
- dedifferentiation
- (from the article "human embryology") ...changed environment, cartilage may lose its matrix, and its cells may come to resemble the more primitive tissue from which it arose. Nevertheless, despite such reversal and apparent simplification ("dedifferentiation"), these cells retain their former histological specificity. Under suitable environmental ...
- deduction
- in logic, a rigorous proof, or derivation, of one statement (the conclusion) from one or more statements (the premises)-i.e., a chain of statements, each of which is either a premise or a consequence of a statement occurring earlier in the ... [14 Related Articles]
- deduction
- (from the article "income tax") ...on a flat per capita basis or in accordance with a schedule. When income is taxed at graduated rates, exemptions are worth more to high-income than to low-income families. In order to provide equal tax allowances for dependents to families ...
- deductive-nomological theory
- (from the article "history, philosophy of") ...reason or experience. This doctrine may be said to have been given more rigorous expression among Positivist philosophers of the present century in the shape of what is variously known as the "deductive-nomological" or "covering law" theory of explanation; as ...
- Dedza
- (from the article "Dedza") ...is near the Mozambique border, on the traditional route between Ntcheu and Lilongwe, and is the trade centre for a fertile agricultural area (rice and potatoes). Extensive softwood plantations cover Dedza Mountain; there are sawmills in the town and a ...
- Dedza
- town, central Malawi, at the foot of Dedza Mountain (7,211 feet [2,198 metres]). Situated in an area with a cool, healthy climate and a perennial supply of mountain water, the town is near the Mozambique border, on the traditional route ... [1 Related Articles]
- Dedza Mountain
- (from the article "Malawi") ...about three-quarters of the total land area. The highland areas are mainly isolated tracts that rise as much as 8,000 feet above sea level. They comprise the Nyika, Viphya, and Dowa highlands and Dedza-Kirk Mountain Range in the north and ...
- dee
- (from the article "cyclotron") ...accelerator of this type was developed in the early 1930s by the American physicists Ernest O. Lawrence and M. Stanley Livingston. A cyclotron consists of two hollow semicircular electrodes, called dees, mounted back to back, separated by a narrow gap, ...
- Dee, Frances
- American actress (b. Nov. 26, 1907, Los Angeles, Calif.-d. March 6, 2004, Norwalk, Conn.), was a movie star of the 1930s and '40s who was known for her serene beauty, which was showcased in such films as An American Tragedy ...
- Dee, John
- English mathematician, natural philosopher, and student of the occult. [2 Related Articles]
- Dee, River
- river in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, rising at an elevation above 4,000 feet (1,250 metres) in the Cairngorm Mountains and flowing for about 90 miles (145 km) east to the North Sea at Aberdeen. Its headwaters flow turbulently in highland glens set ...
- Dee, River
- river in northern Wales and England, approximately 70 miles (110 km) long. It rises in the county of Gwynedd on the slopes of Dduallt, in Snowdonia National Park, and falls rapidly to Bala Lake. Its valley then runs northeast to ...
- Dee, Ruby
- American actress and social activist who was known for her pioneering work in African American theatre and film and for her outspoken civil rights activism. Dee's artistic partnership with her husband, Ossie Davis, was considered one of the theatre and ... [1 Related Articles]
- Dee, Sandra
- American actress (b. April 23, 1942, Bayonne, N.J.-d. Feb. 20, 2005, Thousand Oaks, Calif.), worked as a model and appeared in television commercials before becoming the sweetheart of the teen moviegoing set. Although she had serious roles in melodramas, including ...
- deed of trust
- (from the article "mortgage") The mortgage is still the most widely used form of security device in transactions involving land in Anglo-American jurisdictions. Alternative devices, such as the deed of trust (whereby a trustee holds title to the property and conveys it to the ...
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