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nephrotome (anatomy)
The kidneys of vertebrates consist of a mass of tubules that develop from the stalks of somites called nephrotomes. In some primitive vertebrates such as cyclostomes, the nephrotome in each segment gives rise to only one tubule, but, in the great majority of vertebrates, mesenchyme from adjacent nephrotomes fuses into a common mass that differentiates into a number of nephric tubules......
nephrotoxic drug
The major problem with the aminoglycosides is that the margin of safety between a toxic and a therapeutic dose is narrow. Nephrotoxicity (harmful to kidney cells) and ototoxicity (harmful to the innervation of the organs of hearing and balance) are frequent, and the risk of these reactions increases with age and with preexisting renal diseases or hearing loss. Once-a-day dosing allows the......
Nepia, George (New Zealand athlete)
New Zealand rugby football player who, despite having played in only nine Test (international) matches, is regarded as one of the finest fullbacks in rugby history....
Nepidae (insect)
any of the approximately 150 species of aquatic invertebrates of the family Nepidae (order Hemiptera). The water scorpion resembles a land scorpion in certain ways: it has scythelike front legs adapted for seizing prey and a long, thin, whiplike structure at its posterior end. This “tail,” made up of two attached respiratory tubes, is extended above the surface of the water, enablin...
Nepisiguit (New Brunswick, Canada)
city in Gloucester county, northeastern New Brunswick, Canada. It lies at the mouth of the Nepisiguit River, on Bathurst Harbour, a southern arm of Nepisiguit Bay. The original French settlement, founded in 1619, was called Nepisiguit and then St. Peters. After 1755 the British displaced the French, and in the 1820s the community was renamed to honour the 3rd ...
Nepoko (river, Africa)
...in the numerous streams that drain the Ituri is the colour of strong tea. Besides the Ituri River itself, there are many broad streams that flow generally from east to west. The most notable are the Nepoko in the north, the Epulu and Nduye in the centre, and the Ibina in the south. None of these rivers is navigable, even by pirogue, for more than a few miles. The streams are fed by rains that.....
Nepomuceno, Alberto (Brazilian composer)
...amateur musician Brasílio Itiberê da Cunha with his A sertaneja (1869; “The Country Girl”). Romantic nationalism in Brazil is best represented by Alberto Nepomuceno. In several of his piano pieces, his String Quartet No. 3 (1891; subtitled “Brasileiro”), and above all in his ......
Nepos, Cornelius (Roman historian)
Roman historian, the earliest biographer to write in Latin. He was a correspondent and friend of Cicero and Atticus, and he was the friend (or patron) to whom Catullus dedicated his poems....
Nepos, Julius (Roman emperor)
last legitimate Western Roman emperor (reigned 474–475)....
nepotism
...could monopolize their trades in each town. Powerful guilds, for example, could levy high fees against outsiders to prevent them from entering a trade. Even apprenticeships could be restricted, with preference given to the sons of guild members or the sons of wealthy acquaintances. Responding to these improprieties, the English government tried to define the conditions of apprenticeship with th...
Neppel (Washington, United States)
city, Grant county, central Washington, U.S., situated on the northeast shore of Moses Lake. Located on a traditional hunting and fishing ground, the town was settled in 1897 and was laid out in 1910 as Neppel; in 1938 it was renamed for the Columbia-Sinkiuse Indian leader Moses. Located in the Columbia Rive...
Nepticulidae (insect)
any member of the approximately 300 species in the cosmopolitan family Nepticulidae (sometimes called Stigmellidae), containing some of the smallest members of the order Lepidoptera. Most have long and pointed wings generally covered with scales and spinelike hairs; the wingspan is from 3 to 6 mm (18 to 25 inch)....
Nepticuloidea (moth superfamily)
...moths)130 species worldwide; each wing is very deeply cleft into 6 or more narrow plumelike divisions.Superfamily NepticuloideaApproximately 900 species worldwide; females with one genital opening and a soft ovipositor. Family Nepticulidae....
Neptunalia (Roman festival)
Neptune’s festival (Neptunalia) took place in the heat of the summer (July 23), when water was scarcest; thus, its purpose was probably the propitiation of the freshwater deity. Neptune had a temple in the Circus Flaminius at Rome; one of its features was a sculptured group of marine deities headed by Poseidon and Thetis. In art Neptune appears as the Greek Poseidon, whose attributes are th...
Neptune (planet)
third most massive planet of the solar system and the eighth planet from the Sun. Because of its great distance from Earth, it cannot be seen with the unaided eye. With a small telescope, it appears as a tiny, faint blue-green disk. It is designated by the symbol ♆....
Neptune (Roman god)
in Roman religion, originally the god of fresh water; by 399 bce he was identified with the Greek Poseidon and thus became a deity of the sea. His female counterpart, Salacia, was perhaps originally a goddess of leaping springwater, subsequently equated with the Greek Amphitrite....
Neptune (New Jersey, United States)
in Roman religion, originally the god of fresh water; by 399 bce he was identified with the Greek Poseidon and thus became a deity of the sea. His female counterpart, Salacia, was perhaps originally a goddess of leaping springwater, subsequently equated with the Greek Amphitrite.......
Neptune and Amphitrite (painting by Mabuse)
...visited Rome in 1508. At first he continued his ornate late Gothic style, but by 1514 he began to adopt the great innovations occurring in Italian painting. His mythological paintings, such as the “Neptune and Amphitrite” (Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin) of 1516, indicate that he was able to understand only the superficialities and not the motivation and......
Neptune and Amphitrite (painting by Gossart)
...of Marcantonio Raimondi and Jacopo de’ Barbari. Gossart’s subsequent work shows a continuous effort to develop a fully Italianate style. This is evident in such works as the Neptune and Amphitrite (1516) and the Hercules and Deianira (1517), in which his early, complex designs have given way to a comparatively simple and dire...
Neptune Fountain (fountain, Florence, Italy)
...the “David” in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Bartolommeo Ammannati should be best known for his design of the bridge of Sta. Trinità in Florence, but his most visible work is the Neptune Fountain (1560–75) in the Piazza della Signoria, with its gigantic figure of Neptune turned toward the “David” in presumptuous rivalry....
“Neptune” Initial Joint Plan (World War II)
...plan for Operation Overlord (as the Normandy Invasion was code-named) and recommended expanding the size of the invading force and landing area. Eisenhower approved the expansion plan (code-named Neptune), and Montgomery commanded all ground forces in the initial stages of the invasion, launched on D-Day, June 6, 1944. Beginning August 1, his Twenty-first Army Group consisted of Miles......
Neptune’s Daughter (film by Buzzell [1949])
...Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Aaron Copland for The HeiressScoring of a Musical Picture: Roger Edens and Lennie Hayton for On the TownSong: “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” from Neptune’s Daughter; music and lyrics by Frank LoesserHonorary Award: Fred Astaire, Cecil B. DeMille, Bobby Driscoll, Jean Hersholt, The Bicycle Thief...
Neptunism (geology)
The two major theories of the 18th century were the Neptunian and the Plutonian. The Neptunists, led by Werner and his students, maintained that the Earth was originally covered by a turbid ocean. The first sediments deposited over the irregular floor of this universal ocean formed the granite and other crystalline rocks. Then as the ocean began to subside, “Stratified” rocks were......
neptunium (chemical element)
radioactive chemical element of the actinoid series of the periodic table, first transuranium element to be artificially produced, atomic number 93. Though traces of neptunium have subsequently been found in nature, where it is not...
neptunium series (chemical series)
set of artificially produced and unstable heavy nuclei that are genetically related through alpha and beta decay. It is one of four radioactive series....
neptunium-225 (chemical isotope)
...neptunium is produced for every 1,000 parts plutonium). All neptunium isotopes are radioactive; the stablest is neptunium-237, with a half-life of 2,144,000 years, and among the most unstable is neptunium-225, with a half-life of more than 2 microseconds....
neptunium-237 (chemical isotope)
...reactors as a by-product of plutonium production from uranium-238 (about one part neptunium is produced for every 1,000 parts plutonium). All neptunium isotopes are radioactive; the stablest is neptunium-237, with a half-life of 2,144,000 years, and among the most unstable is neptunium-225, with a half-life of more than 2 microseconds....
neptunium-239 (chemical isotope)
...of a negative charge raises the positive charge of the atom by one proton, so that it is effectively transformed into the element neptunium (Np; with an atomic number of 93, one more than uranium). Neptunium-239 in turn undergoes beta decay, being transformed into plutonium-239 (atomic number 94)....
Neptunus (Roman god)
in Roman religion, originally the god of fresh water; by 399 bce he was identified with the Greek Poseidon and thus became a deity of the sea. His female counterpart, Salacia, was perhaps originally a goddess of leaping springwater, subsequently equated with the Greek Amphitrite....
Nepveu, Pierre (French engineer)
...The Italian architect Bernabei Domenico da Cortona presumably made the basic model for the château, but the designs of Italian architects were usually executed by French builders (in this case Pierre Nepveu), often with many changes. Chambord is a tremendous structure, about 500 feet (150 metres) wide, with a plan showing the gradual breakdown of the old castle plan. There is a rectangul...
ner tamid (Judaism)
(Hebrew: “eternal light”), lamp that burns perpetually in Jewish synagogues before or near the ark of the Law (aron ha-qodesh). It reminds the congregation of the holiness of the Torah scrolls that are stored within the ark and calls to mind God’s abiding presence and his providential care of the Jewish people. The ner tamid also represents th...
Nera (people)
...in Ethiopia and the Sudan border—are interspersed with Afro-Asiatic groups (mainly groups speaking languages belonging to the Cushitic and Omotic branches of that family). The territory of the Nera (also known as Barea, a name they consider to be pejorative), who were first mentioned in a 4th-century-ad inscription by King Ezana of Aksum, adjoins that of the Eritrean speake...
Nerbudda River (river, India)
river in central India. It rises in the Maikala Range in east-central Madhya Pradesh state and follows a tortuous course through the hills near Mandla. It then enters the structural trough between the Vindhya and Satpura ranges at Marble Rocks Gorge and flows westward across Madhya Pra...
Nerchinsk (Russia)
town, Zabaykalye kray (territory), east-central Russia. The town lies along the Nercha River just above the latter’s confluence with the Shilka. Nerchinsk was founded as a fort in 1654. It once served as an important customs post and trading centre on the route to China, but the town declined when it was bypassed ...
Nerchinsk, Treaty of (China-Russia [1689])
(1689), peace settlement between Russia and the Manchu Chinese empire that checked Russia’s eastward expansion by removing its outposts from the Amur River basin. By the treaty’s terms Russia lost easy access to the Sea of...
Nerčinsk (Russia)
town, Zabaykalye kray (territory), east-central Russia. The town lies along the Nercha River just above the latter’s confluence with the Shilka. Nerchinsk was founded as a fort in 1654. It once served as an important customs post and trading centre on the route to China, but the town declined when it was bypassed ...
Nereid (astronomy)
third largest known moon of Neptune and the second to be discovered. It was detected photographically by the Dutch American astronomer Gerard P. Kuiper in 1949. It is named after the numerous daughters, called Nereids, of the sea god Nereus in Greek mythology....
Nereid (Greek mythology)
in Greek religion, any of the daughters (numbering 50 or 100) of the sea god Nereus (eldest son of Pontus, a personification of the sea) and of Doris, daughter of Oceanus (the god of the water encircling the flat Earth). The Nereids were depicted as young girls, inhabiting any water, salt or fresh, and as...
Nereis (annelid)
any of a group of mostly marine or shore worms of the class Polychaeta (phylum Annelida). A few species live in fresh water. Other common names include mussel worm, pileworm, and sandworm. Rag worms vary in length from 2.5 to 90 cm (1 inch to 3 feet); they are commonly b...
Nereis limnicola (annelid)
...are simultaneous hermaphrodites (i.e., they have functional reproductive organs of both sexes) and may even reproduce by self-fertilization. The most common North American species is Nereis limnicola, found on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. N. virens, which may be as long as 80 cm (31.5 inches), occurs on both sides of the North Atlantic. Some rag worms are commonly......
Nereis virens (annelid)
...reproductive organs of both sexes) and may even reproduce by self-fertilization. The most common North American species is Nereis limnicola, found on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts. N. virens, which may be as long as 80 cm (31.5 inches), occurs on both sides of the North Atlantic. Some rag worms are commonly used by fishermen for bait....
Nereocystis (seaweed genus)
Nereocystis, an annual kelp that grows primarily in deep waters and rapid tideways, can attain lengths up to 40 metres (130 feet). Internally the plant structure is similar to Macrocystis; externally the stalk is tough and whiplike, terminating in a single large bladder containing up to 10 percent of carbon monoxide. The long leafy outgrowths from the stalk carry out......
Neretum (Italy)
town, Puglia (Apulia) regione, southeastern Italy, southwest of Lecce city. Originally the Roman city of Neretum, Nardò was both Byzantine and Norman; it has a 13th–14th-century cathedral in the Gothic style and an unusual circular chapel called the Osanna, dating from 1603. Examples of Baroque architectu...
Neretva River (river, Europe)
river flowing in Bosnia and Hercegovina and in Croatia. The Neretva River rises on Lebršnik Mountain and flows northwest past Konjic to Jablanica (Jablaničko) Lake, then southwest via Mostar to enter the Adriatic Sea. Its total length is 140 miles (225 km). The upper course of the river runs through canyons and ...
Nereus (Greek god)
in Greek religion, sea god called by Homer “Old Man of the Sea,” noted for his wisdom, gift of prophecy, and ability to change his shape. He was the son of Pontus, a personification of the sea, and Gaea, the Earth goddess. The Nereids (water nymphs) were his daughters by the Oceanid Doris, a...
Nergal (planet)
fourth planet in the solar system in order of distance from the Sun and seventh in size and mass. It is a periodically conspicuous reddish object in the night sky. Mars is designated by the symbol ♂....
Nergal (Mesopotamian deity)
in Mesopotamian religion, secondary god of the Sumero-Akkadian pantheon. He was identified with Irra, the god of scorched earth and war, and with Meslamtaea, He Who Comes Forth from Meslam. Cuthah (modern Tall Ibrāhīm) was the chief centre of his cult. In...
Nergal-shar-usur (king of Babylonia)
...561–560), the son of Nebuchadrezzar, was unable to win the support of the priests of Marduk. His reign did not last long, and he was soon eliminated. His brother-in-law and successor, Nergal-shar-uṣur (called Neriglissar in classical sources; 559–556), was a general who undertook a campaign in 557 into the “rough” Cilician land, which may have been under......
Neri (medieval Italian political faction)
...and police chief, could be selected only from the major guilds. Political parties grew up along the issues of aggressive expansion and preservation of peace; the former policy was embraced by the Blacks (Neri; the rich merchants), the latter by the Whites (Bianchi; the lesser citizens)....
Neri, Giampiero (Italian author)
...the sobriety and moral concerns of the linea lombarda; Giancarlo Majorino, who progressed from Neorealism to Sperimentalismo (“Experimentalism”); Giampiero Neri (pseudonym of Giampiero Pontiggia), influenced in his descriptive narratives by Vittorio Sereni; Giorgio Cesarano, another poetic narrator who abandoned poetry in 1969, before his......
Neri, Pompeo (Habsburg official)
...and private enrichment of public officials came under scrutiny. Reforms aimed to restore revenues, reorganize magistratures, control the old nobility, and moderate the influence of the church. Pompeo Neri, who was recalled from Milan to Florence in 1758, advocated the free trade of cereals to address problems of economic scarcity and provide incentives to agricultural production....
Neri, Saint Philip (Roman Catholic saint)
Italian priest and one of the outstanding mystics during the Counter-Reformation and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory (now the Institute of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, also called Oratorians), a congregation of secular priests and clerics. He went to Rome c. 1533, where he tutored, studied, and undertook many charitable works. In 1548 he founded a society of...
Neri, San Filippo (Roman Catholic saint)
Italian priest and one of the outstanding mystics during the Counter-Reformation and founder of the Congregation of the Oratory (now the Institute of the Oratory of St. Philip Neri, also called Oratorians), a congregation of secular priests and clerics. He went to Rome c. 1533, where he tutored, studied, and undertook many charitable works. In 1548 he founded a society of...
Neri Vela, Rodolfo (Mexican scientist and engineer)
Mexican scientist and engineer, the first Mexican citizen to fly into space....
Néricault, Phillippe (French dramatist)
dramatist who brought to the tradition of French classical comedy influences derived from the English Restoration theatre....
Neriglissar (king of Babylonia)
...561–560), the son of Nebuchadrezzar, was unable to win the support of the priests of Marduk. His reign did not last long, and he was soon eliminated. His brother-in-law and successor, Nergal-shar-uṣur (called Neriglissar in classical sources; 559–556), was a general who undertook a campaign in 557 into the “rough” Cilician land, which may have been under......
Nerik (Hittite deity)
The weather god of another city, Nerik, was regarded as the son of this supreme pair, and they had daughters named Mezzulla and Hulla and a granddaughter, Zintuhi. Telipinu was another son of the weather god and had similar attributes. He was a central figure in the Hittite myths....
Nerillida (polychaete order)
...epidermis; prostomium small, with or without appendages; parapodia absent; septa reduced or absent; size, minute. Contains 4 groups of poorly known species considered separate orders by some (Nerillida, Dinophilida, Polygordiida, Protodrilida); genera include Dinophilus and Polygordius.Order MyzostomidaBody....
Nerina, Nadia (South African dancer)
South African prima ballerina renowned for her remarkable versatility of roles. After touring South Africa in 1942, she went to England in 1945, where she studied under Dame Marie Rambert. Nerina b...
Neritacea (gastropod superfamily)
...coloured, with or without heavy shell ornamentation; Trochidae (top shells), Turbinidae (turban shells), and Phasianellidae (pheasant shells).Superfamily NeritaceaSmall, generally intertidal marine shells (Neritidae), with some freshwater dwellers, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines (Neritidae), and 2 groups of...
neritic ecosystem (oceanography)
In coastal waters many larger invertebrates (e.g., mysids, amphipods, and polychaete worms) leave the cover of algae and sediments to migrate into the water column at night. It is thought that these animals disperse to different habitats or find mates by swimming when visual predators find it hard to see them. In some cases only one sex will emerge at night, and often that sex is......
neritic zone (oceanography)
shallow marine environment extending from mean low water down to 200-metre (660-foot) depths, generally corresponding to the continental shelf. Neritic waters are penetrated by varying amounts of sunlight, which permits photosynthesis by both planktonic and bottom-dwell...
Neritidae (gastropod family)
...Turbinidae (turban shells), and Phasianellidae (pheasant shells).Superfamily NeritaceaSmall, generally intertidal marine shells (Neritidae), with some freshwater dwellers, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines (Neritidae), and 2 groups of land dwellers: 1 sparsely distributed in the Old World (Hydrocenidae) and 1....
Nerium (plant genus)
any of the ornamental evergreen shrubs of the genus Nerium, belonging to the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) and having a poisonous milky juice....
Nerium oleander (plant)
The best known is the common oleander (N. oleander), often called rosebay. A native of the Mediterranean region, this plant is characterized by its tall shrubby habit and its thick lance-shaped opposite leaves. The flowers are borne in terminal clusters and are of a rose colour, rarely white or yellow. The hairy anthers adhere to the thickened stigma. The fruit or seed vessel consists of......
Nermernuh (people)
North American Indian tribe of equestrian nomads whose 18th- and 19th-century territory comprised the southern Great Plains. The name Comanche is derived from a Ute word meaning “anyone who wants to fight me all the time.”...
Nernst equation (chemistry)
For a particular value of E the two partial current densities must become equal. This value of potential is the reversible electrode potential. From equation (1) one can deduce equation (2):...
Nernst lamp (electrical device)
...emitting a brilliant white light when employed as a filament. In 1897 he began work on the electric lightbulb, for which he obtained numerous patents in Europe and the United States. The Nernst lamp was manufactured for several years by Allgemeine Elektrizitätsgesellschaft (AEG) in Berlin, and thousands of Nernst lamps decorated a specially constructed German pavilion at the......
Nernst potential (biology)
...equal. The system is then in electrochemical equilibrium. At equilibrium, one side of the membrane may still have a more negative charge than the other. The potential difference is then called the equilibrium potential. (It is also called the Nernst potential, after Walther Nernst, the German physical chemist who, in the late 19th century, developed equations for calculating the electrical......
Nernst, Walther Hermann (Prussian chemist)
German scientist who was one of the founders of modern physical chemistry. His theoretical and experimental work in chemistry, including his formulation of the heat theorem, known as the third law of thermodynamics, gained him the 1920 Nobel Prize for Chemistry....
Nero (Roman emperor)
the fifth Roman emperor (54–68 ce), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. He became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians....
Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Roman emperor)
the fifth Roman emperor (54–68 ce), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. He became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians....
Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus (Roman emperor)
the fifth Roman emperor (54–68 ce), stepson and heir of the emperor Claudius. He became infamous for his personal debaucheries and extravagances and, on doubtful evidence, for his burning of Rome and persecutions of Christians....
Nero Claudius Drusus (Roman commander [b. 38])
younger brother of Tiberius (who later became emperor) and commander of the Roman forces that occupied the German territory between the Rhine and Elbe rivers from 12 to 9 bc....
Nero Deep (trench, Pacific Ocean)
...depression, the Mariana Trench stretches for more than 1,580 miles (2,550 km) with a mean width of 43 miles (69 km). There is a smaller steep-walled valley on the floor of the main trench. In 1899 Nero Deep (31,693 feet [9,660 metres]) was discovered southeast of Guam. This sounding was not exceeded until a 32,197-foot (9,813-metre) hole was found in the vicinity 30 years later. In 1957,......
Nero, Gaius (Roman consul)
...legions of Ligurians and Gauls. Hasdrubal marched down the peninsula to join Hannibal for an assault on Rome. Rome, exhausted by war, nevertheless raised and dispatched an army to check Hasdrubal. Gaius Nero, commander of the southern Roman army, slipped away north also and defeated Hasdrubal on the banks of the Metauros River. Hannibal maintained his position in southern Italy until 203, when....
Nero, Tiberius Claudius (Roman high priest and magistrate)
Tiberius’s father, also named Tiberius Claudius Nero, a high priest and magistrate, was a former fleet captain for Julius Caesar. His mother, the beautiful Livia Drusilla, was her husband’s cousin and may have been only 13 years old when Tiberius was born. In the civil wars following the assassination of Julius Caesar, the elder Tiberius gave his allegiance to Mark Antony, Caesar...
Nerodia (reptile genus)
In North America the most abundant genus is Nerodia, which is made up of 11 species that range from southern Canada south through the eastern United States and eastern Mexico. The northern water snake (N. sipedon), the most common species, inhabits the eastern half of the United States, southern Ontario, and southern Quebec. It is a moderately large snake that......
Nerodia clarkii (reptile)
The salt marsh snake (N. clarkii) lives in the brackish water habitats of the southeastern United States, and adults typically grow to 0.3–0.7 metre (1–2 feet) long. There are three morphologically distinct subspecies: the salt marsh snake (N. clarkii clarkii) of the Gulf Coast region is characterized by light stripes along the full length of the......
Nerodia sipedon (reptile)
In North America the most abundant genus is Nerodia, which is made up of 11 species that range from southern Canada south through the eastern United States and eastern Mexico. The northern water snake (N. sipedon), the most common species, inhabits the eastern half of the United States, southern Ontario, and southern Quebec. It is a moderately large snake that......
Nerolin II (chemical compound)
...is bonded to two carbon atoms through two sigma bonds is known as an ether. Ether molecules occur widely in nature. Diethyl ether was once widely used as an anesthetic. An aromatic ether known as Nerolin II (2-ethoxynaphthalene) is used in perfumes to impart the scent of orange blossoms. Cyclic ethers, such as tetrahydrofuran, are commonly used as organic solvents. Although ethers contain two.....
Nerone (film by Petrolini)
Having become famous throughout Europe, Petrolini completed several international tours in the 1930s. He also acted in many silent and sound films. Of these, it is Nerone (1930; “Nero”), an anthology of his best-developed characterizations, that best captures Petrolini’s range and engaging personality. In addition, he wrote several books, including an autobiography,......
Nerone (opera by Boito)
...van Beethoven and Wagner, the opera was unconventional for its day, both in its then-unusual harmonies and in its rejection of some of the conventions of Italian opera. Boito’s second opera, Nerone, occupied him for nearly 50 years; completed after his death by Vincenzo Tommasini and Arturo Toscanini, it was produced in Milan in 1924, but, despite its grand design and spectacle, i...
Neronov, Ivan (Russian priest)
During his stay there, Nikon became closely associated with the circle led by the tsar’s confessor, Stefan Vonifatyev, and the priests Ivan Neronov and Avvakum Petrovich (all, like him, natives of the Nizhny Novgorod region). This group of priests strove to revitalize the church by bringing about closer contact with the mass of the faithful, and they also sought to purify religious books an...
Nerses I the Great, Saint (patriarch of Armenia)
patriarch of the Armenian church from about 353. A descendant of St. Gregory the Illuminator (240–332), who converted the Armenian king to Christianity and became the first patriarch of Armenia, Nerses was the most important figure in the country during his patriarchate. He established monastic and charitable institutions and schools....
Nerses IV Shnorhali (patriarch of Armenia)
In the 12th century the catholicos (patriarch) Nerses IV Shnorhali (“the Gracious”) is credited with musical reforms of the chant. He is said to have simplified the texts of the religious poetry and the melodies of the chant, bringing it closer to the style of Armenian folk music. Nerses also wrote a number of sharakan (hymns). The final form.....
Nerthus (Germanic deity)
ancient Germanic goddess known from a report of her given by the Roman historian Tacitus, who in his Germania (late 1st century ad) refers to her as Terra Mater, or Mother Earth, and says that she was worshiped ...
Neruda, Jan (Czech poet)
...the second half of the 19th century who sought to create a Czech literature imbued with their own liberal and pragmatic nationalist aims. Prominent in their ranks was the poet and short-story writer Jan Neruda, known for his sardonic sketches in Povídky malostranské (1878; “Tales of Little Quarter”). Other notable figures of the Máj group were the novel...
Neruda, Pablo (Chilean poet)
Chilean poet, diplomat, and politician who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He was perhaps the most important Latin American poet of the 20th century....
Nerva (Roman emperor)
Roman emperor from Sept. 18, 96, to January 98, the first of a succession of rulers traditionally known as the Five Good Emperors....
Nerva Caesar Augustus (Roman emperor)
Roman emperor from Sept. 18, 96, to January 98, the first of a succession of rulers traditionally known as the Five Good Emperors....
Nerval, Gérard de (French poet)
French Romantic poet whose themes and preoccupations were to greatly influence the Symbolists and Surrealists....
nerve (anatomy)
...for faster reaction. That system was the nervous system, which is based upon the almost instantaneous transmission of electrical impulses from one region of the body to another along specialized nerve cells called neurons....
nerve cell (anatomy)
basic cell of the nervous system in vertebrates and most invertebrates from the level of the cnidarians (e.g., corals, jellyfish) upward. A typical neuron has a cell body containing a nucleus and two or more long fibres. Impulses are carried along one or more of these fibres, called dendrites, to the cell body; in higher ...
nerve conduction studies (medicine)
The speed of conduction of impulses along sensory and motor fibres can be measured with nerve conduction studies (NCS). The muscle is stimulated with a small electrical charge, which generates an impulse. The impulse moves along the nerve fibre and eventually reaches a muscle, which contracts. NCS can localize the site or sites of peripheral nerve disease and may even indicate the nature of the......
nerve deafness (hearing disorder)
...be earwax that blocks the external auditory channel, or stapes fixation, which prevents the stapes (one of the minute bones in the middle ear) from transmitting sound vibrations to the inner ear. In nerve deafness, some defect in the sensory cells of the inner ear (e.g., their injury by excessive noise) or in the vestibulocochlear nerve prevents transmission of sound impulses from the......
nerve deafness, congenital (ear disorder)
Congenital nerve deafness, a defect of the auditory nerve in the cochlea, may be present at birth or acquired during or soon after birth. Usually both inner ears are affected to a similar degree, and as a rule there is a severe impairment of hearing, although in some cases of congenital nerve loss the impairment is moderate. Many cases of congenital nerve deafness have been caused by the......
nerve ending (anatomy)
...automata theory lying within the area of pure mathematical study is often based on a model of a portion of the nervous system in a living creature and on how that system with its complex of neurons, nerve endings, and synapses (separating gap between neurons) can generate, codify, store, and use information. The “all or none” nature of the threshold of neurons is often referred to...
nerve fibre (anatomy)
portion of a nerve cell (neuron) that carries nerve impulses away from the cell body. A neuron typically has one axon that connects it with other neurons or with muscle or gland cells. Some axons may be quite long, reaching, for example, from the spinal cord down to a toe. Most axons of ...
nerve gas (chemical compound)
Weapon of chemical warfare that affects the transmission of nerve impulses through the nervous system. The organophosphorus nerve agents Tabun, Sarin, and Soman were developed by Germany during World War II but not...