(Freebase) Antivenom (or antivenin or antivenene) is a biological product used in the treatment of venomous bites or stings. Antivenom is created by milking venom from the desired snake, spider or insect. The venom is then diluted and injected into a horse, goat or cat. The subject animal will undergo an immune response to the venom, producing antibodies against the venom's active molecule which can then be harvested from the animal's blood and used to treat envenomation. Internationally, antivenoms must conform to the standards of Pharmacopoeia and the World Health Organization (WHO). The name "antivenin" comes from the French word "venin", meaning venom, and historically "antivenin" was predominant around the world. In 1981, the World Health Organization decided that the preferred terminology in the English language would be "venom" and "antivenom" rather than "venin/antivenin" or "venen/antivenene". The principle of antivenom is based on that of vaccines, developed by Edward Jenner; however,...

(Freebase) Antimalarial medications, also known as antimalarials, are designed to prevent or cure malaria. Such drugs may be used for some or all of the following: Some antimalarial agents, particularly chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, are also used in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis and lupus-associated arthritis. Current practice in treating cases of malaria is based around the concept of combination therapy, since this offers several advantages - reduced risk of treatment failure, reduced risk of developing resistance, enhanced convenience and reduced side-effects. Prompt parasitological confirmation by microscopy or alternatively by RDTs is recommended in all patients suspected of malaria before treatment is started. Treatment solely on the basis of clinical suspicion should only be considered when a parasitological diagnosis is not accessible. It is practical to consider antimalarials by chemical structure since this is associated with important properties of each drug, such as...

(Freebase) Antiretroviral drugs are medications for the treatment of infection by retroviruses, primarily HIV. When several such drugs, typically three or four, are taken in combination, the approach is known as highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART. The American National Institutes of Health and other organizations recommend offering antiretroviral treatment to all patients with AIDS. Because of the complexity of selecting and following a regimen, the severity of the side-effects and the importance of compliance to prevent viral resistance, however, such organizations emphasize the importance of involving patients in therapy choices, and recommend analyzing the risks and the potential benefits to patients without symptoms. There are different classes of antiretroviral drugs that act at different stages of the HIV life-cycle. Antiretroviral (ARV) drugs are broadly classified by the phase of the retrovirus life-cycle that the drug inhibits. Fixed dose combinations are multiple...

(Freebase) APOPO, a non-profit organization, trains African Giant Pouched Rats, also known as Giant pouched rat or Gambian Pouch Rat, to detect land mines and Tuberculosis. Bart Weetens, a Belgian national, founded APOPO to provide a low-technology solution to the global landmine problem. APOPO’s overall objective is to develop an efficient method for the detection of landmines and UXO in order to facilitate the repatriation of refugees, distribution of emergency aid, general development and a mine free environment in affected countries. APOPO is currently researching the feasibility of using African Giant Pouched Rats to detect Tuberculosis in human sputum samples as well. In 1996, Bart Weetjens conceived of the idea of using rodents for mine detection as an outcome of an exploration and analysis of the global mine detection problem. Initial financial support was given from the Belgian Directorate for International Co-operation (DGIS) in 1997 to develop the concept of rats as mine detectors....

(Freebase) An appellate court is any court of law that is empowered to hear an appeal of a trial court or other lower tribunal. In most jurisdictions, the court system is divided into at least three levels: the trial court, which initially hears cases and reviews evidence and testimony to determine the facts of the case; at least one intermediate appellate court; and a supreme court (or court of last resort) which primarily reviews the decisions of the intermediate courts. A supreme court is therefore itself a kind of appellate court. Appellate courts worldwide can operate by varying rules. For example, the Isle of Man's traditional local appellate court is the Staff of Government Division which has only two Justices, titled "Deemsters," whose decisions are joined to the original trial decision. They almost always have a majority, if either Deemster agrees with the trial Judge. Many US jurisdictions title their appellate court a Court of Appeal or Court of Appeals. Historically, others have...

(Freebase) Appropriate technology (AT) is technology that is designed with special consideration to the environmental, ethical, cultural, social, political, and economical aspects of the community it is intended for. With these goals in mind, AT proponents claim their methods require fewer resources, are easier to maintain, and have less of an impact on the environment compared to techniques from mainstream technology, which they contend is wasteful and environmentally polluting. The term is usually used to describe simple technologies proponents consider suitable for use in developing nations or less developed rural areas of industrialized nations. This form of "appropriate technology" usually prefers labor-intensive solutions over capital-intensive ones, although labor-saving devices are also used where this does not mean high capital or maintenance cost. In practice, appropriate technology is often something described as using the simplest level of technology that can effectively achieve the...

(Freebase) Aquaculture is the farming of freshwater and saltwater organisms such as finfish, mollusks, crustaceans and aquatic plants. Also known as aquafarming, aquaculture involves cultivating aquatic populations under controlled conditions, and can be contrasted with commercial fishing, which is the harvesting of wild fish. Commercial aquaculture supplies one half of the fish and shellfish that is directly consumed by humans. Mariculture refers to aquaculture practiced in marine environments. Particular kinds of aquaculture include algaculture (the production of kelp/seaweed and other algae), fish farming, shrimp farming, oyster farming, the growing of cultured pearls and the growing and selling of ornamental fish. Particular methods include aquaponics, which integrates fish farming and plant farming. The indigenous Gunditjmara people in Victoria, Australia may have raised eels as early as 6000 BC. There is evidence that they developed about 100 square kilometres (39 sq mi) of volcanic...

(Freebase) An aquarium (plural aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants. The term combines the Latin root aqua, meaning water, with the suffix -arium, meaning "a place for relating to". An aquarist owns fish or maintains an aquarium, typically constructed of glass or high strength plastic. Cuboid aquaria are also known as fish tanks or simply tanks, while bowl-shaped aquaria are also known as fish bowls. Size can range from a small glass bowl to immense public aquaria. Specialised equipment maintains appropriate water quality and other characteristics suitable for the aquarium's residents. In the Roman Empire, the first fish to be brought indoors was the sea barbel, which was kept under guest beds in small tanks made of marble. Introduction of glass panes around the year 50 allowed Romans to replace...

(Freebase) An aquatic ecosystem is an ecosystem located in a body of water. Communities of organisms that are dependent on each other and on their environment live in aquatic ecosystems. The two main types of aquatic ecosystems are marine ecosystems and freshwater ecosystems. Marine ecosystems cover approximately 71% of the Earth's surface and contain approximately 97% of the planet's water. They generate 32% of the world's net primary production. They are distinguished from freshwater ecosystems by the presence of dissolved compounds, especially salts, in the water. Approximately 85% of the dissolved materials in seawater are sodium and chlorine. Seawater has an average salinity of 35 parts per thousand (ppt) of water. Actual salinity varies among different marine ecosystems. Marine ecosystems can be divided into the following zones: oceanic (the relatively shallow part of the ocean that lies over the continental shelf); profundal (bottom or deep water); benthic (bottom substrates); intertidal ...

(Freebase) Arab people (Arabic: عربي‎, ʿarabi) or Arabs (العرب al-ʿarab) are a panethnicity of peoples of various ancestral origins, religious backgrounds and historic identities, whose members, on an individual basis, identify as such on one or more of linguistic, cultural, political, or genealogical grounds. Those self-identifying as Arab, however, rarely do so on their own. Most hold multiple identities, with a more localized prioritized ethnic identity — such as Egyptian, Lebanese, or Palestinian — in addition to further tribal, village and clan identities. Arabic, the main unifying feature among Arabs, is a Semitic language originating in Arabia. From there it spread to a variety of distinct peoples across most of West Asia and North Africa, resulting in their acculturation as Arabs, or Arabization, often though not always, in conjunction with Islamization. With the rise of Islam in the 7th century CE as the language of the Qur'an, Arabic became the lingua franca of the wider Mediterranean...

(Freebase) Arabic (العربية al-ʿarabīyah, ( Arabic pronunciation (help·info)) or عربي ʿarabī) is a Central Semitic language, thus related to and classified alongside other Semitic languages such as Hebrew and the Neo-Aramaic languages. Arabic has more speakers than any other language in the Semitic language family. It is spoken by more than 280 million people as a first language, most of whom live in the Middle East and North Africa, and by 250 million more as a second language. Arabic has many different, geographically distributed spoken varieties, some of which are mutually unintelligible. Modern Standard Arabic is widely taught in schools, universities, and used in workplaces, government and the media. Modern Standard Arabic derives from Classical Arabic, the only surviving member of the Old North Arabian dialect group, attested in Pre-Islamic Arabic inscriptions dating back to the 4th century. Classical Arabic has also been a literary language and the liturgical language of Islam since its...

(Freebase) In geography, arable land (from Latin arare, to plough) is an agricultural term, meaning land that can be used for growing crops. It includes not only cultivated land, but also the totality of all land where soil and climate is suitable for agriculture, including forests and natural grasslands, and areas falling under human settlement. According to FAO report, the global land area without major soil fertility constraints is about 31.8 million square kilometers, and total potential arable land is about 41.4 million square kilometers. Although constrained by land mass and topology, the amount of arable land, both regionally and globally, fluctuates due to human and climatic factors such as irrigation, deforestation, desertification, terracing, landfill, and urban sprawl. Researchers study the impact of these changes on food production. The most productive portion of arable land is that from sediments left by rivers and the sea in geological times. In modern times, rivers do not...

(Freebase) The Arctic (pronounced /ˈɑrktɪk/ or /ˈɑrtɪk/) is the region around the Earth's North Pole, opposite the Antarctic region around the South Pole. The Arctic includes the Arctic Ocean (which overlies the North Pole) and parts of Canada, Greenland (a territory of Denmark), Russia, the United States (Alaska), Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Finland. The word Arctic comes from the Greek αρκτικός (arktikos), "near the Bear, arctic, northern" and that from the word άρκτος (arktos), which means bear. The name refers either to the constellation Ursa Major, the "Great Bear", which is prominent in the northern portion of the celestial sphere, or to the constellation Ursa Minor, the "Little Bear", which contains Polaris, the Pole Star, also known as the North Star. The Arctic region can be defined as the area north of the Arctic Circle (66° 33’N), which is the approximate limit of the midnight sun and the polar night. Alternatively, it can be defined as the region where the average temperature for the...

(Freebase) Area boys (also known as Agberos) are loosely organized gangs of street children and teenagers, composed mostly of males (but with a few females), who roam the streets of Lagos, Nigeria. They extort money from passers-by, sell illegal drugs, act as informal security guards, and perform other "odd jobs" in return for compensation. The groups are based in Lagos Island, a Local Government Area in Lagos and the most urbanised part of Nigeria. Area boys, who are largely Yoruba, have existed in the city since the early 1980s. However, under various names, types of Area Boys have been traced back to the 1920s. In 2007, the total number of area boys in Lagos was estimated at over 35,000 by a member of the Lagos State Judiciary; as of 1996, the number of them operating on Lagos Island alone was placed around 1,000. A 1996 study of area boys on Lagos Island by Abubakar Momoh showed that only 26.4% of area boys were from Lagos State; Ogun State (22.6%), Kwara State (14.2%), and Oyo State (14.1%)...

(DBpedia) Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina is the official military force of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Bosnian Armed forces were unified in 2005 and are composed of two founding armies: Bosniak-Croat, Army of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Bosnian Serb, Army of Republika Srpska. The Ministry of Defense of Bosnia and Herzegovina, founded in 2004, is in charge of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The supreme commander of the Bosnian Armed Forces is the current president of Bosnia and Herzegovina thus the Presidency commands the Bosnian Army, then the Bosnian Ministry of Defence with the minister Selmo Cikotić, then the Chiefs of Joint Staff with Sifet Podžić as the head of the chiefs. Conscription was completely abolished in Bosnia and Herzegovina effective on and from 1 January 2006.