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AIDS
Fatal transmissible disorder caused by HIV. AIDS, the last stage of HIV infection, is defined by the appearance of potentially lethal opportunistic infections. The first AIDS cases were identified in 1981, HIV was isolated in 1983, and blood tests were developed by 1985. In 2000, more than 35 million people worldwide were living with HIV, and over 15 million had died of AIDS. In the U.S., some 2 million people had been infected with HIV, 800,000 had been diagnosed with AIDS, and 450,000 had died. Sub-Saharan Africa remains the focus of infection, but the number of cases in S. and S.E. Asia and elsewhere continues to mount at an alarming rate as well. An initial acute illness usually resolves within weeks. Infected persons then generally have few or no symptoms for about 10 years. As the immune system deteriorates, they develop diseases such as Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia, cytomegalovirus, lymphoma, or Kaposi's sarcoma.
air
Mixture of gases constituting the earth's atmosphere. Some gases occur in steady concentrations. The most important are molecular nitrogen (N2), 78% by volume, and molecular oxygen (O2), 21%. Small amounts of argon (Ar; 1.9%), neon (Ne), helium (He), methane (CH4), krypton (Kr), hydrogen (H2), nitrous oxide (N2O), and xenon (Xe) are also present in almost constant proportions. Other gases occur in variable concentrations: water vapor (H2O), ozone (O3), carbon dioxide (CO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). Air also contains trace amounts of ammonia and hydrogen sulfide. The variable constituents are important for maintaining life. Water vapor is the source for all forms of precipitation and is an important absorber and emitter of infrared radiation. Carbon dioxide is necessary for photosynthesis and is also an important absorber and emitter of infrared radiation. Ozone in the stratosphere (see ozone layer) is an effective absorber of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, but at ground-level is a corrosive pollutant and a major constituent of smog.
airship
Lighter-than-air aircraft with steering and propulsion systems. Airships could be nonrigid (blimps), semirigid, or rigid. They all included a large cigar-shaped bag or balloon filled with a gas such as hydrogen or helium, a car or gondola suspended below the balloon that held the crew and passengers, engines to drive the propellers, and rudders for steering. Attempts to control the flight of balloons began soon after their invention in the 1780s. The first propeller-driven airship, built by Henri Giffard, flew in 1852 in France; design improvements led to construction of the rigid zeppelin (1900). The nonrigid helium-filled blimp was principally developed by Alberto Santos-Dumont (1873-1932). In 1928 Germany began regular transatlantic airship passenger service. Several explosions, particularly the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, and airplane developments made the airship commercially obsolete. See also ...
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