AGRICULTURE |
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Agriculture (a term which encompasses farming) is the art, science or practice of producing food, feed, fiber and many other desired goods by the systematic raising of plants and animals. Agri is from Latin ager ("a field"), and culture is from Latin cultura, meaning "cultivation" in the strict sense of tillage of the soil. Thus a literal reading of the English word yields tillage of the soil of a field. In actual usage, Agriculture denotes a broad array of activities essential to food and material production, including all techniques for raising and processing livestock (see Animal husbandry) no less than those essential to crop planting and harvesting.
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ANTITRUST |
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Antitrust or competition laws are laws which seek to promote economic and business competition by prohibiting anti-competitive behavior and unfair business practices. Government agencies known as competition regulators regulate antitrust laws, and may also be responsible for regulating related laws dealing with consumer protection.
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AUTO - AIR BAGS |
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An airbag, also known as a Supplementary/Secondary Restraint System (SRS) or as an Air Cushion Restraint System (ACRS), is a flexible membrane or envelope, inflatable to contain air or some other gas. Air bags are most commonly used for cushioning, in particular after very rapid inflation in the case of an automobile collision.
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BATTERIES |
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In science and technology, a battery is a device that stores chemical energy and makes it available in an electrical form. Batteries consist of electrochemical devices such as one or more galvanic cells, fuel cells or flow cells. The earliest known artifacts that may have been batteries are the Baghdad Batteries, from some time between 250 BCE and 640 CE. The modern development of batteries started with the Voltaic pile developed by the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta in 1800. The worldwide battery industry generates 48 billion dollars in sales annually (2005 estimate).
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COPYRIGHT - GENERAL |
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Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted by governments to regulate the use of a particular expression of an idea or information. At its most general, it is literally "the right to copy" an original creation. In most cases, these rights are of limited duration. The symbol for copyright is ©.
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DAMAGES |
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In law, damages refers either to the harm suffered by a claimant in a civil action, or to the money paid or awarded to the plaintiff in compensation for such harm.
Generally, there are three kinds of damages: special damages, general damages, and punitive damages. Special damages are the enumerable or quantifiable monetary costs or losses suffered by the plaintiff, or the compensation therefore. For example, medical costs, repair or replacement of damaged property, lost wages, lost earning potential, loss of business, loss of irreplaceable items, loss of support, etc. General damages are items of harm or loss suffered, for which only a subjective value may be attached. Examples of this include personal injury, physical or emotional pain and suffering, loss of companionship, loss of consortium, disfigurement, loss of reputation, loss or impairment of mental or physical capacity, loss of enjoyment of life, etc.
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DUMBWAITER |
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A small elevator used to transport food or other items between floors of a building.
An elevator is a transport device used to move goods or people vertically. Outside North America, elevators are known more commonly as lifts, although the word elevator is familiar from American movies and television shows, just as some Americans are aware of lift from imported entertainment. Other languages may have loanwords based on either elevator (e.g. Japanese) or lift (e.g. Cantonese). Because of wheelchair access laws, elevators are often a requirement in new buildings with multiple floors.
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ELEVATOR |
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An elevator is a transport device used to move goods or people vertically. Outside North America, elevators are known more commonly as lifts, although the word elevator is familiar from American movies and television shows, just as some Americans are aware of lift from imported entertainment. Other languages may have loanwords based on either elevator (e.g. Japanese) or lift (e.g. Cantonese). Because of wheelchair access laws, elevators are often a requirement in new buildings with multiple floors.
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ENGINEERING - FORENSIC |
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Forensic engineering is the investigation of materials, products, structures or components that fail or do not operate/function as intended. A criminal aspect is possible in any investigation but is not always the case; civil cases are much more common. Generally the purpose of a forensic engineering investigation is to locate cause or causes of failure with a view to improve performance or life of a component. It can also involve investigation of intellectual property claims, especially patents. Methods used in forensic investigations include reverse engineering, inspection of witness statements, a working knowledge of current standards, as well as examination of the failed component itself. The fracture surface of a failed product can reveal much information on how the item failed and the loading pattern prior to failure.
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ENGINEERING - GENERAL |
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Engineering is the application of scientific and technical knowledge to solve human problems. Engineers use imagination, judgement and reasoning to apply science, technology, mathematics, and practical experience. The result is the design, production, and operation of useful objects or processes.
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FIBER OPTICS |
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An optical fiber (or fibre) is a transparent thin fiber, usually made of glass or plastic, for transmitting light. Fiber optics is the branch of science and engineering concerned with such optical fibers.
Optical fibers are commonly used in telecommunication systems, as well as in illumination, sensors, and imaging optics.
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INSURANCE - GENERAL |
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General insurance policies, including automobile and homeowners policies, provide payments depending on the loss from a particular financial event. General insurance typically comprises any insurance that is not determined to be life insurance, and is called property and casualty insurance in the U.S..
In the UK, General insurance is broadly divided into three areas; personal lines, commercial lines and London market.
The London market insures with large commercial risks, for example insuring supermarkets, football players and other very specific risks.
Commercial lines products are usually designed for relatively small legal entities. These would include workers comp (employers liability), public liability, product liability, commercial fleet and other general insurance products sold in a relatively standard fashion to many organisations.
Personal lines products are designed to be sold in large quantities. This would include autos (private car), homeowners (household), pet insurance, creditor insurance and others.
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LEGAL PRACTICES, FEES |
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Attorney's fees or attorneys' fees are the costs of legal representation that an attorney's client or a party to a lawsuit incurs. Attorney's fees are assessed in a number of ways, usually set by contract in advance of the representation, including by billable hours, flat fees, or contingent fees. Attorneys who voluntarily accept work on behalf of indigent clients often work pro bono.
An upfront fee paid to a lawyer is called a retainer. Money within the retainer is often used to "buy" a certain amount of work. Some contracts provide that when the money from the retainer is gone, the fee is renegotiated.
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PHARMACEUTICAL LITIGATION |
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Thousands of people die from or are seriously injured by prescription and over-the-counter drugs each year. Patients trust these defective drugs will not harm them because they have been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration or been prescribed by doctors or pharmacists they know and trust.
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STROKE |
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A stroke, also known as cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is an acute neurologic injury whereby the blood supply to a part of the brain is interrupted, either by a clot in the artery or if the artery bursts. The result is that the part of the brain perfused by that artery no longer can receive oxygen carried by the blood and it dies (becomes necrotic) with cessation of function from that part of the brain. In addition to tissue death, hemorrhages also cause damage from physical impingement of blood on the brain tissue. Stroke is a medical emergency and can cause permanent neurologic damage or even death if not promptly diagnosed and treated. It is the third leading cause of death and adult disability in the US and industrialized European nations (Jauch, 2005).
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TOXICOLOGY |
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Toxicology is the study of the adverse effects of chemical, physical or biological agents on living organisms and the ecosystem, including the prevention and betterment of such adverse effects.
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TRADEMARK |
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A trademark is a distinctive sign of some kind which is used by a business to uniquely identify itself and its products and services to consumers, and to distinguish the business and its products or services from those of other businesses. A trademark is a type of industrial property which is distinct from other forms of intellectual property.
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TRADEMARK INFRINGEMENT |
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Trademark infringement is a violation of the exclusive rights attaching to a registered trademark without the authorisation of the trademark owner or any licensees. Infringement may occur when one party, the infringer, uses a trademark which is identical or confusingly similar to a registered trademark owned by another party, in relation to products or services which are identical or similar to the products or services which the registration covers. An owner of a registered trademark may commence legal proceedings against a party which infringes its registration.
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TRADE SECRETS |
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A trade secret is a formula, practice, process, design, instrument, pattern, or compilation of information used by a business to obtain an advantage over competitors within the same industry or profession. In some jurisdictions, such secrets are referred to as "confidential information", while in others they are a subset or example of confidential information.
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