ADENAUER, KONRADADDITIONAL READING

Konrad Adenauer, Erinnerungen, 4 vol. (1965-68), his autobiography encompassing the years 1945 to 1963; Rudolf Morsey and Konrad Repgen (eds.), Adenauer-Studien, vol. 1 (1971), contributions by four German historians and political scientists on the politics and personality of Adenauer; Paul Weymar, Konrad Adenauer (1955), an authorized popular biography that provides the best description of his life. born c. 1240 died , c. 1300 also called Roi Adam, Li Rois Adenes, Adan Le Menestrel, or Adam Rex Menestrallus poet and musician, interesting for the detailed documentary evidence of his career as a household minstrel. He received his training in the court of Henry III, duke of Brabant, at Louvain; after his patron's death in 1261, his fortunes wavered, owing to dynastic rivalries and the growth of Flemish literature at court, until in 1268 or 1269 he entered the service of Guy of Dampierre, heir to the county of Flanders, as principal minstrel (whence his title roi-i.e., "king of minstrels"). Adenet accompanied Guy in 1270-71 on the Tunisian crusade, and his poems contain many precise references to parts of their return through Sicily and Italy. Of his rather pallid and unoriginal written work, three chansons de geste are preserved: Buevon de Conmarchis, Les Enfances Ogier ("The Youthful Exploits of Ogier the Dane," part of the Charlemagne legends), and Berte aus grans pis ("Berta of the Big Feet"). Also extant is Clomads, a romance about a flying wooden horse, written at the suggestion of Marie de Brabant, daughter of his old patron and queen of Philip III of France. organic compound belonging to the purine family, occurring free in tea or combined in many substances of biological importance, including the nucleic acids, which govern hereditary characteristics of all cells. Partial decomposition of ribonucleic and deoxyribonucleic acids yields mixtures from which the compounds adenylic acid and deoxyadenylic acid, respectively, may be separated. These acids, called nucleotides, are phosphate esters of adenosine and deoxyadenosine, which are smaller units (nucleosides) composed of adenine and either ribose or deoxyribose. Compounds of adenine include vitamin B12 as well as adenosine triphosphate and other coenzymes (substances that act in conjunction with enzymes). also called Pharyngeal Tonsils, a mass of lymphatic tissue, similar to the (palatine) tonsils, that is attached to the back wall of the nasal pharynx (i.e., the upper part of the throat opening into the nasal cavity proper). An individual fold of such nasopharyngeal lymphatic tissue is called an adenoid. The surface layer of the adenoids consists of ciliated epithelial cells covered by a thin film of mucus. The cilia, which are microscopic hairlike projections from the surface cells, move constantly in a wavelike manner and propel the blanket of mucus down to the pharynx proper. From that point the mucus is caught by the swallowing action of the pharyngeal (throat) muscles and is sent down to the stomach. The adenoids also contain glands that secrete mucus to replenish the surface film. The function of the adenoids is protective. The moving film of mucus tends to carry infectious agents and dust particles inhaled through the nose down to the pharynx, where the epithelium is more resistant. Immune substances, or antibodies, are thought to be formed within the lymphatic tissue, which, combined with phagocytic action, tends to arrest and absorb infectious agents. The adenoids usually enlarge in early childhood. Infections in childhood can cause swelling and inflammation of the adenoids and may permanently enlarge them. Large adenoids obstruct breathing through the nose and interfere with sinus drainage, thus predisposing the person to infections of the sinuses. Chronic respiratory obstruction and the resultant mouth breathing produce a characteristic vacant facial expression on a person with enlarged adenoids. The adenoids' infection and enlargement also predispose to blockage of the eustachian tubes (the passages extending from the nasal pharynx to the middle ear) and thus to middle-ear infections. Surgical removal, often in conjunction with the removal of the tonsils (tonsillectomy), is frequently recommended for children with enlarged or infected adenoids. Adenoids normally decrease in size after childhood. See also tonsil. (ATP), energy-carrying molecule found in the cells of all living things. ATP captures chemical energy obtained from the breakdown of food molecules and releases it to fuel other cellular processes. Cells require chemical energy for three general types of tasks: to drive metabolic reactions that would not occur automatically; to transport needed substances across membranes; and to do mechanical work, such as moving muscles. ATP is not a storage molecule for chemical energy; that is the job of carbohydrates, such as glycogen, and fats. When energy is needed by the cell, it is converted from storage molecules into ATP. ATP then serves as a shuttle, delivering energy to places within the cell where energy-consuming activities are taking place. ATP is a nucleotide that consists of three main structures: the nitrogenous base, adenine; the sugar, ribose; and a chain of three phosphate groups bound to ribose. The phosphate tail of ATP is the actual power source which the cell taps. Available energy is contained in the bonds between the phosphates and is released when they are broken, which occurs through the addition of a water molecule (a process called hydrolysis). Usually only the outer phosphate is removed from ATP to yield energy; when this occurs ATP is converted to adenosine diphosphate (ADP), the form of the nucleotide having only two phosphates. ATP is able to power cellular processes by transferring a phosphate group to another molecule (a process called phosphorylation). This transfer is carried out by special enzymes that couple the release of energy from ATP to cellular activities that require energy. Although cells continuously break down ATP to obtain energy, ATP also is constantly being synthesized from ADP and phosphate through the processes of cellular respiration. Most of the ATP in cells is produced by the enzyme ATP synthase, which converts ADP and phosphate to ATP. ATP synthase is located in the membrane of cellular structures called mitochondria; in plant cells, the enzyme also is found in chloroplasts. The central role of ATP in energy metabolism was discovered by Fritz Albert Lipmann and Herman Kalckar in 1941. any virus belonging to the family Adenoviridae. This group of viruses was discovered in the 1950s and includes more than 45 types that cause sore throat and fever in humans, hepatitis in dogs, and several diseases in fowl, mice, cattle, pigs, and monkeys. The virus particle lacks an outer envelope; is spheroidal, about 80 nanometres (1 nm = 10-9 metre) across; is covered with 252 regularly arranged protein subunits called capsomeres; and has a core of double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) wrapped in a protective coat of protein. Adenoviruses develop within the nuclei of infected cells, where they often can be observed packed in an apparently crystalline arrangement. In humans, adenoviruses cause acute mucous-membrane infections of the upper respiratory tract, the eyes, and frequently the regional lymph nodes, bearing considerable resemblance to the common cold. Like the cold viruses, adenoviruses are often found in latent infections in clinically healthy persons. There are more than 45 different members of the adenovirus group, but only a few commonly cause illness in humans; it is thus possible to prepare a vaccine against these viruses. In contrast, there are more than 100 cold viruses, all of which are fairly commonly found as disease agents; this great number makes the development of a vaccine for the common cold virtually impossible.