Sigismund was the Holy Roman emperor from 1433, king of Hungary from 1387, German king from 1411, king of Bohemia from 1419, and Lombard king from 1431. The last emperor of the House of Luxembourg, he participated in settling the Western Schism and the Hussite wars in Bohemia. Sigismund, a younger

Kyiv: Kyiv under Lithuania and Poland: …1516, when the grand duke Sigismund I granted Kyiv a charter of autonomy, thereby much stimulating trade.

Sigismund I was a king who established Polish suzerainty over Ducal Prussia (East Prussia) and incorporated the duchy of Mazovia into the Polish state. Sigismund I, the fifth son of Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Habsburg, had ruled Głogów, Silesia, since 1499 and became margrave of Lusatia and

Sigismund II Augustus was the last Jagiellon king of Poland, who united Livonia and the duchy of Lithuania with Poland, creating a greatly expanded and legally unified kingdom. The only son of Sigismund I the Old and Bona Sforza, Sigismund II was elected and crowned coruler with his father in 1530.

Sigismund III Vasa was the king of Poland (1587–1632) and of Sweden (1592–99) who sought to effect a permanent union of Poland and Sweden but instead created hostile relations and wars between the two states lasting until 1660. The elder son of King John III Vasa of Sweden and Catherine, daughter

house of Habsburg: Austria and the rise of the Habsburgs in Germany: …Austrian hereditary lands reunited when Sigismund of Tirol abdicated in Maximilian’s favour (1490).

Sigismund I was a king who established Polish suzerainty over Ducal Prussia (East Prussia) and incorporated the duchy of Mazovia into the Polish state. Sigismund I, the fifth son of Casimir IV and Elizabeth of Habsburg, had ruled Głogów, Silesia, since 1499 and became margrave of Lusatia and

Sigismund III Vasa was the king of Poland (1587–1632) and of Sweden (1592–99) who sought to effect a permanent union of Poland and Sweden but instead created hostile relations and wars between the two states lasting until 1660. The elder son of King John III Vasa of Sweden and Catherine, daughter

John Sigismund was the elector of Brandenburg from 1608, who united his domain with that of Prussia. His marriage in 1594 to Anna, the daughter of Albert Frederick of Prussia, made him heir to the title of that duchy, and he became duke of Prussia in 1618. Through his mother-in-law he acquired

biblical literature: Textual criticism: manuscript problems: …and of the utilization of sigla (signs or abbreviations) for marking suspect readings and disarranged verses. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the pre-Masoretic versions of the Old Testament made directly from Hebrew originals are all replete with divergences from current Masoretic Bibles. Finally, the scrolls from the Judaean desert, especially those…

Alejo Carpentier: …Carpentier published another historical novel, El siglo de las luces (Explosion in a Cathedral), which chronicles the impact of the French Revolution on Caribbean countries. It was very successful and there were calls to award Carpentier a Nobel Prize, something that eluded him. In his final years Carpentier turned to…

Golden Age, the period of Spanish literature extending from the early 16th century to the late 17th century, generally considered the high point in Spain’s literary history. The Golden Age began with the partial political unification of Spain about 1500. Its literature is characterized by patriotic

coin: Achaemenids: …very pure quality and the siglos in silver; 20 sigloi (shekels) made a daric, which weighed 8.4 grams. The types of both coins were the same: obverse, the Persian king in a kneeling position holding a bow in his left hand and a spear in his right; reverse, only a…

sigma bond, in chemistry, a mechanism by which two atoms are held together as the result of the forces operating between them and a pair of electrons regarded as shared by them. In a sigma bond, the electron pair occupies an orbital—a region of space associated with a particular value of the energy

sigma bond, in chemistry, a mechanism by which two atoms are held together as the result of the forces operating between them and a pair of electrons regarded as shared by them. In a sigma bond, the electron pair occupies an orbital—a region of space associated with a particular value of the energy

metabolism: Synthesis of RNA: coli contains a protein, the sigma factor, that is not required for the incorporation of the nucleoside triphosphates into the growing RNA chain but apparently is essential for binding RNA polymerase to the proper DNA sites to initiate RNA synthesis. After the initiation step, the sigma factor is released; the…

polestar: …pole; the present southern polestar, Polaris Australis (also called σ Octantis), is only of the 5th magnitude and is thus barely visible to the naked eye.

chemical bonding: Molecular orbitals of H2 and He2: …axis, it is designated a σ orbital and labeled 1σ.

chemical bonding: Molecular orbitals of H2 and He2: …(and referred to as “sigma star”) or, because it is the second of the two σ orbitals, 2σ.

probability theory: Measure theory: …properties (i)–(iii) is called a σ-field. From these properties one can prove others. For example, it follows at once from (i) and (ii) that Ø (the empty set) belongs to the class M. Since the intersection of any class of sets can be expressed as the complement of the union…

seawater: Density of seawater and pressure: …a density unit called sigma-t (σt). This value is obtained by subtracting 1.0 from the density and multiplying the remainder by 1,000. The σt has no units and is an abbreviated density of seawater controlled by salinity and temperature only. The σt of seawater increases with increasing salinity and…

cotton rat, (genus Sigmodon), any of 14 species of terrestrial rodents found from the southern United States to northern South America. Cotton rats are stout-bodied with small ears, and their coarse grizzled coats range from grayish brown to dark brown mixed with buff. All species live in natural

hantavirus: Hantavirus pulmonary syndrome: …by the hispid cotton rat, Sigmodon hispidus); Louisiana, caused by the Bayou virus (carried by the marsh rice rat, Oryzomys palustris); Chile and Argentina, caused by the Andes virus (carried by Oligoryzomys longicaudatus, a species of pygmy rice rat); and Central America, caused by the Choclo

grasshopper mouse: … species belong to the subfamily Sigmodontinae of the “true” mouse family, Muridae, within the order Rodentia. Today’s Onychomys species are related to grasshopper mice represented by four-million to five-million-year-old fossils that extend the evolutionary history of the genus back to the Early Pliocene Epoch (5.3 million to 3.6 million years…

sigmoid colon, a terminal section of the large intestine that connects the descending colon to the rectum; its function is to store fecal wastes until they are ready to leave the body. The sigmoid colon derives its name from the fact that it is curved in the form of an S (Greek sigma: σ). Its size

colostomy: A sigmoid colostomy, which is the most common type of permanent colostomy, requires no appliances (although a light pouch is sometimes worn for reassurance) and allows an individual to lead a life that is in every way normal except for the route of fecal evacuation.

sigmoid function, mathematical function that graphs as a distinctive S-shaped curve. The mathematical representation of the sigmoid function is an exponential equation of the formσ(x) = 1 (1 + e−x) ,where e is the constant that is the base of the natural logarithm function. Although there are many

colorectal cancer: Diagnosis: …narrow, flexible tube called a sigmoidoscope to look at the lining of the rectum and the end of the colon. Colonoscopy uses a similar device to examine the entire colon. A biopsy may also be conducted in which abnormal tissue is removed by using the colonoscope and then examined under…

sigmoidoscopy, diagnostic medical procedure that uses a flexible fibre-optic endoscope to examine the rectum and the terminal section of the large intestine, known as the sigmoid colon. Fifty percent of all lesions in the lower intestines occur specifically in the rectum and sigmoid colon; they can

The term psychoanalysis was not indexed in the Encyclopædia Britannica until well into the 20th century. It occurs in the 12th edition (1922) in such articles as “Behaviorism” and “Psychotherapy.” The first treatment of psychoanalysis as a subject unto itself appeared in the 13th edition (1926),

gastropod: Classification: Order Sigmurethra Ureter originates near anterior margin of kidney, follows backward to posterior end, then reflexes forward along hindgut to open alongside anus; position greatly altered in sluglike forms; about 18,000 species. Suborder Holopodopes A group of 4 superfamilies. Superfamily Achatinacea

human disease: Disease: signs and symptoms: Disease may be acute, chronic, malignant, or benign. Of these terms, chronic and acute have to do with the duration of a disease, malignant and benign with its potentiality for causing death.

sign, in marketing and advertising, device placed on or before a premises to identify its occupant and the nature of the business done there or, placed at a distance, to advertise a business or its products. The ancient Egyptians and Greeks used signs for advertising purposes, as did the Romans,

communication: Signs: While signs are usually less germane to the development of words than signals, most of them contain greater amounts of meaning of and by themselves. Ashley Montagu, an anthropologist, has defined a sign as a “concrete denoter” possessing an inherent specific meaning, roughly analogous…

Watson Lake: The “Sign Forest” at Milepost 634.3, just east of Watson Lake, is an unusual collection of signposts that originated in 1942 with homesick Alaska Highway construction workers who erected signs bearing the names of and distances to their hometowns; the practice was carried on by tourists…

The Sign in Sidney Brustein’s Window, drama in three acts by Lorraine Hansberry, produced in 1964 and published the following year. The play concerns the nature of personal commitment to an ideal. The character Sidney Brustein is a disillusioned white Greenwich Village intellectual. Alton Scales, a

sign language, any means of communication through bodily movements, especially of the hands and arms, used when spoken communication is impossible or not desirable. The practice is probably older than speech. Sign language may be as coarsely expressed as mere grimaces, shrugs, or pointings; or it

pedagogy: Conditioning and behaviourist theories: Such an event is called sign learning, because, in knowing the sign for something, people to some extent make a response to the sign similar to that which they would make to the object itself. Learning new vocabularies, new terms and conventions, or algebraic and chemical symbols all involve some…

Claudette Colbert: DeMille’s The Sign of the Cross (1932). As Poppaea, the wife of Nero (played campily by Charles Laughton) and “the wickedest woman in the world,” Colbert slinked about in revealing costumes, vamped costar Fredric March, and in one famous scene took a bath in what was…

Douglas Sirk: Films of the early to mid-1950s: Sign of the Pagan (1954) was a florid tale of Rome under attack by Attila the Hun (Jack Palance), and Captain Lightfoot (1955) starred Hudson as a rebellious early 19th-century Irish nationalist.

John Sturges: Early work: The melodrama The Sign of the Ram (1948) featured a wheelchair-bound Susan Peters (who had been crippled in a real-life accident) as a manipulative wife and mother who uses her condition to control those around her. In 1949 Sturges made the first of his many westerns, The…

Jenny Holzer: Later work: …works recalled her 1984 series Sign on a Truck, wherein she projected a range of media, including her Truisms, onto a screen-mounted truck, which she had parked in New York City. In 2024 Holzer also revisited her 1989 installation at the Guggenheim Museum, New York, in which scrolling text from…

Project Blue Book: The first was Project Sign, a classified program that tried to explain a number of military-reported UFO sightings and determine whether they were extraterrestrial in origin, while also considering potential threats to national security, especially those related to possible espionage by the Soviet Union. Project Sign lasted from…

road: Traffic control: Signs advise the driver of special regulations and provide information about hazards and navigation. They are classified as regulatory signs, which provide notice of traffic laws and regulations (e.g., signs for speed limits and for stop, yield or give-way, and no entry); warning signs, which…

Paul Signac was a French painter who, with Georges Seurat, developed the technique called pointillism. When he was 18, Signac gave up the study of architecture for painting and, through Armand Guillaumin, became a convert to the coloristic principles of Impressionism. In 1884 Signac helped found

Signal, private messaging app operated by the nonprofit organization Signal Foundation, based in San Francisco. Signal users can exchange text and voice messages, hold voice and video calls, send photos and videos, and communicate in group chats. The service can be accessed via a smartphone or

communication: Signals: A signal may be considered as an interruption in a field of constant energy transfer. An example is the dots and dashes that open and close the electromagnetic field of a telegraph circuit. Such interruptions do not require the construction of a man-made field;…

communication: Signals: A signal may be considered as an interruption in a field of constant energy transfer. An example is the dots and dashes that open and close the electromagnetic field of a telegraph circuit. Such interruptions do not require the construction of a man-made field;…

aerospace industry: The space age: …1958, in a program called Project SCORE, the U.S. Air Force launched the first low-orbiting communications satellite, premiering the transmission of the human voice from space. Others followed, initiating a rapidly growing national and international telecommunications satellite industry (see satellite communication).

communication: Signals: A signal may be considered as an interruption in a field of constant energy transfer. An example is the dots and dashes that open and close the electromagnetic field of a telegraph circuit. Such interruptions do not require the construction of a man-made field;…

The Signal Companies, Inc., former American conglomerate corporation engaged mostly in automotive and aerospace engineering, energy development, and environmental improvement. It became part of AlliedSignal in 1985. The company was incorporated in 1928 as the Signal Oil and Gas Company to continue

Signal Corps, branch of the U.S. Army whose mission is to manage all aspects of communications and information systems support. The Signal Corps was officially established as a branch of the U.S. Army in March 1863. At the beginning of its involvement in the American Civil War, the Signal Corps

loudspeaker: …converting electrical energy into acoustical signal energy that is radiated into a room or open air. The term signal energy indicates that the electrical energy has a specific form, corresponding, for example, to speech, music, or any other signal in the range of audible frequencies (roughly 20 to 20,000 hertz).…

signal generator, electronic test instrument that delivers an accurately calibrated signal at frequencies from the audio to the microwave ranges. It is valuable in the development and testing of electronic hardware. The signal generator provides a signal that can be adjusted according to frequency,

Cape Town: The city site: … and Lion’s Rump (later called Signal Hill), on the north by Table Bay, on the south by Devil’s Peak, and on the east by marshlands and the sandy Cape Flats beyond. The nearest tillable land was on the lower eastern slopes of Devil’s Peak and Table Mountain and, farther to…

St. John’s: Signal Hill Historic Park, once a location for signaling the approach of ships, memorializes several events, including John Cabot’s presumed landfall (commemorated by a tower [1897]); the French-English struggle for Newfoundland that ended in 1762 with the last shot fired on the hill (remnants of…

commercial fishing: Fish finding: Herring fishermen used signal lines to find their prey in deep waters. These were long wires dropped from a boat; the fisherman holding the line in his hand could feel the vibration caused by the fish touching the line, which was named the herring’s telephone. Other fish were…

radar: Signal and data processors: The signal processor is the part of the receiver that extracts the desired target signal from unwanted clutter. It is not unusual for these undesired reflections to be much larger than desired target echoes, in some cases more than one million times larger. Large clutter echoes…

cell: The rough endoplasmic reticulum: …RNA molecule known as the signal recognition particle (SRP). The SRP also binds to the ribosome to halt further formation of the protein. The membrane of the ER contains receptor sites that bind the SRP-ribosome complex to the RER membrane. Upon binding, translation resumes, with the SRP dissociating from the…

Great Wall of China: Signal towers: Signal towers were also called beacons, beacon terraces, smoke mounds, mounds, or kiosks. They were used to send military communications: beacon (fires or lanterns) during the night or smoke signals in the daytime; other methods such as raising banners, beating clappers, or firing…

chemoreception: Cellular mechanisms in chemoreception: …cellular response is known as signal transduction.

tactics: The armoured offensive: …one another, the Germans added signal troops (they were the first to develop a comprehensive mobile communication system based on two-way radio) as well as a headquarters. Thus, they created the first armoured divisions, which from 1940 became the very symbol of military might.

television: Distortion and interference: The signal wave form that makes up a television picture signal embodies all the picture information to be transmitted from camera to receiver screen as well as the synchronizing information required to keep the receiver and transmitter scanning operations in exact step with each other. The…

electronic music: Computer sound synthesis: …are low enough for the signal-to-noise ratio to exceed commercial standards (55 to 70 decibels).

Mike Waltz: National security adviser: …soon became known as “Signalgate.”

A. Michael Spence: …developed the theory of “signaling” to show how better-informed individuals in the market communicate their information to the less-well-informed to avoid the problems associated with adverse selection. In his 1973 seminal paper “Job Market Signaling,” Spence demonstrated how a college degree signals a job seeker’s intelligence and ability to…

telephone: Out-of-band signaling: …America, CCITT-7 was implemented as Signaling System 7, or SS7.

Rush: Rise to fame: ” Signals (1982) includes Rush’s most successful U.S. single, “New World Man.” Subsequent albums released in the 1980s, which drew closer to the pop genre, rely heavily on synthesizer effects characteristic of the decade.

electronic warfare: …communications, which is known as signals intelligence (SIGINT) gathering. The purpose of jamming is to limit an enemy’s ability to exchange information by overriding radio transmissions or by sending signals to prevent radar detection or convey false information. Intelligence gathering has grown more significant in direct relation to the increased…

bookbinding: …first folded into sections, or signatures (delivered often as folded sections of 64 pages, or as two 32-page sections, or as four 16-page sections). End sheets (or papers) may be attached to the first and last sections of the book, and systems are designed to sew sections together or fasten…

quilting: The golden age of American quilts: …as did its contemporary, the signature, or album, quilt, in which each block was made and signed by a different maker and the quilt given as a keepsake, for example, to a bride by her friends, to the minister by the women of the congregation, or to a young man…

Côte d’Azur: Signes, in Var, commemorates St. Eligius during the fourth week in June, and the sailors of Antibes honour St. Peter in late June. Menton hosts a festival of lemons in February; floats are decked with lemons and oranges.

sigillography: Seals in antiquity: …type until replaced by the signet ring in Roman times. In the Aegean, various types of stamp seals were used throughout the 2nd and much of the 1st millennium bc, until in Hellenistic and Roman times the signet ring became dominant.

diplomatics: The English royal chancery: …of the 14th century, the Signet Office was established, so called after the small seal (signet). The king’s secretary was also the head of this office. All these shifts made the issuing of royal documents increasingly complicated. From the end of the 14th century, the common procedure involved, first, the…

Fisherman’s Ring: signet ring that is presented to the pope—the leader of the Roman Catholic Church—at his papal inauguration. Its standard design shows an image of St. Peter the Apostle with the reigning pope’s name inscribed above it. It was formerly used as a seal for the…

meaning, In philosophy and linguistics, the sense of a linguistic expression, sometimes understood in contrast to its referent. For example, the expressions “the morning star” and “the evening star” have different meanings, though their referent (Venus) is the same. Some expressions have meanings

Frederick Jackson Turner: …his first professional paper, “The Significance of History” (1891), which contains the famous line “Each age writes the history of the past anew with reference to the conditions uppermost in its own time.” The controversial notion that there was no fixed historical truth, and that all historical interpretation should…

Frederick Jackson Turner: …in American History (1920) and The Significance of Sections in American History (1932), for which he was posthumously awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1933. In these writings Turner promoted new methods in historical research, including the techniques of the newly founded social sciences, and urged his colleagues to study new…

Sir Edwin Ray Lankester: In “The Significance of the Increased Size of the Cerebrum in Recent as Compared with Extinct Animals” (1899), Lankester emphasized that an inherited ability to learn, allowing cultural advances to be transmitted between generations socially, was an important factor in human evolution. His discovery of flint…

statistics: Significance testing: In a regression study, hypothesis tests are usually conducted to assess the statistical significance of the overall relationship represented by the regression model and to test for the statistical significance of the individual parameters. The statistical tests used are based on the following…

statistics: Hypothesis testing: …type I error, called the level of significance for the test. Common choices for the level of significance are α = 0.05 and α = 0.01. Although most applications of hypothesis testing control the probability of making a type I error, they do not always control the probability of making…

significant figures, any of the digits of a number beginning with the digit farthest to the left that is not zero and ending with the last digit farthest to the right that is either not zero or that is a zero but is considered to be exact. Significant figures are used to report a value, measured or

significant figures, any of the digits of a number beginning with the digit farthest to the left that is not zero and ending with the last digit farthest to the right that is either not zero or that is a zero but is considered to be exact. Significant figures are used to report a value, measured or

Clive Bell: …was the theory of “significant form,” as described in his books Art (1914) and Since Cézanne (1922). He asserted that purely formal qualities—i.e., the relationships and combinations of lines and colours—are the most important elements in works of art. The aesthetic emotion aroused in the viewer by a painting…

Armistead Maupin: …the City (1982), Babycakes (1984), Significant Others (1987), and Sure of You (1989), all but the last of which were initially serialized in San Francisco newspapers. Maupin chronicled the later vicissitudes and triumphs of his characters in Michael Tolliver Lives (2007), Mary Ann in Autumn (2010), and The Days of…

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Signifyin’: Gates developed the notion of signifyin’ in Figures in Black: Words, Signs, and the “Racial” Self (1987) and The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism (1988). Signifyin’ is the practice of representing an idea indirectly, through a commentary that is often humorous, boastful, insulting, or provocative. Gates argued…

Henry Louis Gates, Jr.: Signifyin’: …the “Racial” Self (1987) and The Signifying Monkey: A Theory of Afro-American Literary Criticism (1988). Signifyin’ is the practice of representing an idea indirectly, through a commentary that is often humorous, boastful, insulting, or provocative. Gates argued that the pervasiveness and centrality of signifyin’ in African and African American literature…

David Foster Wallace: Other books: …also wrote, with Mark Costello, Signifying Rappers: Rap and Race in the Urban Present (1990; 2nd edition 1997).

Luca Signorelli was a Renaissance painter, best known for his nudes and for his novel compositional devices. It is likely that Signorelli was a pupil of Piero della Francesca in the 1460s. The first certain surviving work by him, a fragmentary fresco (1474) now in the museum at Città di Castello,

Luca Signorelli was a Renaissance painter, best known for his nudes and for his novel compositional devices. It is likely that Signorelli was a pupil of Piero della Francesca in the 1460s. The first certain surviving work by him, a fragmentary fresco (1474) now in the museum at Città di Castello,

puppetry: Styles of puppet theatre: …to Paris in 1888 when Henri Signoret founded the Little Theatre; this theatre used rod puppets mounted on a base that ran on rails below the stage, the movement of the limbs being controlled by strings attached to pedals. The plays presented were pieces by classic authors—Cervantes, Aristophanes, Shakespeare—and new…

Simone Signoret was a French actress known for her portrayal of fallen romantic heroines and headstrong older women. Her tumultuous marriage to actor Yves Montand and the couple’s championing of several left-wing causes often provoked controversy and brought her notoriety. Born in Germany to French

signoria, (Italian: “lordship”), in the medieval and Renaissance Italian city-states, a government run by a signore (lord, or despot) that replaced republican institutions either by force or by agreement. It was the characteristic form of government in Italy from the middle of the 13th century

Palazzo Vecchio, most important historic government building in Florence, having been the seat of the Signoria of the Florentine Republic in the 14th century and then the government centre of the Medici grand dukes of Tuscany. From 1865 to 1871 it housed the Chamber of Deputies of the Kingdom of

Francesca Caccini was an Italian composer and singer who was one of only a handful of women in 17th-century Europe whose compositions were published. The most significant of her compositions—published and unpublished—were produced during her employment at the Medici court in Florence. Francesca

Macchiaioli: …were the critic and theoretician Telemaco Signorini (1853–1901), who used colour with great sensitivity in his usually socially conscious scenes; Silvestro Lega (1826–95), who combined a clearly articulated handling of colour patches with a poetic feeling for his subject; and Raffaello Sernesi (1838–66) and Giuseppe Abbati (1836–68), both of whom…

Francesca Caccini was an Italian composer and singer who was one of only a handful of women in 17th-century Europe whose compositions were published. The most significant of her compositions—published and unpublished—were produced during her employment at the Medici court in Florence. Francesca

M. Night Shyamalan: Breakthrough with The Sixth Sense and beyond: …that he possesses special powers; Signs (2002), a science-fiction thriller about a preacher (Mel Gibson) who, after losing his faith, must contend with an alien invasion; and The Village (2004), a Gothic tale about an isolated community that guards itself from unknown forces in the woods beyond.

Portuguese literature: After 1974: …published Sinais de fogo (1978; Signs of Fire), an impressive novel about the effects in Portugal of the Spanish Civil War (1936–39). J. Cardoso Pires based Balada da praia dos cães (1982; Ballad of Dogs’ Beach) on the account of a political assassination. The novels that constitute Almeida Faria’s Tetralogia…

Mary-Louise Parker: …appeared in her first film, Signs of Life, a drama in which she portrayed an abused girlfriend. This and later roles led some to describe her as the “long-suffering girl next door.” In 1990 Parker made her Broadway debut in Prelude to a Kiss, and her performance as Rita—a young…