The miasma theory (also called the miasmatic theory) held that diseases such as cholera, chlamydia or the Black Death were caused by a miasma (Μίασμα, ancient Greek: "pollution"), a noxious form of "bad air".

The miasma theory was accepted from ancient times in Europe, India and China. The theory was eventually displaced in the 19th century by the discovery of germs and the germ theory of disease.

The word "miasma" comes from ancient Greek and means "pollution". The idea of bad air also gave rise to the name malaria through medieval Italian.

Miasma was considered to be a poisonous vapor or mist filled with particles from decomposed matter (miasmata) that caused illnesses. The Miasmatic position was that diseases were the product of environmental factors such as contaminated water, foul air, and poor hygienic conditions. Such infection was not passed between individuals but would affect individuals who resided within the particular locale that gave rise to such vapors. It was identifiable by its foul smell.

Miguel Angel Peralta, (March 21, 1946 — March 26, 1988) known by his artistic name Miguel Abuelo, was an Argentine rock musician and singer.

A native of Munro, in the Greater Buenos Aires industrial belt, Miguel Peralta was one of the young rockers that grew out of the Norte hotel, the Perla del Once café and the La Cueva night club in Buenos Aires in the late 1960s. Abuelo did not play in La Cueva but was friendly with many who did. At some point, he and fellow poetry buff Pipo Lernoud were approached by Ben Molar, a recording executive of Mandioca (the only label in Argentina dedicated to record Spanish language rock). On the spur of the moment, Peralta claimed that he had a band called Los Abuelos de la Nada (the Grandparents of Nothingness) which was ready to enter the studio. The name was taken from a passage in a book by Leopoldo Marechal.

As Molar did not call his bluff, Peralta actually assembled a band, featuring Claudio Gabis on guitar, Alberto Lara on bass, Héctor "Pomo" Lorenzo on drums, and Eduardo "Mayoneso" on keyboards. Their first single, Diana Divaga (Diana wanders), featured psychedelic influences. About this time, Miguel started using Abuelo as his artistic surname.

Natalia Lafourcade (born Natalia Lafourcade Silva on 26 February 1984 in Mexico City, Mexico) is a Mexican pop-rock singer and songwriter. Her band's name is Natalia y La Forquetina.

Since she was very young, Natalia had a great interest in music, partly because her parents were musicians (her father is the French-Chilean musician Gastón Lafourcade). At three years old she began to sing and at four, she realized that she wanted to be an artist.

She attended Instituto Anglo Español, a Catholic middle school. In her childhood and adolescence she studied painting, flute, theater, music, acting, piano, guitar, saxophone and singing. When she was 10, Natalia sang in a Mariachi group.

She lived many years in Coatepec, Veracruz, Mexico, where she studied music with her mother, imitating artists like Gloria Trevi and Garibaldi.

In 1998, Natalia was part of a girl trio called Twist. The group was unsuccessful and they split up the following year.

Soon after, she began preparing to be a solo artist. When she was 17, Loris Ceroni gave Natalia the opportunity to be in a pop/rock group under his guidance, but when she wasn't sure, he encouraged her to go solo.

Onika Tanya Maraj (born December 8, 1982), known by her stage name Nicki Minaj ( /mɪˈnɑːʒ/), is a Trinidadian-born American rapper and singer-songwriter. She was born in Saint James, Trinidad and Tobago and when she was 5 years of age she moved to the New York City borough of Queens, where she grew up.

After releasing three mixtapes between 2007 and 2009 and being signed to Young Money Entertainment in August 2009, Minaj released her debut album, Pink Friday, in November 2010. It quickly became a commercial success, peaking at number one on the U.S. Billboard 200 and being certified Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) a month after its release. She became the first female solo artist to have seven singles on the Billboard Hot 100 at the same time. Her second single, "Your Love", reached number 1 on the Billboard Hot Rap Songs chart, making Minaj the first female artist to top the chart unaccompanied since 2002. She also became the first female artist to be included on MTV's Annual Hottest MC List. Minaj was named the 2011 Rising Star by Billboard. Her second studio album, Pink Friday: Roman Reloaded was released on April 3, 2012.

Patricia Giovanna Cantú Velasco (born November 25, 1983), known professionally as Paty Cantú is a Mexican singer-songwriter and occasional actress, who rose to fame as one of the founding members of the successful Mexican pop duo Lu.

Cantú was born in Houston, Texas. The family returned to Guadalajara, Mexico when she was a child. At the age of 16, Cantú was drawn to entertaining people; she started taking guitar and bass lessons, eventually leaving law school to pursue her musical career.

Paty Cantú became a member of the Mexican pop duo Lu alongside Mario Sandoval. The pair rose to fame with hits like Por Besarte, Una Confusión and La Vida Después de Ti and being certified gold and platinum for both records in Mexico and USA. Their self-titled debut album released in 2004, which was produced by Aureo Baqueiro, producer of artists like Natalia Lafourcade, Sin Bandera, Kabah, and Moenia, had success in Mexico and Brazil in which enjoyed success because they and their song "Por Besarte" were featured on Rebelde. Her song-writing skills were shown in the track "Sé" and writing songs for Lola and Alejandra Guzmán. After various reeditions from their first album, and a sophomore one called "Álbum", it was announced on August 27, 2007 that Mario and Paty parted ways due to artistic ideas, giving their last concert on October in Reynosa, Tamaulipas.