| apocarpous | <plant biology> Of a gynoecium: consisting of two or more carpels which are free from one another or almost so. (09 Oct 1997) |
|---|---|
| apocarteresis | Suicide by starvation. Origin: G. Apocartereo, to starve oneself to death (05 Mar 2000) |
| apochromatic lens | A compound lens designed to correct both spherical and chromatic aberrations. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apochromatic objective | <microscopy> A lens system whose secondary chromatic aberrations have been substantially reduced. It is designed to provide the same focal length for three wavelengths and freedom from spherical aberration for two wavelengths of light. The magnification can still vary with wavelength in which case a compensating eyepieces used to cancel the coloured fringes. (05 Aug 1998) |
| apoCII | apolipoprotein CII |
| apocleisis | Aversion to food. Origin: G. Apo, away, + kleisis, closure (05 Mar 2000) |
| apocope | 1. The cutting off, or omission, of the last letter, syllable, or part of a word. 2. <medicine> A cutting off; abscission. Origin: L, fr. Gr. A cutting off, fr. To cut off; from + to cut. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| apocrine | <physiology> Form of secretion in which the apical portion of the cell is shed, as in the secretion of fat by cells of the mammary gland. The fat droplet is surrounded by apical plasma membrane and this has been used experimentally as a source of plasma membrane. (18 Nov 1997) |
| apocrine adenoma | <tumour> A solitary benign tumour occurring in women usually in the labia majora, cystic and papillary, and composed of epithelium resembling that of apocrine glands. Synonym: apocrine adenoma, hidradenoma papilliferum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apocrine carcinoma | <tumour> A carcinoma composed predominantly of cells with abundant eosinophilic granular cytoplasm, occurring in the breast, a carcinoma of the apocrine glands. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apocrine gland | A gland whose secretory product includes an apical portion of the secretory cell such as the secretion of lipid droplets in lactation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apocrine glands | Large, branched, specialised sweat glands that empty into the upper portion of a hair follicle instead of directly onto the skin. (12 Dec 1998) |
| apocrine metaplasia | Alteration of acinar epithelium of breast tissue to resemble apocrine sweat glands; seen commonly in fibrocystic disease of the breasts. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apocrine miliaria | Chronic pruritic disease, usually in women, characterised by small follicular papular eruptions in apocrine areas. It is caused by obstruction and rupture of intraepidermal apocrine ducts. (12 Dec 1998) |
| apocrine sweat glands | Sudoriferous glands that develop in association with hair follicles and undergo enlargement and secretory development at puberty; they secrete a viscous and odourless sweat that supports the growth of bacteria leading to an acrid odour; secretion is by an eccrine, not apocrine, mechanism. Synonym: axillary sweat glands. (05 Mar 2000) |