| antacid | <pharmacology> A substance that counteracts or neutralises acidity, usually of the stomach. Origin: L. Acidus = sour (16 Dec 1997) |
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| plus | 1. <mathematics> More, required to be added; positive, as distinguished from negative; opposed to minus. 2. Hence, in a literary sense, additional; real; actual. "Success goes invariably with a certain plus or positive power." (Emerson) 3. <mathematics> Plus sign, the sign (+) which denotes addition, or a positive quantity. Origin: L, more; akin to Gr, and cf. Piu, Pleonasm. (11 Mar 1998) |
| plus lens | A converging lens. Synonym: plus lens. (05 Mar 2000) |
| plus strand | See: replicative form. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fluorescence plus Giemsa stain | <technique> A stain used to demonstrate sister chromatid exchange; cells are grown in 5-bromodeoxyuridine, followed by chromosome preparation, staining in Hoechst 33258, exposure to light, and staining in Giemsa; chromosomes exhibit a "harlequin" appearance. (05 Mar 2000) |
| advanced life support | Definitive emergency medical care that includes defibrillation, airway management, and use of drugs and medications. Compare: basic life support. (05 Mar 2000) |
| artificial life | Artificial life (AL, alife) is a scientific discipline in whichresearchers study life by creating computer programs that recreatebiological systems from scratch. (09 Oct 1997) |
| basic life support | Emergency cardiopulmonary resuscitation, control of bleeding, treatment of shock, acidosis, and poisoning, stabilization of injuries and wounds, and basic first aid. (05 Mar 2000) |
| biological half-life | <biochemistry, biology> This is the time required for one-half of the total amount of a particular substance in a biological system to be consumed or broken down by biological processes when the rate of removal is approximately exponential. Toxic chemicals with a long biological half-life (such as some pesticides) will tend to accumulate in the body and are, therefore, more likely to be harmful. A substance with a short biological half-life may still accumulate if a portion of it it becomes tightly bound to bone or other tissues, even if most of it is quickly cleared from the body. (21 Mar 1998) |
| vegetative life | The simple metabolic and reproductive activity of humans or animals, apart from the exercise of conscious mental or psychic processes. (05 Mar 2000) |
| germ-free life | Animals not contaminated by or associated with any foreign organisms. (12 Dec 1998) |
| change of life | Colloquialism for menopause, climacteric. (05 Mar 2000) |
| RNA life | <biology, molecular biology> A hypothetical life form lacking DNA and protein which may have existed on early earth and in which RNA served both a genetic coding and a catalytic function. (23 Aug 1998) |
| physical half-life | The time required for half the atoms of a radionuclide to undergo disintegration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| wrongful life | In civil law a cause of action which alleges that a defendant has wrongfully caused a child to be born. (12 Dec 1998) |