| mon- | <chemistry, prefix> A prefix signifying one, single, alone; as, monocarp, monopoly; indicating that a compound contains one atom, radical, or group of that to the name of which it is united; as, monoxide, monosulphide, monatomic, etc. Origin: Gr. (29 Oct 1998) |
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| pH-stat | A device for continuously sensing the pH of a solution and automatically adding acid or alkali as necessary to keep the pH constant; used to follow the time course of reactions that liberate an acid or alkali. (05 Mar 2000) |
| STAT | A common medical abbreviation which is used to imply urgent or rush. It is derived from a latin word statim which means immediately. (12 Dec 1998) |
| REP | <radiobiology, unit> A roentgen equivalent physical is a unit of absorbed radiation approximately equivalent to a roentgen, an international unit of x- or gamma-radiation. An obsolete unit of measurement; that quantity of ionizing radiation of any kind which, upon absorption by living tissue, produces an energy gain per gram of tissue equivalent to that produced by 1 roentgen of X-rays or gamma-rays. Acronym: rep See: rad. (05 Mar 2000) |
| rep protein | <protein> A protein that triggers a plasmid's replication. An acronym for Repetitive Extragenic Palindromicprotein, this protein is an enzyme produced by a mutant strain of E. Coli that unwinds the DNA helix. (09 Oct 1997) |
| rep-silver | Money anciently paid by servile tenants to their lord, in lieu of the customary service of reaping his corn or grain. See: Reap. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| brilliant vital red | Trisodium salt of a sulfonated diazo dye (a ditolyl group diazotised to sulfonated aminonaphthalene residues), used as a vital stain. Synonym: brilliant vital red. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital | 1. Belonging or relating to life, either animal or vegetable; as, vital energies; vital functions; vital actions. 2. Contributing to life; necessary to, or supporting, life; as, vital blood. "Do the heavens afford him vital food?" (Spenser) "And vital virtue infused, and vital warmth." (Milton) 3. Containing life; living. "Spirits that live throughout, vital in every part." 4. Being the seat of life; being that on which life depends; mortal. "The dart flew on, and pierced a vital part." (Pope) 5. Very necessary; highly important; essential. "A competence is vital to content." (Young) 6. Capable of living; in a state to live; viable. "Pythagoras and Hippocrates . . . Affirm the birth of the seventh month to be vital." (Sir T. Browne) Vital air, oxygen gas; so called because essential to animal life. <physiology> Vital capacity, the breathing capacity of the lungs; expressed by the number of cubic inches of air which can be forcibly exhaled after a full inspiration. Vital force. <biology> See Tripod. <botany> Vital vessels, a name for latex tubes, now disused. See Latex. Origin: F, fr. L. Vitalis, fr. Vita life; akin to vivere to live. See Vivid. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| vital capacity | <chest medicine, physiology> The volume of gas that can be expelled from the lungs from a position of full inspiration, with no limit to the duration of expiration, it is equal to the inspiratory capacity plus the expiratory reserve volume. (11 Nov 1997) |
| vital centre | Centre essential to life; usually refers to the centres located in the medulla oblongata which are necessary for the maintenance of respiration and circulation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital index | The ratio of births to deaths within a population during a given time. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital knot | A circumscript region in the lower part of the medulla oblongata, near the apex of the calamus scriptorius, interpreted by M. Flourens (1858) as a nerve centre controlling respiration. Synonym: vital knot, vital node. Origin: Fr. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital node | A circumscript region in the lower part of the medulla oblongata, near the apex of the calamus scriptorius, interpreted by M. Flourens (1858) as a nerve centre controlling respiration. Synonym: vital knot, vital node. Origin: Fr. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital pulp | A pulp composed of viable tissue, either normal or diseased, that responds to electric stimuli and to heat and cold. (05 Mar 2000) |
| vital red | Trisodium salt of a sulfonated diazo dye (a ditolyl group diazotised to sulfonated aminonaphthalene residues), used as a vital stain. Synonym: brilliant vital red. (05 Mar 2000) |