| saturation | 1. The act of saturating, or the state of being saturating; complete penetration or impregnation. 2. <chemistry> The act, process, or result of saturating a substance, or of combining it to its fullest extent. 3. <optics> Freedom from mixture or dilution with white; purity; said of colours. The degree of saturation of a colour is its relative purity, or freedom from admixture with white. Origin: L. Saturatio: cf. F. Saturation. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| saturation analysis | General term for an assay in which a binder competes for labelled versus unlabelled ligand; following separation of free and bound ligand, the ligand (the analyte assayed) is quantitated by relating bound and unbound ratios to known standards. See: enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, radioreceptor assay, immunoassay, enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique, radioimmunoassay. Synonym: displacement analysis, saturation analysis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| saturation index | An indication of the relative concentration of haemoglobin in the red blood cells, calculated as: grams of haemoglobin per 100 ml (expressed as percent of normal) ÷ haematocrit value (expressed as percent of normal) = saturation index The normal index for adults and infants is 0.97 to 1.02; in primary and secondary anaemia, the index is usually considerably less than 0.97. (05 Mar 2000) |
| saturation of receptors | Saturation, the state in which all receptors are effectively occupied all the time, can be said to occur in a simple binding equilibrium when the concentration of ligand is more than 5 times the Kd value, although strictly this will only be true at infinite ligand concentration. (18 Nov 1997) |
| secondary saturation | A technique of nitrous oxide anaesthesia consisting of an abrupt curtailment of the oxygen in the inhaled mixture to produce a deep plane of anaesthesia, following which oxygen is administered to correct hypoxia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abdominal wall fat pad biopsy | <investigation, procedure, surgery> The removal of a small specimen of the abdominal wall fat pad for microscopic examination. Often used in the diagnosis of amyloidosis. Performed with a local anaesthetic. (25 Jun 1999) |
| Bichat's fat-pad | An encapsuled mass of fat in the cheek on the outer side of the buccinator muscle, especially marked in the infant; supposed to strengthen and support the cheek during the act of sucking. Synonym: corpus adiposum buccae, Bichat's fat-pad, Bichat's protuberance, fat body of cheek, sucking cushion, sucking pad, suctorial pad. (05 Mar 2000) |
| brown fat | A thermogenic type of adipose tissue containing a dark pigment, and arising during embryonic life in certain specific areas in many mammals, including man. It is prominent in the newborn of all species in which it occurs and remains a distinct and conspicuous tissue in the adults of certain species, especially those that hibernate. It is also called brown adipose tissue. (12 Dec 1998) |
| brown fat cell | <pathology> Brown fat is specialised for heat production and the adipocytes have many mitochondria in which an inner membrane protein can act as an uncoupler of oxidative phosphorylation allowing rapid thermogenesis. (18 Nov 1997) |
| buccal fat-pad | An encapsuled mass of fat in the cheek on the outer side of the buccinator muscle, especially marked in the infant; supposed to strengthen and support the cheek during the act of sucking. Synonym: corpus adiposum buccae, Bichat's fat-pad, Bichat's protuberance, fat body of cheek, sucking cushion, sucking pad, suctorial pad. (05 Mar 2000) |
| chicken fat clot | Clot formed in vitro or postmortem from leukocytes and plasma of sedimented blood. (05 Mar 2000) |
| combined fat-and carbohydrate-induced hyperlipaemia | Hyperlipoproteinaemia characterised by increased plasma levels of chylomicrons, VLDL, pre-beta-lipoproteins, and triglycerides, and slight rise of cholesterol on a normal diet, with beta-lipoproteins normal; may be accompanied by bouts of abdominal pain, hepatosplenomegaly, susceptibility to atherosclerosis, and abnormal glucose tolerance; probably autosomal recessive inheritance. Synonym: combined fat-and carbohydrate-induced hyperlipaemia, familial hyperchylomicronaemia with hyperprebetalipoproteinaemia, mixed hyperlipaemia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| white fat | <anatomy> Connective tissue that has been specialised to store fat. See: adipocyte. (25 Jun 1999) |
| multilocular fat | A thermogenic type of adipose tissue containing a dark pigment, and arising during embryonic life in certain specific areas in many mammals, including man. It is prominent in the newborn of all species in which it occurs and remains a distinct and conspicuous tissue in the adults of certain species, especially those that hibernate. It is also called brown adipose tissue. (12 Dec 1998) |
| wool fat | <physiology> A peculiar fatlike body, made up of cholesterin and certain fatty acids, found in feathers, hair, wool, and keratin tissues generally. Under the same name, it is prepared from wool for commercial purposes, and forms an admirable basis for ointments, being readily absorbed by the skin. Origin: L. Lana wool + oleum oil. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |