| field | <radiobiology> In physics, any macroscopic quantity which exists (and typically varies) throughout a region of space. Standard examples include Electric and Magnetic fields, velocity flow fields, gravitational fields, etc. (09 Oct 1997) |
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| field block | Regional anaesthesia produced by infiltration of local anaesthetic solution into tissues surrounding an operative field. (05 Mar 2000) |
| field block anaesthesia | Conduction anaesthesia in which small nerves are not anaesthetised individually, as in nerve block anaesthesia, but instead are blocked en masse by local anaesthetic solution injected to form a barrier proximal to the operative site. (05 Mar 2000) |
| field dependence-independence | The ability to respond to segments of the perceptual experience rather than to the whole. (12 Dec 1998) |
| field depth | <microscopy> The thickness of the object space within which objects focused by a lens will all appear in good simultaneous focus. Penetration is a synonym. (05 Aug 1998) |
| field diaphragm | <microscopy> In a photomicrographic system particularly, an iris diaphragm that is imaged in the field of view with Kohler illumination. This limits the extent of the illuminated field and eliminates much extraneous light. The iris diaphragm that is located in front of the collecting lens of the light source. With Kohler illumination, the condenser focuses the image of the field diaphragm onto the image plane. (05 Aug 1998) |
| field emission tube | An X-ray tube that uses a cold cathode, relying on the tube voltage to pull electrons from it to the anode. (05 Mar 2000) |
| field fever | A leptospirosis caused by leptospira. Synonym: canefield fever. (05 Mar 2000) |
| field gradient | In magnetic resonance imaging, a magnetic field that varies with location, superimposed on the uniform field of the magnet, to alter the resonant frequency of nuclei and allow recovery of their spatial position. Synonym: field gradient. (05 Mar 2000) |
| field identification | <zoology> The determination of the taxonomic identity of an individual specimen, under field conditions, often with the aid of keys etc. See: Identification. (09 Jan 1998) |
| field ion microscope | <instrument> Type of microscopy in which the specimen is illuminated with ions, often gallium ions, that are focussed electrostatically. The ions remove components of the specimen, lower atomic masses first. These are imaged and provide information on elemental distribution with a resolution of perhaps 30 nm. (18 Nov 1997) |
| field lens | <physics> The lower lens in an ocular, the lens nearest the object field. (05 Aug 1998) |
| field lines | <radiobiology> Lines in space along which a field is either changing or not changing (depends on the kind of field) but which help to create diagrams which characterise the behaviour and effects of the field. For instance, electric field lines run in the direction that the electric field will push charged particles, the strength of the field is proportional to the density of the field lines. On the other hand, the magnetic force pushes particles in a direction perpendicular to both the particle's velocity and the direction of the magnetic field line. (09 Oct 1997) |
| field of consciousness | The content of awareness at any given moment. (05 Mar 2000) |
| field of fixation | In ophthalmology, the angular distance around which the line of fixation can be turned. (05 Mar 2000) |
| auditory field | The space included within the limits of hearing of a definite sound, as of a tuning fork. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| bright field illumination | <microscopy> The method of lighting the specimen with a solid cone of rays. Transmitted bright field illumination is performed by a substage condenser. Reflected bright field illumination is performed by a vertical illuminator. Compare: dark field illumination (05 Aug 1998) |
| bright field imaging | <microscopy> An imaging mode in a transmission electron microscopy that uses only unscattered Electrons to form the image. Contrast in such an image is due entirely to mass-thickness variations in amorphous samples, and may include diffraction contrast in crystalline samples. (05 Aug 1998) |
| bright field microscopy | <technique> Optical microscopy, in which absorption to a great extent and diffraction to a minor extent give rise to the image, as opposed to phase contrast or interference methods of microscopy. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Broca's field | The posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus of the left or dominant hemisphere, corresponding approximately to Brodmann's area 44; Broca identified this region as an essential component of the motor mechanisms governing articulated speech. Synonym: Broca's area, Broca's field, motor speech centre. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardioid dark field condenser | <microscopy> A condenser designed with two reflecting surfaces, the first, a spherical surface which reflects the rays to a second, cardioid (heart-shaped) surface. The virtue in such an arrangement is that, if the cardioid surface is of true figure, the lens is both achromatic and aplanatic. It has a limiting numerical aperture of about 1.0. Thus objectives of a greater numerical aperture cannot be used successfully with it. A true cardioid figure is the trace of a point on the circumference of a circle rolling around an equal, fixed circle. (05 Aug 1998) |
| magnetic field | The sphere of influence of a magnet. (05 Mar 2000) |
| magnetic field gradient | In magnetic resonance imaging, a magnetic field that varies with location, superimposed on the uniform field of the magnet, to alter the resonant frequency of nuclei and allow recovery of their spatial position. Synonym: field gradient. (05 Mar 2000) |
| paraboloid dark field condenser | <microscopy> A lens of parabolic shape. The vertex end is ground back so that its focus can be brought into coincidence with the specimen on the slide. A central stop is provided to block the central rays. It is used chiefly for medium- power work. (05 Aug 1998) |
| receptive field | That part of the retina whose photoreceptors (rods and cones) pertain to a single optic nerve fibre. The response of a neuron to stimulation of its receptive field depends on the type of neuron and the part of the field that is illuminated; an "on-centre" neuron is stimulated by light falling at the centre of its receptive field and inhibited by light falling at the periphery; an "off-centre" neuron reacts in exactly the opposite fashion; that is, it is inhibited by light falling at the centre of its receptive field. In either case, the net response depends on a complex switching action in the retina. When an entire receptive field is equally illuminated, the response of receptors at the centre of the field predominates. (05 Mar 2000) |
| visual field | The area simultaneously visible to one eye without movement; often measured by means of a bowl perimeter located 330 mm from the eye. (05 Mar 2000) |
| visual field test | <ophthalmology> A test which measures the extent of visual field loss. This test may be performed by a number of methods including confrontation, tangent screen exam and automated perimetry. Diseases that affect visual field include stroke, diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, hyperthyroidism, Jacob-Creutzfeldt disease and optic glioma. (27 Sep 1997) |
| reversed-field pinch | <radiobiology> A toroidal magnetic confinement scheme which could constitute an alternative to the Tokamak for building a fusion reactor. It is characterised by a magnetic field mostly generated by the plasma itself, with toroidal and poloidal components of comparable intensities, in contrast with the Tokamak where most of the field is toroidal and externally applied. The name of the configuration is given by the fact that the toroidal component of the magnetic field changes sign in the outer region of the plasma. The main attractivness of the Reversed Field Pinch is that, according to presently established scalings, it could reach ignition without the need of auxiliary heating. (09 Oct 1997) |
| rice-field fever | A febrile illness affecting workers in rice fields, reported in Po valley in Italy and in Sumatra, caused by infection with a species of Leptospira. (05 Mar 2000) |
| microscope, field emission | <microscopy> An image-forming device in which a strong electrostatic field causes cold emission of electrons from a sharply rounded point or from a specimen that has been placed on that point. The electrons are accelerated to a phosphorescent screen, or photographic film, giving a visible picture of the variation of emission over the specimen surface. (05 Aug 1998) |