| habit | <botany> The growth form of a plant, comprising its size, shape, texture and orientation. (09 Oct 1997) |
|---|---|
| habit chorea | <clinical sign> An involuntary compulsive, repetitive, stereotyped movement, resembling a purposeful movement because it is coordinated and involves muscles in their normal synergistic relationships, tics usually involve the face and shoulders. (18 Nov 1997) |
| habit scoliosis | Scoliosis supposedly due to habitual standing or sitting in an improper position. (05 Mar 2000) |
| habit spasm | <clinical sign> An involuntary compulsive, repetitive, stereotyped movement, resembling a purposeful movement because it is coordinated and involves muscles in their normal synergistic relationships, tics usually involve the face and shoulders. (18 Nov 1997) |
| habit tic | A habitual repetition of some grimace, shrug of the shoulder, twisting or jerking of the head, or the like. (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) |