| chain, orthodontic chain | <dentistry> A stretchable plastic chain used to hold archwires into brackets and to moke teeth. (08 Jan 1998) |
|---|---|
| space flight | Travel beyond the earth's atmosphere. (12 Dec 1998) |
| time of flight | The time for a photon created by annihilation of a positron-electron pair to reach a detector; since annihilation photons are created in pairs and travel in opposite directions at about 3 × 1010 cm/sec, measurement of the difference in arrival time at detectors with sub-nanosecond resolution allows calculation of the location of the event; the basic physics of positron emission tomography. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fight or flight reaction | The theory advanced by Walter Cannon, that in the autonomic nervous system and the effectors connected with it, the organism in situations of danger requiring either fight or flight is provided with a check-and-drive mechanism that puts it in readiness to meet emergencies with undivided energy output. Also known as the emergency theory. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flight | 1. The act or flying; a passing through the air by the help of wings; volitation; mode or style of flying. "Like the night owl's lazy flight." (Shak) 2. The act of fleeing; the act of running away, to escape or expected evil; hasty departure. "Pray ye that your flight be not in the winter." (Matt. Xxiv. 20) "Fain by flight to save themselves." (Shak) 3. Lofty elevation and excursion;a mounting; a soaing; as, a flight of imagination, ambition, folly. "Could he have kept his spirit to that flight, He had been happy." (Byron) "His highest flights were indeed far below those of Taylor." (Macaulay) 4. A number of beings or things passing through the air together; especially, a flock of birds flying in company; the birds that fly or migrate together; the birds produced in one season; as, a flight of arrows. "Swift flights of angels ministrant." (Milton) "Like a flight of fowl Scattered winds and tempestuous gusts." (Shak) 5. A series of steps or stairs from one landing to another. 6. A kind of arrow for the longbow; also, the sport of shooting with it. See Shaft. "Challenged Cupid at the flight." (Shak) "Not a flight drawn home E'er made that haste that they have." (Beau. & Fl) 7. The husk or glume of oats. <zoology> Flight feathers, the wing feathers of a bird, including the quills, coverts, and bastard wing. See Bird. To put to flight, To turn to flight, to compel to run away; to force to flee; to rout. Synonym: Pair, set. See Pair. Origin: AS. Fliht, flyht, a flying, fr. Fleogan to fly; cf. Flyht a fleeing, fr. Fleon to flee, G. Flucht a fleeing, Sw. Flykt, G. Flug a flying, Sw. Flygt, D. Vlugt a fleeing or flying, Dan. Flugt. See Flee, Fly. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| flight blindness | Visual blackout in aviators. See: amaurosis fugax. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flight into disease | Gain through falling ill or assuming the sick role. See: primary gain, secondary gain. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flight into health | In dynamic psychotherapy, the early but often only temporary disappearance of the symptoms that ostensibly brought the patient into therapy; a defense against the anxiety engendered by the prospect of further psychoanalytic exploration of the patient's conflicts. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flight nurse | A nurse who cares for clients during transport in any type of aircraft. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flight of ideas | An uncontrollable symptom of the manic phase of a bipolar depressive disorder in which streams of unrelated words and ideas occur to the patient at a rate that is impossible to vocalise despite a marked increase in the individual's overall output of words. See: mania. (05 Mar 2000) |
| flight or fight response | See: emergency theory. (05 Mar 2000) |
| random | 1. Force; violence. "For courageously the two kings newly fought with great random and force." (E. Hall) 2. A roving motion; course without definite direction; want of direction, rule, or method; hazard; chance; commonly used in the phrase at random, that is, without a settled point of direction; at hazard. "Counsels, when they fly At random, sometimes hit most happily." (Herrick) "O, many a shaft, at random sent, Finds mark the archer little meant !" (Sir W. Scott) 3. Distance to which a missile is cast; range; reach; as, the random of a rifle ball. 4. <chemical> The direction of a rake-vein. Origin: OE. Randon, OF. Randon force, violence, rapidity, a randon, de randon, violently, suddenly, rapidly, prob. Of German origin; cf. G. Rand edge, border, OHG. Rant shield, edge of a shield, akin to E. Rand, n. See Rand. Going at random or by chance; done or made at hazard, or without settled direction, aim, or purpose; hazarded without previous calculation; left to chance; haphazard; as, a random guess. "Some random truths he can impart." (Wordsworth) "So sharp a spur to the lazy, and so strong a bridle to the random." (H. <medicine> Spencer) Random courses, stonework consisting of stones of unequal sizes fitted together, but not in courses nor always with flat beds. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| random allocation | A process involving chance used in therapeutic trials or other research endeavor for allocating experimental subjects, human or animal, between treatment and control groups, or among treatment groups. It may also apply to experiments on inanimate objects. (12 Dec 1998) |
| random amplification of polymorphic DNA | <molecular biology> A term originally invented by polymer chemists to describe a disordered tangle of a linear polymer chain with curved sections. In DNA parlance the random coil refers to the structure that results from melting or other forms of separation of the double helix, i.e. Helix coil transition. (18 Nov 1997) |
| random amplified polymorphic DNA technique | Technique that utilises low-stringency polymerase chain reaction (pcr) amplification with single primers of arbitrary sequence to generate strain-specific arrays of anonymous DNA fragments. Rapd technique may be used to determine taxonomic identity, assess kinship relationships, analyze mixed genome samples, and create specific probes. (12 Dec 1998) |