| preclinical studies | <pharmacology> Studies in which a drug is tested on animals and in other non-human test systems. Safety information from such studies are used to support an investigational new drug application. (14 Nov 1997) |
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| preclinical study | A study to test a drug, procedure or other medical treatment in animals. The aim is to collect data in support of safety. Preclinical studies are required before clinical trials can be started. (12 Dec 1998) |
| preclude | 1. To put a barrier before; hence, to shut out; to hinder; to stop; to impede. "The valves preclude the blood from entering the veins." (E. Darwin) 2. To shut out by anticipative action; to prevent or hinder by necessary consequence or implication; to deter action of, access to, employment of, etc.; to render ineffectual; to obviate by anticipation. "This much will obviate and preclude the objections." (Bentley) Origin: L. Praecludere, praeclusum; prae = before + claudere to shut. See Close. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| precoces | <zoology> Same as Praecoces. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| precocious | 1. Ripe or mature before the proper or natural time; early or prematurely ripe or developed; as, precocious trees. 2. Developed more than is natural or usual at a given age; exceeding what is to be expected of one's years; too forward; used especially of mental forwardness; as, a precocious child; precocious talents. Origin: L. Praecox, -ocis, and praecoquus, fr. Praecoquere to cook or ripen beforehand; prae = before + coquere to cook. See Cook, and cf. Apricot. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| precocious puberty | Condition in which pubertal changes begin at an unexpectedly early age; often the result of a pathological process involving a gland capable of secreting oestrogens or androgens, e.g., the ovary or the adrenal cortex. Synonym: pubertas praecox. (05 Mar 2000) |
| precocity | Unusually early or rapid development of mental or physical traits. Origin: see precocious (05 Mar 2000) |
| precognition | Advance knowledge, by means other than the normal senses, of a future event; a form of extrasensory perception. Origin: L. Praecogito, to ponder before (05 Mar 2000) |
| precollagenous fibres | Immature, argyrophilic fibre's. (05 Mar 2000) |
| precommercial thinning | Thinning for timber stand improvement purposes, generally in young, densely stocked stands. (05 Dec 1998) |
| precommissural bundle | See: olfactory bundle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| precommissural septal area | A slender vertical whitish band immediately anterior to the lamina terminalis and anterior commissure; contrary to its name, it is not a cortical convolution but is the ventral continuation of the transparent septum. Synonym: area subcallosa, gyrus paraterminalis, gyrus subcallosus, pedunculus corporis callosi, corpus paraterminale, paraterminal body, paraterminal gyrus, peduncle of corpus callosum, precommissural septal area, subcallosal area, Zuckerkandl's convolution. (05 Mar 2000) |
| precommissural septum | See: septal area. (05 Mar 2000) |
| precommunical part of anterior cerebral artery | precommunical part of anterior cerebral artery |
| preconception care | An organised and comprehensive program of health care that identifies and reduces a woman's reproductive risks before conception through risk assessment, health promotion, and interventions. Preconception care programs may be designed to include the male partner in providing counseling and educational information in preparation for fatherhood, such as genetic counseling and testing, financial and family planning, etc. This concept is different from prenatal care, which occurs during pregnancy. (12 Dec 1998) |