| BNIST | National Bureau of Scientific Information [Fr. Bureau National d'Information Scientifique] |
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| INRIA | National Institute for Research in Computers and Automation [France] [Institut National de la Recher... |
| NAC | N-acetylcysteine; National Asthma Center; National Audiovisual Center; Noise Advisory Council |
| NAF | nafcillin; National Amputation Foundation; National Ataxia Foundation; net acid flux |
| NAPH | naphthyl; National Association of Public Hospitals; National Asthma Education Program; nicotinamide ... |
| united states national aeronautics and space administration | An independent federal agency established in 1958. It conducts research for the solution of problems of flight within and outside the earth's atmosphere and develops, constructs, tests, and operates aeronautical and space vehicles. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| los alamos national laboratory | <radiobiology> Major DOE research facility, located in Los Alamos, new Mexico, about an hour west of Santa Fe. Former home of a frozen-deuterium-fibre Z-pinch device, which was dismantled. Home to an active theory division, including the Numerical Tokamak Grand Challenge (being performed on the CM-5 massively-parallel supercomputer). Also home to former alternative-concepts experimental devices like Scyllac, FRX-A, FRX-B, FRX-C/LSM, ZT40, and the aborted CPRF which was killed in 1991 when it was almost complete (budget cuts). Currently there are some small in-house experiments, including one on electrostatic confinement as a possible fusion device, and/or a compact neutron source. They also do theory and experimental collaboration with other labs worldwide. (09 Oct 1997) |
| 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) |
| postnatal life | That interval of life after birth; in man, usually divided into periods: neonatal, infancy, childhood, adolescence, and adulthood. (05 Mar 2000) |
| half-life | 1. <pharmacology> The period over which the concentration of a specified chemical or drug takes to fall to half its original concentration in the specified fluid or blood. 2. <radiobiology> The time required to reduce the amount of a radionuclide to one-half the amount originally present. Physical or radioactive half-life refers to reduction of activity by radioactive decay, biological half-life refers to biological elimination from the body and effective half-life refers to the combined action of radioactive decay and biological elimination. (16 Dec 1997) |
| prenatal life | That interval of life between conception and birth; in humans, usually divided into embryonic and foetal periods. (05 Mar 2000) |