| world | 1. The earth and the surrounding heavens; the creation; the system of created things; existent creation; the universe. "The invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen." (Rom. 1. 20) "With desire to know, What nearer might concern him, how this world Of heaven and earth conspicuous first began." (Milton) 2. Any planet or heavenly body, especially when considered as inhabited, and as the scene of interests analogous with human interests; as, a plurality of worlds. "Lord of the worlds above." "Amongst innumerable stars, that shone Star distant, but high-hand seemed other worlds." (Milton) "There may be other worlds, where the inhabitants have never violated their allegiance to their almighty Sovereign." (W. B. Sprague) 3. The earth and its inhabitants, with their concerns; the sum of human affairs and interests. "That forbidden tree, whose mortal taste Brought death into the world, and all our woe." (Milton) 4. In a more restricted sense, that part of the earth and its concerns which is known to any one, or contemplated by any one; a division of the globe, or of its inhabitants; human affairs as seen from a certain position, or from a given point of view; also, state of existence; scene of life and action; as, the Old World; the new World; the religious world; the Catholic world; the upper world; the future world; the heathen world. "One of the greatest in the Christian world Shall be my surety." (Shak) "Murmuring that now they must be put to make war beyond the world's end for so they counted Britain." (Milton) 5. The customs, practices, and interests of men; general affairs of life; human society; public affairs and occupations; as, a knowledge of the world. "Happy is she that from the world retires." (Waller) "If knowledge of the world makes man perfidious, May Juba ever live in ignorance." (Addison) 6. Individual experience of, or concern with, life; course of life; sum of the affairs which affect the individual; as, to begin the world with no property; to lose all, and begin the world anew. 7. The inhabitants of the earth; the human race; people in general; the public; mankind. "Since I do purpose to marry, I will think nothing to any purpose that the world can say against it." (Shak) "Tell me, wench, how will the world repute me For undertaking so unstaid a journey?" (Shak) 8. The earth and its affairs as distinguished from heaven; concerns of this life as distinguished from those of the life to come; the present existence and its interests; hence, secular affairs; engrossment or absorption in the affairs of this life; worldly corruption; the ungodly or wicked part of mankind. "I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine." (John xvii. 9) "Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world." (1 John II. 15, 16) 9. As an emblem of immensity, a great multitude or quantity; a large number. "A world of men." . "A world of blossoms for the bee." "Nor doth this wood lack worlds of company." (Shak) "A world of woes dispatched in little space." (Dryden) All . . . In the world, all that exists; all that is possible; as, all the precaution in the world would not save him. A world to see, a wonder to see; something admirable or surprising to see. "O, you are novices; 't is a world to see How tame, when men and women are alone, A meacock wretch can make the curstest shrew." (Shak) For all the world. Precisely; exactly. For any consideration. Seven wonders of the world. To go to the world, to be married. "Thus goes every one to the world but I . .; I may sit in a corner and cry heighho for a husband!" . World's end, the end, or most distant part, of the world; the remotest regions. World without end, eternally; forever; everlastingly; as if in a state of existence having no end. "Throughout all ages, world without end." (Eph. Iii. 21) Origin: OE. World, werld, weorld, weoreld, AS. Weorold, worold; akin to OS. Werold, D. Wereld, OHG. Weralt, worolt, werolt, werlt, G. Welt, Icel. Verold, Sw. Verld, Dan. Verden; properly, the age of man, lifetime, humanity; AS. Wer a man + a word akin to E. Old; cf. AS. Yld lifetime, age, ylde men, humanity. Cf. Werewolf, Old. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| world health | The concept pertaining to the health status of inhabitants of the world. (12 Dec 1998) |
| World Health Organisation | <organisation> A United Nations agency dealing with issues concerning health and disease around the globe. For cancer, the W.H.O. Has an interesting programme in prevention and palliative care. Acronym: WHO (26 Mar 1998) |
| world health organization | A specialised agency of the united nations designed as a coordinating authority on international health work; its aim is to promote the attainment of the highest possible level of health by all peoples. (12 Dec 1998) |
| New World leishmaniasis | A grave disease caused by Leishmania braziliensis braziliensis, endemic in southern Mexico and Central and South America, except for the equatorial region of Chile; the organism does not invade the viscera, and the disease is limited to the skin and mucous membranes, the lesions resembling the sores of cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. Mexicana or L. Tropica; the chancrous sores heal after a time, but some months or years later, fungating and eroding forms of ulceration may appear on the tongue and buccal or nasal mucosa; many variants of the disease exist, marked by differences in distribution, vector, epidemiology, and pathology, which suggest that it may in fact be caused by a number of closely related aetiological agents. See: espundia. Synonym: American leishmaniasis, leishmaniasis americana, nasopharyngeal leishmaniasis, New World leishmaniasis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Old World leishmaniasis | Infection with promastigotes (leptomonads) of Leishmania tropica and of leishmaniasis major inoculated into the skin by the bite of an infected sandfly, Phlebotomus (commonly P. Papatasi); it is endemic in parts of Asia Minor, northern Africa, and India, and is known by innumerable names, each indicating its locality (e.g., Aleppo, Baghdad, Delhi, or Jericho boil; Aden ulcer; Biskra button); the ulcer begins as a papule that enlarges to a nodule and then breaks down into an ulcer. Two distinctive clinical and epidemiological diseases are recognised, the more common and widespread zoonotic rural disease with a moist acute form, caused by L. Major, with reservoir rodent hosts; and an urban, anthroponotic, dry, chronic form of leishmaniasis caused by leishmaniasis tropica, without a reservoir host, and now largely controlled. See: zoonotic cutaneous leishmaniasis, anthroponotic cutaneous leishmaniasis. Synonym: juccuya, Old World leishmaniasis, tropical sore. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Venereal Disease Research Laboratory | <microbiology> A blood test used to diagnose syphilis. Read as nonreactive or negative if you do not have syphilis. The Venereal Disease Research Laboratory can also be positive is cases of leprosy, malaria, mononucleosis, lupus, hepatitis A and pregnancy. Positive Venereal Disease Research Laboratory tests are usually followed up by a more specific test (FTA antibodies). (12 Jan 1998) |
| Medical Research Council | <organisation> A UK Government funded body to promote the balanced development of medical and related biological research in the United Kingdom. It organises national clinical trials for the assessment of new treatment protocols for leukaemia and some of the related diseases. (05 Jan 1998) |
| research | Careful, a diligent search, a close searching, studious inquiry or examination. (18 Nov 1997) |
| research, controlled | The first controlled clinical research was probably done in 1875 by the british naval surgeon james lind who, on board the hms salisbury, gave sailors with scurvy either oranges or lemons or cider or vinegar or nutmeg (or another treatment) and after just six days discovered that the citrus-consuming sailors had recovered from scury, until then the scourge of extended sea voyages, while the sailors who had been given the other treatments remained uncured. (12 Dec 1998) |
| research design | A plan for collecting and utilizing data so that desired information can be obtained with sufficient precision or so that an hypothesis can be tested properly. (12 Dec 1998) |
| research personnel | Those individuals engaged in research. (12 Dec 1998) |
| research support | Financial support of research activities. (12 Dec 1998) |
| peer review, research | The evaluation by experts of the quality and pertinence of research or research proposals of other experts in the same field. Peer review is used by editors in deciding which submissions warrant publication, by granting agencies to determine which proposals should be funded, and by academic institutions in tenure decisions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| clinical nursing research | Research carried out by nurses in the clinical setting and designed to provide information that will help improve patient care. Other professional staff may also participate in the research. (12 Dec 1998) |