| alternate day strabismus | Periodic convergent strabismus often occurring every 48 hours. Synonym: alternate day strabismus. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| alternately | 1. In reciprocal succession; succeeding by turns; in alternate order. 2. <mathematics> By alternation; when, in a proportion, the antecedent term is compared with antecedent, and consequent. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| alternating current | Electrical current which alternates direction periodically. (For instance, household electric current is AC alternating at 60 oscillations/sec (60 Hertz) in the United States, and 50 Hertz in many other countries.) Acronym: AC (09 Oct 1997) |
| alternating light test | Test to detect a relative afferent defect in one eye by watching pupillary movements. With the patient fixing in the distance, the light is held on each eye for about a second, and quickly moved to the other eye. Assuming no defect of the innervation to the iris sphincter in one eye (which would produce an anisocoria in light), the eye with the weaker light response has a relative afferent pupillary defect. This asymmetry of pupillomotor input can be estimated by holding neutral density filters in front of the better eye until the pupillary responses of the two eyes are balanced. Synonym: swinging light test. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternating mydriasis | Mydriasis alternately affecting each eye. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternating pulse | Mechanical alternation, a pulse regular in time but with alternate beats stronger and weaker, often detectable only with the sphygmomanometer and usually indicating serious myocardial disease. Synonym: pulsus alternans. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternating strabismus | A form of strabismus in which either eye fixes. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternating tremor | A form of hyperkinesia characterised by regular, symmetrical, to-and-fro movements (at about 4 per second) that are produced by patterned, alternating contraction of muscles and their antagonists. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternation | 1. The reciprocal succession of things in time or place; the act of following and being followed by turns; alternate succession, performance, or occurrence; as, the alternation of day and night, cold and heat, summer and winter, hope and fear. 2. <mathematics> Permutation. 3. The response of the congregation speaking alternately with the minister. Alternation of generation. See Generation. Origin: L. Alternatio: cf. F. Alternation. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| alternation of generations | The occurrence in one life history of two or more different forms differently produced, usually an alternation of a sexual with an asexual form. (09 Oct 1997) |
| alternative | Available in place of something else. (18 Nov 1997) |
| alternative hypothesis | In Neyman-Pearson testing of a hypothesis, the hypothesis or family of hypotheses about the numerical value of a parameter if and only if the null hypothesis is rejected as untenable. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternative inheritance | Galton's term for an assumed form in which all the characters are derived from one parent. (05 Mar 2000) |
| alternative medicine | A catch-all phrase for a long list of treatments or medicinal systems including traditional systems such as Chinese or Ayurvedic medicine, homeopathy, various herbals and other miscellaneous treatments that have not been accepted by the mainstream, or Western, medical establishment. Alternative medicine is also referred to as complementary medicine (see). The designation alternative medicine is not equivalent to holistic medicine, which is a more narrow term. See: Holistic Medicine. (09 Oct 1997) |
| alternative mRNA splicing | Splicing different exons in or out of messenger RNA to form different mRNA transcripts. (09 Oct 1997) |