| dark field illumination | <microscopy> Any method of illumination which illuminates the specimen but does not admit light directly to the objective. It may be by substage (dark field) condensers, by stagespot lighting, by special condensers fitted around special objectives for reflected illumination or by the slit ultramicroscope. (05 Aug 1998) |
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| dark field imaging | <microscopy> Using a single diffracted beam to form the image in a transmission electron microscope. This causes all regions of the specimen not of the same crystal structure and orientation as the region which produced the diffracted beam to be represented as very dark in the final image, allowing phase differentiation visually in the transmission electron microscope. (05 Aug 1998) |
| dark-field microscope | <instrument> A microscope that has a special condenser and objective with a diaphragm or stop that scatters light from the object observed, with the result that the object appears bright on a dark background. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dark field microscopy | <procedure> A system of microscopy in which particles are illuminated at a very low angle from the side so that the background appears dark and the objects are seen by diffracted and reflected patches of light against a dark background. (18 Nov 1997) |
| dark field objective | <microscopy> Certain objectives for high-power, dark fieldwork equipped with iris diaphragms or funnel stops so that their apertures may be reduced to correspond to the dark field con-denser with which they are used. (05 Aug 1998) |
| dark field slides | <microscopy> Owing to the exacting demands of dark field illumination, not only must the microscope slide be especially clean, but also the glass of which the slide is composed must be optically clear under dark field conditions. The glass should not fluoresce. (05 Aug 1998) |
| dark field stop | <microscopy> A central stop for obtaining a dark field effect for low-power objectives. It is customarily used with a high numerical aperture, bright field condenser. (05 Aug 1998) |
| dark-ground illumination | dark-field illumination |
| dark reaction | <biochemistry, plant biology> The reactions in photosynthesis that occur after NADPH and ATP production and that take place in the stroma of the chloroplast. By means of the reaction, carbon dioxide is incorporated into carbohydrate. (18 Nov 1997) |
| dark t2 lesion | <radiology> (short T2), acute haemorrhage (deoxyHb), haemosiderin, physiologic iron (basal ganglia, etc.), mucinous lesions (?) most abnormalities have long T1 and T2 (dark/bright). Compare: bright T1 lesion. (07 Mar 2000) |
| alveolar dead space | The difference between physiologic dead space and anatomical dead space; it represents that part of the physiologic dead space resulting from ventilation of relatively underperfused or nonperfused alveoli; it differs specifically in being placed so as to fill and empty in parallel with functional alveoli, rather than being interposed in the conducting tubes between functional alveoli and the external environment. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anatomical dead space | The volume of the conducting airways from the external environment (at the nose and mouth) down to the level at which inspired gas exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide with pulmonary capillary blood; formerly presumed to extend down to the beginning of alveolar epithelium in the respiratory bronchioles, but more recent evidence indicates that effective gas exchange extends some distance up the thicker-walled conducting airways because of rapid longitudinal mixing. Compare: alveolar dead space, physiologic dead space. Synonym: anatomical airway. (05 Mar 2000) |
| antecubital space | The fossa in front of the elbow, bounded laterally and medially by the humeral origins of the extensors and flexors of the forearm, respectively, and superiorly by an imaginary line connecting the humeral condyles. Synonym: fossa cubitalis, antecubital space, chelidon, triangle of elbow. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anterior clear space | On lateral chest radiographs, the region dorsal to the sternum and ventral to the ascending aorta. Synonym: anterior clear space. (05 Mar 2000) |
| apical space | The space between the alveolar wall and the apex of the root of a tooth where an alveolar abscess usually has its origin. (05 Mar 2000) |