| hysterical gait | A variety of bizarre gaits seen with hysteria-conversion reaction; usually the foot is dragged or pushed ahead, instead of lifted, while walking; frequently the foot is held dorsiflexed and inverted. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| spastic gait | Gait in which the leg is stiff, without flexion at knee and ankle, and with each step is rotated away from the body, then towards it, forming a saemicircle. Synonym: circumduction gait, spastic gait. (05 Mar 2000) |
| steppage gait | A gait in which the advancing foot is lifted higher than usual so that it can clear the ground, because it cannot be dorsiflexed. Seen with peroneal neuropathies and other disorders causing foot dorsiflexion weakness. See: high steppage gait. Synonym: steppage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| toppling gait | <neurology> A gait in which the steps are uncertain and hesitant, and the patient totters and sometimes falls; probably due to a balance disorder; may be seen in elderly patients after a stroke. (06 Mar 2000) |
| equine gait | A gait in which the foot is raised high to avoid catching a drooping foot and brought down suddenly in a flapping manner; often seen in peroneal nerve palsy and tabes. Synonym: equine gait. (05 Mar 2000) |
| festinating gait | Gait in which the trunk is flexed, legs are flexed at the knees and hips, but stiff, while the steps are short and progressively more rapid; characteristically seen with parkinsonism and other neurologic diseases. Synonym: festination. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anovulatory cycle | A sexual cycle in which no ovum is discharged. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Born-Haber cycle | <physics> This is a mathematical description of the relationship between the electron affinity, heats of atomisation, ionisation energy and lattice energy of ionic compounds. (09 Oct 1997) |
| bottoming cycle | A cogeneration system in which steam is used first for process heat and then for electric power production. (05 Dec 1998) |
| brain wave cycle | The complete upward and downward excursion of a single wave, complex, or impulse as seen on an electroencephalogram. (05 Mar 2000) |
| c3 cycle | <biochemistry> The part of the photosynthesis process where carbon dioxide is converted into three-carbon compounds, which can then be turned into six-carbon sugars. (07 Nov 1997) |
| c4 cycle | <plant biology> An alternative, very efficient pathway used by plants living in areas with low levels of carbon dioxide, to convert carbon dioxide into a form usable by the plants during photosynthesis. (09 Oct 1997) |
| Calvin Benson cycle | <biochemistry, plant biology> Metabolic pathway responsible for photosynthetic carbon dioxide fixation in plants and bacteria. The enzyme that fixes carbon dioxide is RuDP carboxylase. The cycle is the only photosynthetic pathway in C3 plants and the secondary pathway in C4 plants. The enzymes of the pathway are present in the stroma of the chloroplast. (18 Nov 1997) |
| calvin cycle | In plants, a cyclical series of carbon-fixing, sugar-producing reactions in the chloroplasts. Some of the sugars (triose phosphates) are recycled, others are stored as carbohydrates. Light is not needed for these reactions, they use the carbon dioxide and energy produced in the light reactions of photosynthesis. (09 Oct 1997) |
| carbon dioxide cycle | First, an organism which can photosynthesise (such as a plant or some bacteria) will absorb carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and incorporate it into its body or turn it into organic matter. Then, other organisms which cannot photosynthesise will eat the organic matter, or the photosynthesising organism, and release carbon dioxide gas as a waste product back into the air. (09 Oct 1997) |