| environmental quality objective | This is a regulatory value defining the quality to be aimed for in a particular aspect of the environment. Unlike an environmental quality standard, an EQO is not usually expressed in quantitative terms and cannot be enforced legally. (09 Oct 1997) |
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| environmental quality standard | This regulatory value defines the maximum concentration of a potentially toxic substance which can be allowed in an environmental compartment, usually air (air quality standard - AQS) or water, over a defined period. (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) |