| international system of units | A system of physical units in which the fundamental quantities are length, time, mass, electric current, temperature, luminous intensity, and amount of substance, and the corresponding units are the meter, second, kilogram, ampere, kelvin, candela, and mole. The system has been given official status and recommended for universal use by the general conference on weights and measures. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| international unit | The amount of a substance, such as a drug, hormone, vitamin, enzyme, etc., that produces a specific effect as defined by an international body and accepted internationally; e.g., for an enzyme it is umole of product formed (or substrate consumed) per minute. Synonym: unit. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Leiter International Performance Scale | A nonverbal (performance) test for measuring intelligence which contains norms for each age between 2 and 18; originally developed as a method of assessing the comparative intellectual abilities of Caucasian, Chinese, and Japanese children, but now occasionally used for assessing slow learners and those who are blind, deaf, or verbally handicapped. (05 Mar 2000) |
| abstracting and indexing | Shortening or summarizing of documents; assigning of descriptors for referencing documents. (12 Dec 1998) |
| academies and institutes | Organizations representing specialised fields which are accepted as authoritative; may be non-governmental, university or an independent research organization, e.g., national academy of sciences, brookings institution, etc. (12 Dec 1998) |
| accounts payable and receivable | Short-term debt obligations and assets occurring in the regular course of operational transactions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| aged, 80 and over | A person 80 years of age and older. (12 Dec 1998) |
| algae and fungi | Algae represent a group of spore-propagating plants, unicellular or undifferentiated into root, stem, and leaf. They include seaweed and many unicellular fresh water plants, most of which contain chlorophyll. They account for about 90% of the earth's photosynthetic activity. Fungi are eukaryotic, heterotrophic organisms that live as saprobes or parasites and include mushrooms, yeasts, smuts, molds, etc. They lack chlorophyll. (12 Dec 1998) |
| alkyl and aryl transferases | <enzyme> A somewhat heterogeneous class of enzymes that catalyze the transfer of alkyl or related groups (excluding methyl groups). Registry number: EC 2.5 (12 Dec 1998) |
| allergy and immunology | A medical specialty concerned with the hypersensitivity of the individual to foreign substances and protection from the resultant infection or disorder. (12 Dec 1998) |
| alligators and crocodiles | Large, long-tailed reptiles, including caimans, of the order loricata. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Amine Precursor Uptake and Decarboxylation | <pharmacology, physiology> Paracrine cells of which argentaffin cells are an example. Usage of the term APUD is neither helpful nor memorable. Acronym: APUD (11 Nov 1997) |
| amino acids, peptides, and proteins | Amino acids and chains of amino acids connected by peptide linkages. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Anderson and Goldberger test | A test for typhus in which the patient's blood is injected into a guinea pig's peritoneal cavity. In typhus a typical temperature curve will be observed. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anniversaries and special events | Occasions to commemorate an event or occasions designated for a specific purpose. (12 Dec 1998) |