| basic reproductive rate, ratio | <epidemiology> See Reproductive Ratio. (05 Dec 1998) |
|---|---|
| basic salt | A salt in which there are one or more hydroxyl ions not replaced by the electronegative element of an acid; e.g., Fe(OH)2Cl. (05 Mar 2000) |
| basic stain | <technique> A dye in which the cation is the coloured component of the dye molecule that binds to anionic groups of nucleic acids (PO4≡) or acidic mucopolysaccharides (e.g., chondroitin sulfate). (05 Mar 2000) |
| platelet basic protein | <protein> Protein that is the precursor of connective tissue activating peptide III and _ thromboglobulin. (18 Nov 1997) |
| myelin basic protein | <protein> Major component of the myelin sheath in mammalian CNS. Used as an antigen will induce a allergic encephalitis, possibly a model for some neurodegenerative disorders. (18 Nov 1997) |
| myelin basic protein kinase | <enzyme> Protein from pig brain activates ATP-mg-dependent protein phosphatase; a protein tau kinase; a multisubstrate kinase; in texts written as f subscript a Registry number: EC 2.7.1.- Synonym: protein phosphatase activator fa, glycogen synthase kinase 3, protein kinase f(a), gsk-3, gsk-3alpha, kinase f(a), gsk-3beta, mds1 gene product, p63(samk), src-activated mbp kinase, p63(mapk) (26 Jun 1999) |
| myelin basic proteins | A group of 7 proteins produced from a single gene by alternate splicing found in central and peripheral nervous system myelin. The major basic protein (mbp) has long been of interest because it is the antigen, that, when injected into an animal, elicits a cellular immune response that produces the CNS autoimmune disease called experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (encephalomyelitis, allergic). In the peripheral nervous system, myelin basic protein 18.5 kD is often referred to as the p1 protein. (12 Dec 1998) |
| haematoxylin-malachite green-basic fuchsin stain | <technique> A stain for epoxy resin-extracted sections; semi-thick sections have their plastic dissolved out and the residual tissue is stained sequentially with the various dyes; nuclei and astrocytes are purplish-pink and myelin, lipid droplets, nucleoli, and oligodendrocytes are bright blue-green. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fibroblast growth factor, basic | A single-chain polypeptide of approximately 15-16 kD which has been isolated from a variety of cells. It has a 55% amino acid residue identity to acidic fibroblast growth factor and has potent heparin-binding activity. However, in contrast to the acidic fibroblast growth factor, heparin does not potentiate the biological activities of bfgf. The growth factor is an extremely potent inducer of DNA synthesis in a variety of normal diploid mammalian cell types from mesoderm and neuroectoderm lineages and promotes cellular differentiation in vitro. (12 Dec 1998) |
| 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) |
| 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) |