| CPIR | cephalic-phase insulin release |
|---|---|
| CYCLOPS | cyclically ordered phase sequence |
| DLP | delipidized serum protein; direct linear plotting; dislocation of patella; distolinguopulpal; dyshar... |
| DSP | decreased sensory perception; delayed sleep phase; desmoplakin; dibasic sodium phosphate; digital si... |
| EFP | early follicular phase; effective filtration pressure; endoneural fluid pressure |
| life cycle | The entire life history of a living organism. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| life-cycle costing | A method of comparing costs of equipment or buildings based on original costs plus all operating and maintenance costs over the useful life of the equipment. Future costs are discounted. (05 Dec 1998) |
| life cycle stages | The continuous sequence of changes undergone by metamorphosing insects and other animals during the developmental process. (12 Dec 1998) |
| life events | Occurrences in one's daily life, some of which act as stressors. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life expectancy | <epidemiology> Longevity, the average length of life of individuals in a population. (05 Dec 1998) |
| life instinct | The instinct of self-preservation and sexual procreation; the basic urge toward preservation of the species. Synonym: sexual instinct. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life stress | Events or experiences that produce severe strain, e.g., failure on the job, marital separation, loss of a love object. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life support care | Care provided patients requiring extraordinary therapeutic measures in order to sustain and prolong life. (12 Dec 1998) |
| life support systems | Systems that provide all or most of the items necessary for maintaining life and health. Provisions are made for the supplying of oxygen, food, water, temperature and pressure control, disposition of carbon dioxide and body waste. The milieu may be a spacecraft, a submarine, or the surface of the moon. In medical care, usually under hospital conditions, life support care is available. (12 Dec 1998) |
| life table | A representation of the probable years of survivorship of a defined population of subjects; since survivorship is changed by new methods of prevention or treatment, a diachronic study is commonly used because the main interest lies in the composite structure of the current population. (In the summarizing technique used to describe the pattern of mortality and survival in a population, survivors to age x are denoted by the symbol lx and the expectation of life at age x is denoted by the symbol x. (05 Mar 2000) |
| life tables | Summarizing techniques used to describe the pattern of mortality and survival in populations. These methods can be applied to the study not only of death, but also of any defined endpoint such as the onset of disease or the occurrence of disease complications. (12 Dec 1998) |
| accelerated phase of leukaemia | Refers to chronic myelogenous leukaemia that is progressing. The number of immature, abnormal white blood cells in the bone marrow and blood is higher than in the chronic phase, but not as high as in the blast phase. (12 Dec 1998) |
| acceleration phase | <cell biology, cell culture> A period of increasing growth before the log phase in a culture of microbes. After the culture is started on a medium, at first there is no growth (the lag phase) and then the microbes start to gradually grow (acceleration phase) until they reach a constant maximum rate of growth (log phase). (15 Jan 1998) |
| acute-phase protein | <haematology> These plasma proteins (in addition to fibrinogen) increase 25% or more in response to inflammation and injury are under direct control of interleukin-6 (IL-6) (hepatocyte-stimulating factor). Other proteins which increase are ceruloplasmin, C3 and C4 which increase 50% or more; alpha-1 acid glycoprotein, alpha-1 antitrypsin, haptoglobin and fibrinogen (the major determinant of viscosity 1 ) which increase two- to fourfold; C-reactive protein (CRP) and serum amyloid A which increase several hundred-fold. Despite long-held clinical opinion to the contrary, available data indicate that neither ESR nor measurement of specific acute-phase reactants are useful in excluding underlying infection or inflammation regardless of the pretest probability. These proteins are secreted into the blood in increased or decreased quantities by hepatocytes in response to trauma, inflammation, or disease. They can serve as inhibitors or mediators of the inflammatory processes. Certain acute-phase proteins have been used to diagnose and follow the course of diseases or as tumour markers. See also: amyloid, c-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, viscosity. (25 Jun 1999) |
| acute-phase reaction | <immunology, rheumatology> Refers to the changes in synthesis of certain proteins within the serum during an inflammatory response, which provides rapid protection for the host against microorganisms via non-specific defense mechanisms. It consists of fever, an increase in inflammatory humoral factors, and an increased synthesis by hepatocytes of a number of proteins or glycoproteins usually found in the plasma; the reaction is mediated by endogenous pyrogens, the hypothalamus, adrenal hormones, and other factors. (12 Jul 2000) |