| PVD | patient very disturbed; peripheral vascular disease; portal vein dilation; posterior vitreous detach... |
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| VBG | vagotomy and Billroth gastroenterostomy; venous blood gases; venous bypass graft; vertical-banded ga... |
| VPO | velopharyngeal opening; vertical pendular oscillation |
| VSO | vertical supranuclear ophthalmoplegia |
| VVAS | vertical visual analog scale |
| occlusal vertical dimension | The vertical dimension of the face when the teeth or occlusion rims are in contact in centric occlusion; decrease in occlusal vertical dimension may result from modification of tooth form by attrition or grinding, drifting of teeth, or, in edentulous patients, by resorption of residual ridges; increase may result from modifications of tooth form, tooth position, height of occlusion rims, rebasing or relining, or occlusal splints. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| auditory field | The space included within the limits of hearing of a definite sound, as of a tuning fork. (05 Mar 2000) |
| bright field illumination | <microscopy> The method of lighting the specimen with a solid cone of rays. Transmitted bright field illumination is performed by a substage condenser. Reflected bright field illumination is performed by a vertical illuminator. Compare: dark field illumination (05 Aug 1998) |
| bright field imaging | <microscopy> An imaging mode in a transmission electron microscopy that uses only unscattered Electrons to form the image. Contrast in such an image is due entirely to mass-thickness variations in amorphous samples, and may include diffraction contrast in crystalline samples. (05 Aug 1998) |
| bright field microscopy | <technique> Optical microscopy, in which absorption to a great extent and diffraction to a minor extent give rise to the image, as opposed to phase contrast or interference methods of microscopy. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Broca's field | The posterior part of the inferior frontal gyrus of the left or dominant hemisphere, corresponding approximately to Brodmann's area 44; Broca identified this region as an essential component of the motor mechanisms governing articulated speech. Synonym: Broca's area, Broca's field, motor speech centre. (05 Mar 2000) |
| cardioid dark field condenser | <microscopy> A condenser designed with two reflecting surfaces, the first, a spherical surface which reflects the rays to a second, cardioid (heart-shaped) surface. The virtue in such an arrangement is that, if the cardioid surface is of true figure, the lens is both achromatic and aplanatic. It has a limiting numerical aperture of about 1.0. Thus objectives of a greater numerical aperture cannot be used successfully with it. A true cardioid figure is the trace of a point on the circumference of a circle rolling around an equal, fixed circle. (05 Aug 1998) |
| magnetic field | The sphere of influence of a magnet. (05 Mar 2000) |
| magnetic field gradient | In magnetic resonance imaging, a magnetic field that varies with location, superimposed on the uniform field of the magnet, to alter the resonant frequency of nuclei and allow recovery of their spatial position. Synonym: field gradient. (05 Mar 2000) |
| paraboloid dark field condenser | <microscopy> A lens of parabolic shape. The vertex end is ground back so that its focus can be brought into coincidence with the specimen on the slide. A central stop is provided to block the central rays. It is used chiefly for medium- power work. (05 Aug 1998) |
| receptive field | That part of the retina whose photoreceptors (rods and cones) pertain to a single optic nerve fibre. The response of a neuron to stimulation of its receptive field depends on the type of neuron and the part of the field that is illuminated; an "on-centre" neuron is stimulated by light falling at the centre of its receptive field and inhibited by light falling at the periphery; an "off-centre" neuron reacts in exactly the opposite fashion; that is, it is inhibited by light falling at the centre of its receptive field. In either case, the net response depends on a complex switching action in the retina. When an entire receptive field is equally illuminated, the response of receptors at the centre of the field predominates. (05 Mar 2000) |
| visual field | The area simultaneously visible to one eye without movement; often measured by means of a bowl perimeter located 330 mm from the eye. (05 Mar 2000) |
| visual field test | <ophthalmology> A test which measures the extent of visual field loss. This test may be performed by a number of methods including confrontation, tangent screen exam and automated perimetry. Diseases that affect visual field include stroke, diabetes, hypertension, multiple sclerosis, glaucoma, hyperthyroidism, Jacob-Creutzfeldt disease and optic glioma. (27 Sep 1997) |
| reversed-field pinch | <radiobiology> A toroidal magnetic confinement scheme which could constitute an alternative to the Tokamak for building a fusion reactor. It is characterised by a magnetic field mostly generated by the plasma itself, with toroidal and poloidal components of comparable intensities, in contrast with the Tokamak where most of the field is toroidal and externally applied. The name of the configuration is given by the fact that the toroidal component of the magnetic field changes sign in the outer region of the plasma. The main attractivness of the Reversed Field Pinch is that, according to presently established scalings, it could reach ignition without the need of auxiliary heating. (09 Oct 1997) |
| rice-field fever | A febrile illness affecting workers in rice fields, reported in Po valley in Italy and in Sumatra, caused by infection with a species of Leptospira. (05 Mar 2000) |