| APHA | American Protestant Hospital Association; American Public Health Association |
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| ASHP | American Society of Hospital Pharmacists; American Society for Hospital Planning |
| IPA | immunoperoxidase assay; incontinentia pigmenti achromians; independent physician or practice associa... |
| AMA | against medical advice; alkaline membrane assay; American Management Association; American Medical A... |
| ASA | acetylsalicylic acid; active systemic anaphylaxis; Adams-Stokes attack; American Society of Anesthes... |
| animal | 1. An organised living being endowed with sensation and the power of voluntary motion, and also characterised by taking its food into an internal cavity or stomach for digestion; by giving carbonic acid to the air and taking oxygen in the process of respiration; and by increasing in motive power or active aggressive force with progress to maturity. 2. One of the lower animals; a brute or beast, as distinguished from man; as, men and animals. Origin: L, fr. Anima breath, soul: cf. F. Animal. See Animate. 1. Of or relating to animals; as, animal functions. 2. Pertaining to the merely sentient part of a creature, as distinguished from the intellectual, rational, or spiritual part; as, the animal passions or appetites. 3. Consisting of the flesh of animals; as, animal food. Animal magnetism. See Magnetism and Mesmerism. Animal electricity, the electricity developed in some animals, as the electric eel, torpedo, etc. <physiology> Animal flower, the heat generated in the body of a living animal, by means of which the animal is kept at nearly a uniform temperature. Animal spirits. See Spirit. Animal kingdom, the whole class of beings endowed with animal life. It embraces several subkingdoms, and under these there are Classes, Orders, Families, Genera, Species, and sometimes intermediate groupings, all in regular subordination, but variously arranged by different writers. The following are the grand divisions, or subkingdoms, and the principal classes under them, generally recognised at the present time: - Vertebrata, including Mammalia or Mammals, Aves or Birds, Reptilia, Amphibia, Pisces or Fishes, Marsipobranchiata (Craniota); and Leptocardia (Acrania). Tunicata, including the Thaliacea, and Ascidioidea or Ascidians. Articulata or Annulosa, including Insecta, Myriapoda, Malacapoda, Arachnida, Pycnogonida, Merostomata, Crustacea (Arthropoda); and Annelida, Gehyrea (Anarthropoda). Helminthes or Vermes, including Rotifera, Chaetognatha, Nematoidea, Acanthocephala, Nemertina, Turbellaria, Trematoda, Cestoidea, Mesozea. Molluscoidea, including Brachiopoda and Bryozoa. Mollusca, including Cephalopoda, Gastropoda, Pteropoda, Scaphopoda, Lamellibranchiata or Acephala. Echinodermata, including Holothurioidea, Echinoidea, Asterioidea, Ophiuroidea, and Crinoidea. Coelenterata, including Anthozoa or Polyps, Ctenophora, and Hydrozoa or Acalephs. Spongiozoa or Porifera, including the sponges. Protozoa, including Infusoria and Rhizopoda. For definitions, see these names in the Vocabulary. Origin: Cf. F. Animal. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| animal black | Charcoal produced by incomplete combustion of animal tissues, especially bone. Synonym: animal black, bone black, bone charcoal. (05 Mar 2000) |
| animal cell culture | <cell culture> Mammalian cells are fragile and harder to grow than other cell types, but their large-scale culturing is an economic boon because it allows for the production of proteins that are otherwise difficult or expensive or unethical to extract from living organisms. The cells are immobilised on a substrate and then perfused with culture medium, The cells are in a free suspension which is very gently mixed and aerated. (12 Nov 1997) |
| animal cell immobilisation | <cell culture> Animal cells are widely used in biotechnology to produce genetically engineered proteins. However, they are more fragile than bacterial cells, and immobilising the cell facilitates the fermentation process. Many animal cells stick down flat on a suitable surface, hugging it as they would hug other cells or connective matrices in the body. If grown on suitable plastic surfaces, on glass or many ceramics, these cells will stick to them. In this way, they are easier to grow. (14 Nov 1997) |
| animal charcoal | Charcoal produced by incomplete combustion of animal tissues, especially bone. Synonym: animal black, bone black, bone charcoal. (05 Mar 2000) |
| animal communication | Communication between animals involving the giving off by one individual of some chemical or physical signal, that, on being received by another, influences its behaviour. (12 Dec 1998) |
| animal dander | <immunology, zoology> The epidermis (skin) from an animal that can elicit an allergic response. (12 Nov 1997) |
| animal dextran | <biochemistry> Branched polymer of D glucose (mostly _(1-4) linked, but some _(1-6) at branch points). Size range very variable, up to 10exp5 glucose units. Major short term storage polymer of animal cells and is particularly abundant in the liver and to a lesser extent in muscle. In the electron microscope glycogen has a characteristic asterisk or star appearance. (18 Nov 1997) |
| animal graft | A graft of tissue from an animal to a human. Synonym: animal graft, zooplastic graft. (05 Mar 2000) |
| animal husbandry | The science of breeding, feeding and care of domestic animals; includes housing and nutrition. (12 Dec 1998) |
| animal identification systems | Procedures for recognizing individual animals and certain identifiable characteristics pertaining to them; includes computerised methods, ear tags, etc. (12 Dec 1998) |
| animal magnetism | A psychic force akin to the property of mutual attraction or repulsion possessed by metal magnets and once believed to be the principal factor in hypnosis, which thus was called animal magnetism. See: hypnosis, mesmerism. (05 Mar 2000) |
| animal model | Study in a population of laboratory animals that uses conditions of animals analogous to conditions of humans to simulate processes comparable to those that occur in human populations. (05 Mar 2000) |
| animal pole | <cell biology> In most animal oocytes the nucleus is not centrally placed and its position can be used to define two poles. That nearest to the nucleus is the animal pole and the other is the vegetal pole, with the animal vegetal axis between the poles passing through the nucleus. During meiosis of the oocyte the polar bodies are expelled at animal pole. In many eggs there is also a graded distribution of substances along this axis, with pigment granules often concentrated in the animal half and yolk, where present, largely in the vegetal half. (12 Nov 1997) |
| animal protein factor | <biochemistry> Member of the water soluble B vitamin group, important in the proper function of the nervous system and important in proper carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism. (27 Sep 1997) |