| AFA | acromegaloid facial syndrome; advanced first aid; alcohol-formaldehyde-acetic [fixative] |
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| AFDC | Aid to Families with Dependent Children |
| AID | acquired immunodeficiency disease; acute infectious disease; acute ionization detector; Agency for I... |
| AIMS | abnormal involuntary movement scale; aid for the impaired medical student; arthritis impact measurem... |
| APTD | Aid to Permanently and Totally Disabled |
naso-oral
| liquid-metal fast-breeder reactor | <physics> Fission breeder reactor concept using liquid-metal coolant and breeding additional fuel off fast neutrons. See: breeder reactor. (09 Oct 1997) |
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| liquid paraffin | <chemical> A mixture of liquid hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum. It is used as laxative, lubricant, ointment base, and emollient. Pharmacological action: cathartic, emollients, ointment bases. Chemical name: Hydrocarbon oils (12 Dec 1998) |
| liquid petroleum | <chemical> A mixture of liquid hydrocarbons obtained from petroleum. It is used as laxative, lubricant, ointment base, and emollient. Pharmacological action: cathartic, emollients, ointment bases. Chemical name: Hydrocarbon oils (12 Dec 1998) |
| liquid pitch | Obtained by the destructive distillation of the wood of Pinus palustris and other species of Pinus; used internally as an expectorant, and externally in the treatment of skin diseases. Synonym: liquid pitch. (05 Mar 2000) |
| rapid eye movement sleep | REM sleep, that state of deep sleep in which rapid eye movements, alert EEG pattern, and dreaming occur; several central and autonomic functions are distinctive during this state. (05 Mar 2000) |
| paradoxical sleep | A deep sleep, with a brain wave pattern more like that of waking states than of other states of sleep, which occurs during rapid eye movement sleep. (05 Mar 2000) |
| paroxysmal sleep | <neurology> A disorder of sleep associated with excessive daytime sleepiness, involuntary daytime sleep episodes, disturbed nocturnal sleep and cataplexy. Narcolepsy affects over 100,000 people in the United States and appears to have a genetic basis. Symptoms usually begin in the patients twenties. Treatment often includes the use of amphetamines and-or tricyclic antidepressants. (27 Sep 1997) |
| REM stage sleep | <physiology> A stage of deep sleep that is accompanied by rapid eye movement and muscle paralysis. Vivid dreams can be recalled in over 80% of patients who awake from REM stage sleep. (27 Sep 1997) |
| central sleep apnoea | <neurology> A form of sleep apnoea which from the lack of neurologic stimulation to breathe. (12 Jan 1998) |
| mixed sleep apnoea | <chest medicine> A form of sleep apnoea where there is exists a combination of obstructive and central sleep apnoea syndromes. (13 Nov 1997) |
| winter sleep | The dormant state in which some animal species pass the winter. It is characterised by narcosis and by sharp reduction in body temperature and metabolic activity and by a depression of vital signs. It is a natural physiological process in many warm-blooded animals. (12 Dec 1998) |
| multiple sleep latency test | A test of the propensity to fall asleep, done by performing polysomnography during multiple brief opportunities to sleep. (05 Mar 2000) |
| crescendo sleep | Normal sleep, marked by a gradual increase in movements of the sleeper during the course of the night. (05 Mar 2000) |
| hypnotic sleep | <procedure> A state of heightened awareness and focused concentration that can be used to manipulate the perception of pain. (16 Dec 1997) |
| sleep | A natural and healthy, but temporary and periodical, suspension of the functions of the organs of sense, as well as of those of the voluntary and rational soul; that state of the animal in which there is a lessened acuteness of sensory perception, a confusion of ideas, and a loss of mental control, followed by a more or less unconscious state. "A man that waketh of his sleep." "O sleep, thou ape of death." (Shak) Sleep is attended by a relaxation of the muscles, and the absence of voluntary activity for any rational objects or purpose. The pulse is slower, the respiratory movements fewer in number but more profound, and there is less blood in the cerebral vessels. It is susceptible of greater or less intensity or completeness in its control of the powers. <botany> Sleep of plants, a state of plants, usually at night, when their leaflets approach each other, and the flowers close and droop, or are covered by the folded leaves. Synonym: Slumber, repose, rest, nap, doze, drowse. Origin: AS. Slp; akin to OFries. Slp, OS. Slap, D. Slaap, OHG. Slaf, G. Schlaf, Goth. Slps. See Sleep. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |