| PHF | paired helical filament; personal hygiene facility |
|---|---|
| PI | first meiotic prophase; isoelectric point; pacing impulse; package insert; pancreatic insufficiency;... |
| POI | Personal Orientation Inventory |
| PPMS | Performax's Personal Matrix System |
| PPS | Personal Preference Scale; physician, patient and society [course]; polyvalent pneumococcal polysacc... |
| haematogenous theory of endometriosis | That endometrial tissue is carried, like metastases of a malignant tumour, through the blood stream. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| preformation theory | Archaic theory that the embryo was fully formed in miniature within a gamete at the time of conception. See: homunculus. Synonym: emboitement, incasement theory. (05 Mar 2000) |
| probability theory | The branch of mathematics dealing with the purely logical properties of probability. Its theorems underlie most statistical methods. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Helmholtz-Gibbs theory | An equation expressing the relationship in a galvanic cell between the chemical energy transformed and the maximal electromotive force obtainable. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Helmholtz theory of accommodation | That the ciliary muscle relaxes for near vision and allows the anterior aspect of the lens to become more convex. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Helmholtz theory of colour vision | A theory that there are three colour-perceiving elements in the retina: red, green, and blue. Perception of other colours arises from the combined stimulation of these elements; deficiency or absence of any one of these elements results in inability to perceive that colour and a misperception of any other colour of which it forms a part. Synonym: Helmholtz theory of colour vision. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Helmholtz theory of hearing | That the basilar membrane of the cochlea acts as a resonating structure, recording low tones from its apical turns and high tones from its basal turns. Synonym: Helmholtz theory of hearing. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Hering's theory of colour vision | That there are three opponent visual processes: blue-yellow, red-green, and white-black. (05 Mar 2000) |
| psychoanalytic theory | Conceptual system developed by freud and his followers in which unconscious motivations are considered to shape normal and abnormal personality development and behaviour. (12 Dec 1998) |
| psychological theory | Principles applied to the analysis and explanation of psychological or behavioural phenomena. (12 Dec 1998) |
| Semon-Hering theory | The theory that stimuli or irritants leave definite traces (engrams) on the protoplasm of the animal or plant, and when these stimuli are regularly repeated they induce a habit which persists after the stimuli cease; assuming that the germ cells share with the nerve cells in the possession of engrams, acquired habits may thus be transmitted to the descendants. Synonym: mnaemic theory, mnemism, Semon-Hering theory. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sensorimotor theory | In the developmental theory of Piaget, the postulation that during the first 18 months of life there occurs a transformation of action into thought; at first there is a gradual shift from inborn to acquired behaviour, then from body-centreed to object-centreed activity, ultimately permitting intentional behaviour and inventive thinking. (05 Mar 2000) |
| humoral theory | The ancient Greek theory of the four body humors (blood, yellow and black bile, and phlegm) that determined health and disease. The humors were associated with the four elements (air, fire, earth, and water), which in turn corresponded to a pair of the qualities (hot, cold, dry, and moist). A proper and evenly balanced mixture of the humors was characteristic of health of body and mind; an imperfect balance resulted in disease. Temperament of body or mind also was supposed to be determined, e.g., sanguine (blood), choleric (yellow bile), melancholic (black bile), or phlegmatic (phlegm). Synonym: fluidism, humoralism, humorism. (05 Mar 2000) |
| hydrate microcrystal theory of anaesthesia | A theory of narcosis pertaining to nonhydrogen-bonding agents; postulates the interaction of the molecules of the anaesthetic drug with water molecules in the brain. Synonym: Pauling's theory. (05 Mar 2000) |
| side-chain theory | Ehrlich postulated that cells contained surface extensions or side chains (haptophores) that bind to the antigenic determinants of a toxin (toxophores); after a cell is stimulated, the haptophores are released into the circulation and become the antibodies. See: receptor. Synonym: Ehrlich's postulate. (05 Mar 2000) |