Author: Glossary
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Empirical therapy
Use of antibiotics to treat an infection before the specific causative organism has been identified with laboratory tests.
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Pulmonary interstitial emphysema
The presence of air in the connective tissues of the lung; seen, e.g., in neonates treated with high-pressure mechanical ventilation. This condition can cause insufficient oxygenation and cystic lung damage.
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Interlobular emphysema
The presence of air between the lobes of the lung.
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Emperor of pruritus
The intense itching that accompanies poison ivy dermatitis involving the anal area.
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Emperipolesis
The presence of cells of one type within the cytoplasm of cells of another lineage. One example of emperipolesis is erythrophagocytosis.
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Indirect emmenagogue
An agent that alters menstrual function as a side effect of the treatment of another illness.
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Direct emmenagogue
An agent, such as a hormone, that induces menstruation by a direct effect on the reproductive tract.
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Emissivity
The ability of a substance or surface to emit radiant energy.
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Thermionic emission
The process by which electrons are released from an x-ray filament after a current has been passed through it. When the filament is heated, it undergoes a process known as electron emission, wherein electrons are expelled from its surface. The quantity of electrons emitted from the filament is contingent upon the chosen milliamperage.
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Emiocytosis
The process of movement of intracellular material to the outside. Granules join the cell membrane, which ruptures to allow the substance to be free in the intercellular fluid.