Glossary

Author: Glossary

  • Aquapuncture

    Subcutaneous injection of water, as to produce counterirritation.  

  • Aquaporin

    A cell membrane protein that lets water flow into and out of cells.  

  • Medicated aqua

    An aqueous solution of a volatile substance. It usually contains only a comparatively small percentage of the active drug. Some of these solutions are merely water saturated with a volatile oil. They are used mostly as vehicles to give odor and taste to solutions.  

  • Apyknomorphous

    Not pyknomorphous; pert, to a cell that does not stain deeply because its stainable material is not compact.  

  • Apulmonism

    Congenital absence of part or all of a lung. A person who has apodia, congenital absence of the feet.  

  • Apt test

    A test used originally to identify the source of black (bloody) stools in newborn infants; it is now used in modified form to distinguish fetal from maternal hemoglobin in blood samples from any source, e.g., the umbilical cord or the gastrointestinal tract.  

  • Aprotinin

    A serine protease inhibitor obtained from bovine pancreas. Its action is believed to be inhibition of plasmin and kallikrein. It is used to decrease blood loss and thus transfusion requirements during surgery.  

  • Aprotes

    Chemical substances that are either cations such as sodium, calcium, potassium, and magnesium that carry a positive charge, or anions such as chloride and sulfate that carry a negative charge. These chemicals are unable to donate or accept protons; thus they are not acids, bases, or buffers.  

  • Aprosopia

    Congenital defect in which part or all of the face is absent.  

  • Aprosody

    Absence of normal variations of pitch, rhythm, and stress in the speech.