Author: Glossary
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Staple food
The principal food, e.g. wheat, rice, maize, etc., which provides the main energy source for communities. Any food that supplies a substantial part, at least 25% to 35%, of the caloric requirement and is regularly consumed by a certain population.
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Stanols
Analogues of cholesterol that inhibit its absorption from the intestinal tract.
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Stachyose
Tetrasaccharide sugar composed of two units of galactose and one each of fructose and glucose. Not hydrolysed in the human digestive tract but fermented by intestinal bacteria. A carbohydrate (oligosaccharide) that is naturally produced in soybeans. It is relatively insoluble in water, and less available for digestion by monogastric animals (e.g., swine, poultry) than the…
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Stable isotopes
Atoms with differing numbers of neutrons (and hence differing atomic weights) which are not radioactive, i.e. are not unstable. Molecules that are ‘labelled’ with relatively rare stable isotopes can be used as metabolic markers for nutrients as they enter the bloodstream and the body stores, and undergo turnover in the body. Measurement is by mass…
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Squamous cell carcinoma
Cancer of the flattened (squamous) epithelium. A common type of cancer which usually develops in the outer layer of the skin, on the lips, or inside the mouth or oesophagus. The second most common type of skin cancer. The two other common types are basal cell carcinoma and malignant melanoma. Squamous cell carcinoma arises from…
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Spirometer (respirometer)
Apparatus used to measure the amount of oxygen consumed (and in some instances carbon dioxide produced) from which to calculate the energy expended (indirect calorimetry). Instrument used for the collection, measurement, or storage of gas. An instrument used to measure carbon dioxide exhaled and oxygen inhaled, respiratory quotient. An instrument which measures the amount of…
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Sphygmomanometer
Instrument for measuring blood pressure. An instrument used for measuring arterial blood pressure. Medical instrument used to measure blood pressure; it consists of an inflatable cuff connected by a rubber tube to a column of mercury with a graduated scale for both systolic and diastolic pressure. An instrument used to measure blood pressure in the…
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Specific dynamic action (SDA)
Archaic term for diet-induced thermogenesis. Heat production resulting from the metabolism of food. It is estimated to be about 10% of energy value of the food consumed; also known as thermic effect of food or diet-induced thermogenesis. Stimulation of the metabolic rate by ingestion of certain foods, especially proteins.
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Spanish toxic oil syndrome
Disease that occurred in Spain during 1981/2, with 450 deaths and many people chronically disabled, due to consumption of oil containing aniline-denatured industrial rapeseed oil, sold as olive oil. The precise cause is unknown.
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Southern blotting
Technique for detecting genomic DNA sequences by hybridisation following transfer of DNA onto a solid support, such as a nylon membrane. Named after its inventor. Professor Edwin Southern. A method for transferring DNA from an agarose gel to a nitrocellulose filter on which DNA can be detected by a suitable probe.