Category: B

In a health care institution, the administrative or bureaucratic apparatus that supports and often directs patient care. Individuals actually providing the care (aides, midlevel pesonnel, nurses, and physicians) are said to work at the “sharp end” of health care.  

A colloquial term for depression or a depressed mood.  

A person with chronic bronchitis who demonstrates evidence of cyanosis and pedal edema. The term “outdated” was previously used to describe an individual exhibiting bluish lips and tongue, as well as edema (fluid accumulation in the tissues). This condition is now understood to be a consequence of prolonged lung damage, which ultimately results in heart…

A primary color of the spectrum; sky color; azure.  

A tube through which a gas or current of air is passed under pressure and directed upon a flame to concentrate and intensify the heat.  

One of the flies belonging to the family Calliphoridae. Most blowflies are scavengers. Their larvae live in decaying flesh or meat, although occasionally they may live in decaying or suppurating tissue. However, one species, the screw-worm fly, Callitroga hominivorax, attacks living tissue, laying its eggs in the nostrils or open wounds of its domestic animal…

A pathological bowing of the leg (genu varum). Unlike the physiological bowlegs of the infant and toddler, the bowing in Blount’s disease progressively worsens after the first 2 years of life and is often unilateral. The condition is more common in girls than in boys and more common in blacks than in European Americans. Most…

A technique for analyzing a tiny portion of the primary structure of genomic material (DNA or RNA).  

An autosomal recessive disease, found predominantly but not exclusively in persons of Jewish ancestry, marked by chromosomal abnormalities, facial rashes, dwarfism, and a propensity to develop leukemia. Bloom’s syndrome is a genetic disorder that predominantly affects individuals of East European Jewish ancestry. This syndrome is characterized by distinct physical features, including short stature, a butterfly-shaped…

A device that raises refrigerated blood or intravenous fluids to a desired temperature, usually 37.0°C, or a little above.