- Industry: Library & information science
- Number of terms: 152252
- Number of blossaries: 0
- Company Profile:
The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world's largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care.
1) Process whereby the immune system reacts against the body's own tissues. Autoimmunity may produce or be caused by autoimmune diseases.
2) A condition in which the body produces an immune response against its own tissue constituents.
Industry:Medical
A fluid made by the liver and stored in the gallbladder. Bile is excreted into the small intestine, where it helps digest fat.
Definition from: National Cancer Institute dictionary.
Industry:Medical
An anticonvulsant used to control grand mal and psychomotor or focal seizures. Its mode of action is not fully understood, but some of its actions resemble those of phenytoin; although there is little chemical resemblance between the two compounds, their three-dimensional structure is similar.
Industry:Medical
1) Excessive slowness in the action of the heart, usually with a heart rate below 60 beats per minute.
2) An abnormally slow heartbeat; as applied in adult medicine, it is defined as a heart rate of under 60 beats per minute.
Industry:Medical
1) Infection with a fungus of the genus Candida. It is usually a superficial infection of the moist areas of the body and is generally caused by Candida albicans.
2) A condition in which Candida albicans, a type of yeast, grows out of control in moist skin areas of the body. It is usually a result of a weakened immune system, but can be a side effect of chemotherapy or treatment with antibiotics. Thrush usually affects the mouth (oral thrush); however, rarely, it spreads throughout the entire body.
Industry:Medical
The continuous turnover of bone matrix and mineral that involves first, an increase in resorption (osteoclastic activity) and later, reactive bone formation (osteoblastic activity). The process of bone remodeling takes place in the adult skeleton at discrete foci. The process ensures the mechanical integrity of the skeleton throughout life and plays an important role in calcium homeostasis. An imbalance in the regulation of bone remodeling's two contrasting events, bone resorption and bone formation, results in many of the metabolic bone diseases, such as osteoporosis.
Industry:Medical
1) Use of computers in solving information problems in the life sciences, mainly, it involves the creation of extensive electronic databases on genomes, protein sequences, etc.
2) Bioinformatics derives knowledge from computer analysis of biological data. These can consist of the information stored in the genetic code, but also experimental results from various sources, patient statistics, and scientific literature. Research in bioinformatics includes method development for storage, retrieval, and analysis of the data. Bioinformatics is a rapidly developing branch of biology and is highly interdisciplinary, using techniques and concepts from informatics, statistics, mathematics, chemistry, biochemistry, physics, and linguistics. It has many practical applications in different areas of biology and medicine. (M. Nilges and Jens P. Linge, Unite de Bio-informatique Structurale, Institut Pasteur, Paris)
3) The science of managing and analyzing biological data using advanced computing techniques. Especially important in analyzing genomic research data.
4) Bioinformatics is a subdiscipline of biology and computer science concerned with the acquisition, storage, analysis, and dissemination of biological data, most often DNA and amino acid sequences. Bioinformatics uses computer programs for a variety of applications, including determining gene and protein functions, establishing evolutionary relationships, and predicting the three-dimensional shapes of proteins.
Industry:Medical
1) Elongated gray mass of the neostriatum located adjacent to the lateral ventricle of the brain.
2) One of the four basal ganglia in each cerebral hemisphere that comprises a mass of gray matter in the corpus striatum, forms part of the floor of the lateral ventricle, and is separated from the lentiform nucleus by the internal capsule -- called also caudate.
Industry:Medical
1) A disorder beginning in childhood. It is marked by the presence of markedly abnormal or impaired development in social interaction and communication and a markedly restricted repertoire of activity and interest. Manifestations of the disorder vary greatly depending on the developmental level and chronological age of the individual. (DSM-IV)
Definition from: Unified Medical Language System (MeSH) at the National Library of Medicine A developmental disorder that appears by age three and that is variable in expression but is recognized and diagnosed by impairment of the ability to form normal social relationships, by impairment of the ability to communicate with others, and by stereotyped behavior patterns especially as exhibited by a preoccupation with repetitive activities of restricted focus rather than with flexible and imaginative ones.
2) Autism is a developmental brain disorder characterized by impaired social interactions, communication problems, and repetitive behaviors. Symptoms usually appear before the age of three. The exact cause of autism is not known, however, it is likely influenced by genetics. Autism is one of a group of related developmental disorders called autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). Other ASDs include Asperger syndrome and Rett syndrome.
Industry:Medical
