SOME SCIENTIFIC TERMS

SOME SCIENTIFIC TERMS

Allergy - Susceptibility to a particular thing. Hay fever, asthma, eczemma are allergic diseases.

Anaesthetic - A kind of drug when used produces temporary insensibility to touch and pain e.g. chloroform.

Antibiotics - A kind of drug prepared from mould like organism which destroys bacteria and prevent their growth e,g. pencillin.

Antibody - A substance produced in and by the living body that protects it against disease infection.

Antidote — A remedy for counter acting the effects of poisoning.

Blood bank - Storing of blood through donations for administration at the time of emergency.

Blood Groups - In transfusing blood from one person to another it has to be tested that the blood is of the same group, otherwise, administration of unlike blood group would prove fatal. Human blood has been classified into

four groups - A, B, AB and O. Group O is universal, it c,an be given t# any body.

Bronchitis - Inflammation of the tubes leading from the wind pipe to the lungs.

Cardiograph - An instrument which charts the movements of heart.

Cataract - Clouding of the lens of the eye which prevents clear vision.

Chromosomes - Within the nucleus of every animal  or plant cell, containing hereditary factors called genes.

Cholera - Bacterial infection causing frequent loose motions and vomiting, drying of the tissues and painful cramps - Waterbome diseases and infections.

Colour Blindness - Despite normal  vision the patient  is unable to distinguish one colour from the other, generally red and green.

Deficiency Diseases - Caused by the lack of proper ingredients in the diet, usually applied to lack of vitamins or fat in food : common diseases are :

beri-beri, rickets, scurvy.

Diphtheria - An acute infectious growth of whjte slab, affecting themembrane in the throat followed by breathing difficulty. It is a fatal and mostly child disease, now arrested by anti-diphtheria serum.

Endemic - A disease localized on account of surrounding conditions e.g.

Malaria is endemic in Assam.

Enzymes - Organic catalysts accelerating chemical .processes occurring in living organism. For example, fermentation of sugars into alcohol.

Epidemic - A disease spreading in a locality and quickly to others parts also.

Genes - The ultimate biological units of heredity that determine physical inheritance and constitution,

Gout - Painful inflammation, especially of great toe.

Hormone - Chemical substance produced by a ductless gland.

Metabolism - Breaking up aud building of the cells in the human body, the breaking i? Matabolism and building is anabolism.

Myopia - Short-sightedness, unable to see distant objects clearly and able to see distinctly nearer objects, corrected by concave lenses.

Parasite - Animal or plant getting substance from another.

Penicillin - A new antibiotic drug obtained from moulds and this drug has revolutionized the whole medical treatment.

Photo-synthesis - The phenomenon by which the plants -assimilate their food from the atmosphere in the presence of sunlight.

Plastic Surgery - The science of restoring or altering human tissues by grafting.

Rickets - A disease due to the deficiency of Vitamin D, common in children. The bones get softened, bent and deformed.

Scurvy - A bleeding disorder mostly among sailors.

Tetanus - A kind of bacillus found in rich soil or the dung of a horse affecting nervous system, may prove fatal - Prevented by anti-tetanus injection.

Vitamins - Complex organic compounds present in food and essential for the maintenance of health. The five principal vitamins are A, B, C, D and E, besides several others.

Absolute Zero - The lowest theoretical temperature which is equal to 2-3°C.

Alchemy - It is a branch of chemistry that deals with the transmutation of the baser metals into gold.

AHotropy - The phenomenon of the existence of the elements in two or more forms differing in physical property but having the same chemical properties.

Alloy - A homogeneous mixture of a metal with another metal or a non-metal.

Ampere - Unit of electric current. It is approximately equal to the flow of 6 x I0¹⁸ electron per second.

Amalgam - The compound of two or more elements, one of which is mercury.

Atomic Weight - The weight of an atom of an element, composed of weight of hydrogen which is taken as standard.

Atomic Number - The presence of the number of protons in an atom's nucleus.

Atomic Energy - It is the energy produced by the disintegration of the atoms of certain elements that can be used for useful purposes and not for destructive purposes,

Atomic Pile - It is the original name of a nuclear reactor. Angstrom - The unit of measurement of wavelength of  ight. One Angstrom = IO"⁸ cm.

Bar - It is the unit of atmospheric pressure : one bar is equal to a pressure of 10⁶ dynes per sq. cm.

Beta (P) particle - The negatively charged particles moving with a velocity of 6 x I0⁴ to 16 x I0⁴ miles per second. They have greater power of penetration than Alpha (a) particles and also than gamma (y) particles. Burette - It is a graduated glass tube used for the measurement of volume of a liquid in volumetric analysis.

Calorie - is the unit of heat. It is the amount of heat needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water to one degree Centigrade (I°C). Catalyst - A substance accelerating the rate of chemical reaction without its own participation.

Coagulation - The phenomenon of precipitating colloidal particles either by warming or by the addition of an electrolyte.

Conduction - It is a process in which the energy of heat is transmitted from one particle to another.

Convection - It is a process in which energy of heat is communicated by actual motion of particles themselves.

Coulomb - Practical unit of the quantity of electricity which is equal to 3 x 10⁹ e.s.u. of electricity. One e.s.u. quantity is that which when placed in air