ExpertGlossary terms starting with A

3,515 terms

  1. antifungal A drug that treats infections caused by fungi.
  2. Antigen A substance that causes the immune system to make a specific immune response.
  3. Antigen presenting cells (APCs) One of a variety of cells within the body that can process antigens and display them on their surface in a form recognizable by T cells.
  4. antigen-presenting cell APC. A cell that shows an antigen on its surface to other cells of the immune system. This is an important part of an immune response. Also called APC .
  5. antigen-presenting cell vaccine A vaccine made of antigens and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Also called APC vaccine.
  6. Antigenic determinant A surface feature of a microorganism or macromolecule, such as a glycoprotein, that elicits an immune response.
  7. Antigenic switching The altering of a microorganism's surface antigens through genetic rearrangement, to elude detection by the host's immune system.
  8. antiglobulin test A laboratory test to identify antibodies that can bind to the surface of red blood cells or platelets and destroy them.
  9. antihaemophilic factor VIII See: antihaemophilic globulin.
  10. antihaemophilic globulin (Abbreviation AHG). One of the blood clotting factors, a soluble protein that causes the fibrin matrix of a blood clot to form.
  11. antihistamine (AN-tee-HIS-tuh-meen) A type of drug that blocks the action of histamines, which can cause fever, itching, sneezing, a runny nose, and watery eyes.
  12. antihormone therapy (AN-tee-HOR-mone THAYR-uh-pee) Treatment with drugs, surgery, or radiation in order to block the production or action of a hormone.
  13. Antilles Current A current which originates in the vicinity of the Leeward Islands as part of the Atlantic North Equatorial Current.
  14. Antimatter Matter made up of elementary particles whose masses are identical to their normal-matter counterparts but whose other properties, such as electric charge…
  15. antimetabolite A drug that is very similar to natural chemicals in a normal biochemical reaction in cells but different enough to interfere with the normal division and…
  16. antimicrobial (AN-tee-my-KROH-bee-ul) A substance that kills microorganisms such as bacteria or mold, or stops them from growing and causing disease.
  17. Antimicrobial agent Any chemical or biological agent that harms the growth of microorganisms.
  18. Antimicrobial agents The drugs, chemicals, or other substances that kill or slow the growth of microbes.
  19. Antimicrobial resistance Antimicrobial resistance is the result of microbes changing in ways that reduce or eliminate the effectiveness of drugs, chemicals, or other agents to…
  20. antimicrotubule agent A type of drug that blocks cell growth by stopping mitosis (cell division). Antimicrotubule agents interfere with microtubules (cellular structures that…
  21. antimitotic agent A type of drug that blocks cell growth by stopping mitosis (cell division). They are used to treat cancer. Also called mitotic inhibitor.
  22. antineoplastic A substance that blocks the formation of neoplasms (growths that may become cancerous).
  23. antineoplastic antibiotic A type of anticancer drug that blocks cell growth by interfering with DNA, the genetic material in cells.
  24. antineoplaston A substance isolated from normal human blood and urine that is being tested as a type of treatment for some tumors and AIDS.
  25. antinutrient Compounds that inhibit the normal uptake or utilization of nutrients.
  26. antioncogene (AN-tee-ON-koh-jeen) A type of gene that makes a protein called a tumor suppressor protein that helps control cell growth.
  27. antioxidant (AN-tee-OK-sih-dent) A substance that protects cells from the damage caused by free radicals (unstable molecules made by the process of oxidation during…
  28. antiparallel orientation The normal arrangement of the two strands of a double-stranded DNA molecule, and of other nucleic-acid duplexes (DNA -RNA, RNA -RNA ), in which the two…
  29. antiparasitic A drug used to treat infections caused by bacteria and parasites. It is also used in the treatment of some cancers.
  30. Antiparticle/antiquark/antielectron For most particle types there is another particle type that has exactly the same mass but the opposite value of all other charges.
  31. antiprogestin (AN-tee-proh-JES-tin) A substance that prevents cells from making or using progesterone (a hormone that plays a role in the menstrual cycle and pregnancy).
  32. Antireflection Coating A thin coating of a material applied to a photovoltaic cell surface that reduces the light reflection and increases light transmission.
  33. Antiretroviral A substance that fights against a retrovirus, such as HIV. (See Retrovirus)
  34. antiretroviral therapy (AN-tee-REH-troh-VY-rul THAYR-uh-pee) Treatment with drugs that inhibit the ability of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other types of…
  35. Antisatellite Weapon (ASAT) A weapon designed to destroy satellites in space. The weapon may be launched from the ground, from an aircraft, or be based in space.
  36. Antisense The non-coding strand in double-stranded DNA. The antisense strand serves as the template for mRNA synthesis. See also cell
  37. antisense c-fos Synthetic genetic material that may slow or stop the growth of cancer cells.
  38. antisense DNA (AN-tee-sents …) Small pieces of DNA that can bind to specific molecules of RNA and block the cell's ability to use the RNA to make a protein.
  39. antisense gene A gene that produces an mRNA complementary to the transcript of a normal gene (usually constructed by inverting the coding region relative to the promoter…
  40. antisense RNA (AN-tee-sents …) Small pieces of RNA that can bind to specific molecules of RNA and block the cell's ability to use the RNA to make a protein.
  41. antisense therapy The in vivo treatment of a genetic disease by blocking translation of a protein with a DNA or an RNA sequence that is complementary to a specific mRNA.
  42. antiseptic Any substance that kills or inhibits the growth of disease-causing micro-organism (a micro-organism capable of causing sepsis), but is essentially…
  43. antiserum The fluid portion of the blood of an immunized animal (after coagulation of the blood), which retains any antibodies.
  44. antithymocyte globulin (AN-tee-THIGH-mo-site GLOB-yoo-lin) A protein used to reduce the risk of or to treat graft-versus-host disease.
  45. antitranspirant A compound designed to reduce plant transpiration. Applied to the leaves of newly transplanted trees, shrubs etc., or cuttings in lieu of misting.
  46. Antitrust acts Federal and state statutes to protect trade and commerce from unlawful restraints, price discriminations, price fixing and monopolies.
  47. antituberculosis (AN-tee-too-ber-kyoo-LOW-sis) Describes a drug or effect that works against tuberculosis (a contagious bacterial infection that usually affects the lungs).
  48. antitumor (AN-tee-TOO-mer) Having to do with stopping abnormal cell growth.
  49. antitumor antibiotic A type of anticancer drug that blocks cell growth by interfering with DNA, the genetic material in cells.
  50. antiviral A drug used to treat infections caused by viruses.
  51. Antivirus Software A program that monitors a computer or network to identify all major types of malware and prevent or contain malware incidents.
  52. antivirus stamping A mechanism that helps reduce the volume of antivirus scanning that is required across an organization by stamping messages that have been scanned for…
  53. antixenosis The modification of the behaviour of an organism by a substance or another organism.
  54. Anular, revocar Anular una acción judicial previa.
  55. Anus (AY-nus) The opening of the rectum to the outside of the body.
  56. Anvil The flat, spreading top of a cumulonimbus cloud, often shaped like an anvil. Thunderstorm anvils may spread hundreds of miles downwind from the…
  57. Anvil Crawler [Slang], a lightning discharge occurring within the anvil of a thunderstorm, characterized by one or more channels that appear to crawl along the…
  58. Anvil Dome A large overshooting top or penetrating top.
  59. Anvil Rollover Slang for a circular or semicircular lip of clouds along the underside of the upwind part of a back-sheared anvil, indicating rapid expansion of the anvil.
  60. Anvil Zits Slang for frequent (often continuous or nearly continuous), localized lightning discharges occurring from within a thunderstorm anvil.
  61. anxiety (ang-ZY-uh-tee) Feelings of fear, dread, and uneasiness that may occur as a reaction to stress.
  62. anxiolytic A drug used in the treatment of anxiety and muscle spasms.
  63. anycall In adaptive high-frequency (HF) radio automatic link establishment, a broadcast in which (a) the called stations are unspecified, (b) stations receiving…
  64. Anzemet (AN-zeh-met) A drug used to treat nausea and vomiting caused by cancer treatment. It is a type of serotonin receptor antagonist and a type of antiemetic.
  65. AO area office.
  66. AOA At or above
  67. AOB At or below
  68. AOC Air Operations Center.
  69. AOCC Air Operations Control Center.
  70. AoE Area of Effect Damage. This is a spell that hurts a group of monsters in an area like Blizzard in Warcraft III.
  71. AOEC Aero-Optic Evaluation Center, Buffalo, NY.
  72. AOI Active Optical Imager.
  73. AOL Popular web portal which merged with Time Warner.
  74. AOP annual operating plan.
  75. AOPA Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association
  76. AOR Area of Responsibility.
  77. aorta (a-OR-tuh) The largest artery in the body. It carries oxygen-rich blood away from the heart to vessels that reach the rest of the body.
  78. aortocoronary bypass (ay-OR-toh-KOR-uh-NAYR-ee BY-pass) Surgery in which a healthy blood vessel taken from another part of the body is used to make a new path for blood around…
  79. AOS OBSOLETE. Airborne Optical Sensor.
  80. AOSP Advanced On-Board Signal Processor.
  81. AOTF Acousto -Optic Tunable Filter.
  82. AP analysis plan.
  83. AP Index In solar-terrestrial terms, an averaged planetary A Index based on data from a set of specific stations.
  84. AP-PCR See: arbitrarily primed polymerase chain reaction.
  85. AP23573 A drug used to treat soft tissue and bone sarcomas. It is also being studied in the treatment of other solid tumors and hematologic cancer.
  86. AP5346 A substance being studied in the treatment of head and neck cancer. It may kill cancer cells by carrying an anticancer drug into the tumor.
  87. Apache Axis The SOAP engine implementation used within the Globus Toolkit. See the Apache Axis website for details.
  88. Apache Commons See http://jakarta.apache.org/commons/ for more details.
  89. Apache trout One of Arizona's two native trout species. Body color is yellowish-gold, with dark, bold spots on dorsal and tail fin, and sparse body spotting that may…
  90. APB Acquisition Program Baseline.
  91. APBI Advanced Planning Briefing to Industry (MDA).
  92. APC A cell that shows an antigen on its surface to other cells of the immune system. This is an important part of an immune response.
  93. APC vaccine A vaccine made of antigens and antigen-presenting cells (APCs). Also called antigen-presenting cell vaccine.
  94. APC8015 A vaccine made from immune system cells collected from a patient with prostate cancer.
  95. APC8015F A vaccine made from immune system cells taken from a patient with prostate cancer and frozen for future use.
  96. APCC Alternate Processing and Correlation Center.
  97. APCD Air Pollution Control District.
  98. APD On a buoy report, the average wave period (seconds) of all waves during the 20-minute period.
  99. APDP Acquisition Professional Development Program.
  100. APE area of potential effect.