Columbia Encyclopedia

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cyanosis

(Encyclopedia)cyanosis sīˌənōˈsĭs [key], bluish coloration of the skin, mucous membranes, and nailbeds, resulting from a lack of oxygenated hemoglobin in the blood. It is a symptom of many disorders, includin...

eye fly

(Encyclopedia)eye fly, common name for a group of small flies of the family Chloropidae. Eye flies are common in parts of California and in the S United States. They inhabit grasslands and meadows and breed mainly ...

pneumoconiosis

(Encyclopedia)pneumoconiosis no͞oˌməkōˌnēōˈsĭs [key], chronic disease of the lungs. Primarily an occupational disease of miners, sandblasters, and metal grinders, it is a result of repeated inhalation of d...

preventive medicine

(Encyclopedia)preventive medicine, branch of medicine dealing with the prevention of disease and the maintenance of good health practices. Until recently preventive medicine was largely the domain of the U.S. Publi...

Austral Islands

(Encyclopedia)Austral Islands ôˈstrəl [key], volcanic island group, South Pacific, part of French Polynesia. They are sometimes known as the Tubuai Islands. The group comprises ...

Rose, Irwin

(Encyclopedia)Rose, Irwin, 1926–2015, American biochemist, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., Ph.D. Univ. of Chicago, 1952. Rose was on the faculty of Yale Medical School from 1954 to 1963 and a senior member of the Fox Chase Ca...

tongue

(Encyclopedia)tongue, muscular organ occupying the floor of the mouth in vertebrates. In some animals, such as lizards, anteaters, and frogs, it serves a food-gathering function. In humans, the tongue functions pri...

vomiting

(Encyclopedia)vomiting, ejection of food and other matter from the stomach through the mouth, often preceded by nausea. The process is initiated by stimulation of the vomiting center of the brain by nerve impulses ...

benzoin

(Encyclopedia)benzoin bĕnzoinˈəm [key], balsamic resin, the dried exudation from the pierced bark of various species of the benzoin tree (Styrax) native to Sumatra, Java, and Thailand; appearing as red-brown to ...

spastic paralysis

(Encyclopedia)spastic paralysis, form of paralysis in which the part of the nervous system that controls coordinated movement of the voluntary muscles is disabled. In spastic paralysis the nerves controlling muscle...