Category: A

A muscle that extends from the styloid process of the temporal bone to the hyoid bone. It serves to draw the hyoid bone backward and upward.  

A relationship between two groups of observations indicating that the difference between them (e.g. between the percentages of smokers and nonsmokers respectively who die from lung cancer) is unlikely to have occurred by chance alone. An assumption is made that there is no difference between the two populations from which the two groups come {null…

Any of several straight muscles. The rectus muscles of the orbit are some of the extrinsic eye muscles. Rectus abdominis is a long flat muscle that extends bilaterally along the entire length of the front of the abdomen. The rectus muscles acting together serve to bend the trunk forward; acting separately they bend the body…

A procedure in massage in which the operator’s fingers are pressed, fingertip first, deep into the patient’s skin. This is done to manipulate underlying structures and break up adhesions that may have formed following injury.  

One of the techniques used in massage, in which pinches of the patient’s flesh are taken between finger and thumb and twisted or rolled before release. This is said to improve the tone of the skin, improve circulation, and alleviate underlying pain.  

An instrument for examining the interior of the eye. There are two types. The direct ophthalmoscope enables a fine beam of light to be directed into the eye and at the same time allows the examiner to see the spot where the beam falls inside the eye. Examiner and subject are very close together. In…

The seed of the tree Strychnos nux-vomica, which contains the poisonous alkaloid strychnine. The poisonous seed from an East Indian tree that contains several alkaloids, the principal ones being brucine and strychnine.  

An oxazine chloride, used for staining lipids and lipid pigments. Nile blue A (Nile blue sulfate), which stains fatty acids, changes from blue to purplish at pH 10-11.  

A variety of leukemia in which the type of blood cell that proliferates abnormally orginates in the blood-forming (myeloid) tissue of the bone marrow. Myeloid leukemias may be acute or chronic and may involve any one of the cells produced by the marrow.  

A drug that prevents growth of cancer cells, used to treat leukemia. It is administered by mouth; common side-effects are digestive upsets, hair loss, skin disorders, menstrual abnormalities, and reduced numbers of normal blood cells.