Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.
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Savant syndrome
Rare disorder in which a person has mental retardation or mental disorders (in centuries past lumped together as “idiocy”) but has extraordinary ability in certain distinct areas, usually relating to memory feats or artistic ability. The combination gave the condition its earlier name idiot savant, French for “learned idiot.”
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Rubella vaccine
A type of vaccine that is normally given in a combination measles-mumps-rubella vaccine.
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Salutatorian
In a graduating class, the student with the second-highest academic rank, generally as measured by grade average, so called because he or she is often asked to give the opening speech, or salutation, at graduation ceremonies. The highest-ranked student is the valedictorian.
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Rooming-in
In hospitals, the practice of allowing the mother and newborn (and sometimes the father as well) to stay in the same room, instead of placing the baby in a nursery; sometimes the baby remains in the room only during daytime hours, to give the mother more time to recover from the birth. This allows breastfeeding…
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Resident student
A student whose legal place of residence is in the district served by a school, such as the school district of a local public school or the state for a state-supported college. Nonresident students must make special arrangements to attend a school that does not serve their neighborhood; at the college level, they are not…
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Residency requirement
In education, a college’s or university’s requirement that a student must be enrolled in the institution for a specified number of years (generally one or two) before being eligible to receive a degree, a requirement waived in external degree programs. In a looser sense, the term residency requirement sometimes refers to a public college’s or…
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Required course
A course a student must take to fulfill the requirements of a school and eventually to graduate, as opposed to optional courses, or electives.
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Reproductive cycle
Alternate term for menstrual cycle.
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Renal failure
Alternate term for kidney failure. Inability of the kidneys to excrete wastes and function in the maintenance of electrolyte balance. Acute renal failure, characterized by inability to produce urine and an accumulation of wastes, is often associated with trauma, bums, acute infection, or obstruction of the urinary tract; its treatment depends on the cause and…
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Remedial school
A school, often ungraded, designed to help students make up for previous academic deficiencies, as for former dropouts returning to school; also called tutoring school or catch-up school.
Got any book recommendations?