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Introduction To Health Sciences Vocab

Subject : health-sciences
Instructions:
  • Answer 50 questions in 15 minutes.
  • If you are not ready to take this test, you can study here.
  • Match each statement with the correct term.
  • Don't refresh. All questions and answers are randomly picked and ordered every time you load a test.

This is a study tool. The 3 wrong answers for each question are randomly chosen from answers to other questions. So, you might find at times the answers obvious, but you will see it re-enforces your understanding as you take the test each time.
1. The ability to stand - walk and run - supported only by the hind limbs.






2. A hormone secreted by the suprarenal gland (formerly the adrenal gland) upon stimulation by the central nervous system in response to stress - anger - fear or exertion. It has many effects on the body - e.g. increasing heart rate and output. Also kno






3. A proteinase (protein-degrading) enzyme that catalyses (facilitates) the breakdown of elastin and other related proteins.






4. Particulates suspended in air that are less than 10 micrometres in diameter.






5. The pressure exerted by blood pressing on the walls of the arteries. This is frequently expressed as two numbers - systolic (higher pressure during heart contraction) and diastolic (lower pressure between heart contractions) - measured in mmHg.






6. The number of photons passing through a given area per second.






7. A molecule that has both negatively and positively charged regions.






8. The process of expiring or breathing out; the emission of air from the lungs.






9. Distance between one peak of a wave and the next peak - measured in metres (m).






10. An eye care professional who makes spectacles or contact lenses and advises on suitable frames or lens choices.






11. An approach to explanation which implies two closely related things: (i) both biological and psychological sciences have central roles in the explanation - and (ii) a given phenomenon to be studied within this perspective - such as pain - has both bi






12. A sudden change in potential difference (voltage) across the cell membrane of neurons - consisting of an increase in the resting potential and a sudden return to the resting value. Transmitted along axons and constitute the principal 'language' of co






13. Immune system cells that circulate around the body helping to protect it from infection and some other types of disease; also known as white cells.






14. A property of the body in which a number of its important parameters are held near to constant and any deviation from their normal value triggers action that tends to restore normality. It is exemplified by the maintenance of body temperature - or of






15. A clearly stated provisional explanation for a set of observations or data - devised for the purpose of testing its validity by the collection of additional data or by conducting an experiment.






16. This term indicates alcohol's effect in inducing 'psychological short-sightedness'. Alcohol lowers the range of attention - so that immediate events take on more importance than their future consequences.






17. Disease - disorder or traumatic injury characterised by rapid onset - severe symptoms and short duration - From which the patient either recovers quickly or dies (CS 1 & 6). Some chronic (long-term) conditions can have acute episodes - e.g. exacerbat






18. Tiny particles of calcium that appear as small specks on a mammogram. When clustered in one area of the breast - they may indicate the presence of cancer cells.






19. This condition occurs when the arteries supplying oxygen and nutrients to the heart muscle become blocked by fatty deposits known as plaques - and areas of muscle die as a result.






20. A process whereby a parameter is maintained at a nearly constant value because deviations from its normal value tend to trigger actions that 'negate' the deviation and return it to normality; e.g. a fall in body temperature is fed back via the nervou






21. The ability of the brain to take information and perform informed calculations (e.g. calculating the width of a space in which to park a car).






22. Countries that are only partly industrialised and where national wealth is below that of the developed economies (also known as low- and middle-income countries). They rely to a much greater degree than developed countries on subsistence farming - sm






23. Stimuli that are associated with actual or potential damage to body tissues.






24. A process at an interface of two media in which light is returned into the original medium without transmission or absorption.






25. The process of detecting stimuli that cause actual or potential damage to the tissues of the body.






26. The pressure exerted by the Earth's atmosphere at a particular location as a result of the mass of the column of air above it. At sea level - it is 760 mmHg or 101.325 kPa.






27. A single point on the optical axis of a lens onto which all light rays parallel to that axis are directed.






28. Any physical injury or severe psychological shock.






29. The type of blood cell that transports oxygen; also known as a red blood cell.






30. Photoreceptor cells that are responsible for night vision. These cells provide no information about colour.






31. Being shorter at a given age by a specified amount below the population average.






32. A drug that widens the airways of the lungs and eases breathing by relaxing smooth muscle in the walls of bronchioles.






33. The total process in an organism by which oxygen is conveyed to tissues and cells - oxidation of nutrient molecules releases useable energy - and the oxidation products (carbon dioxide and water) are given off.






34. In screening - a person whose screening test result is negative (indicating no disease) - and who actually does not have the disease.






35. Fine particles of a solid suspended in the air.






36. In screening - a person whose screening test result is positive (indicating disease) - but who actually does not have the disease.






37. The tube descending from the larynx to the bronchi and carrying air to the lungs; also known as the windpipe.






38. An internationally recognised health indicator - defined as the number of babies in every 1000 live births who die in their first year of life.






39. Death.






40. A method for determining the efficiency of gas transfer between the lungs and the pulmonary blood capillaries.






41. A type of cell that is found within the nervous system and Which is specialised to transmit and process information (colloquially referred to as 'nerve cell').






42. The joining of tissues to each other that may occur abnormally during repair.






43. For a screening procedure such as mammography - the number of true positive results expressed as a percentage of the total number of positive results (true or false). It tells (other things being equal) What the chance is that a person with a positiv






44. A complex molecule composed of smaller molecules (globin and haem) and iron atoms. It is a component of erythrocytes and its function is to bind reversibly to oxygen.






45. A hormone Which is normally secreted by the brain in response to decreased water levels in the body. When alcohol is drunk - ethanol acts on the brain and inhibites the release of this - allowing the kidneys to make more urine.






46. The smallest unit of an element that still has the properties of the element. Made up of a positively charged atomic nucleus - containing protons and neutrons - surrounded by negatively charged electrons.






47. The cells associated with peripheral neurons that wrap themselves around the axons.






48. A group of primates - to which modern humans belong - characterised by upright posture and a very large brain in relation to body size.






49. The electrical forces holding two atoms together.






50. A complex specialised molecule embedded in the outer membrane of a cell - or in its internal structure - which has a unique three-dimensional shape and patterns of electrical charge that enable it to bind specifically to a particular signalling molec