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PLASMA
| Pronunciation (US): |  | (GB): | |
I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
The colorless watery fluid of the blood and lymph that contains no cells, but in which the blood cells (erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes) are suspended
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("plasma" is a kind of...):
ECF; extracellular fluid (liquid containing proteins and electrolytes including the liquid in blood plasma and interstitial fluid)
Meronyms (substance of "plasma"):
plasma protein (any of the proteins in blood plasma)
gamma globulin; human gamma globulin (a plasma protein containing the immunoglobulins that are responsible for immune responses)
Sense 2
Meaning:
(physical chemistry) a fourth state of matter distinct from solid or liquid or gas and present in stars and fusion reactors; a gas becomes a plasma when it is heated until the atoms lose all their electrons, leaving a highly electrified collection of nuclei and free electrons
Example:
particles in space exist in the form of a plasma
Classified under:
Nouns denoting stable states of affairs
Hypernyms ("plasma" is a kind of...):
state; state of matter ((chemistry) the three traditional states of matter are solids (fixed shape and volume) and liquids (fixed volume and shaped by the container) and gases (filling the container))
Domain category:
physical chemistry (the branch of chemistry dealing with the physical properties of chemical substances)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "plasma"):
interplanetary gas (a rarefied flow of gas and charged particles (plasma) that stream from the sun and form the solar wind)
Sense 3
Meaning:
A green slightly translucent variety of chalcedony used as a gemstone
Classified under:
Hypernyms ("plasma" is a kind of...):
calcedony; chalcedony (a milky or greyish translucent to transparent quartz)
Context examples:
AFP464 is rapidly converted to aminoflavone in plasma.
(AFP464, NCI Thesaurus)
A plasma cell disorder in which an abnormal amount of a single immunoglobulin is present in the serum.
(Monoclonal gammopathy of undetermined significance, NCI Thesaurus)
Plasma is the single largest component of blood and is the clear liquid that remains after the removal of red and white blood cells and platelets.
(Study highlights potential for ‘liquid health check’ to predict disease risk, University of Cambridge)
MALT consists of a collection of predominantly small lymphocytes, fewer larger, transformed lymphocytes, and plasma cells.
(Mucosa-Associated Lymphoid Tissue, NCI Thesaurus)
The study characterised the genetic underpinnings of the human plasma ‘proteome’, identifying nearly 2,000 genetic associations with almost 1,500 proteins.
(Scientists create ‘genetic atlas’ of proteins in human blood, University of Cambridge)
Aminohippurate sodium is used as a non-toxic diagnostic tool to measure effective renal plasma flow.
(Aminohippurate Sodium, NCI Thesaurus)
This allele, which encodes B-lymphocyte antigen CD20 protein, plays a role in the development and differentiation of B-cells into plasma cells.
(MS4A1 wt Allele, NCI Thesaurus)
The complement system of plasma proteins is an important part of the immune system that forms a cascade of factors that lyses foreign cells.
(Alternative Complement Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
The electrical potential difference across a plasma membrane.
(Membrane Potential, NCI Thesaurus)
This enzyme hydrolyzes triglycerides in plasma, releasing free fatty acids into tissues, where they can be reassembled into triglycerides.
(Metabolic Syndrome Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)
