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blood count
blood count method for determining the number of red (erythrocytes) and white (leukocytes) blood cells in a certain volume of blood. This test can be used as a preliminary step in diagnosing some diseases. Leukemia, for instance, causes an increase in the white blood cell count, while a decrease in...
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blood test
blood test examination of blood routinely or as an aid in diagnosing a suspected disease. Tests may be performed on whole blood or on the plasma portion only. Blood typing identifies the proteins at specific sites on red blood cells, a necessity in determining compatibility for blood transfusion...
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Dracula
Dracula, a novel by B. Stoker, published 1897, the most famous of all tales of vampirism.The story is told through the diaries of a young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, his fiancée Mina, her friend Lucy Westenra, and Dr John Seward, the superintendent of a large lunatic asylum at Purfleet, in Es...
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casino
casino or cassino . 1 Card game played with a full deck by two to four players. Its origins are obscure though it probably traces back to the Italian game of Scopa. It is a very scientific game, though playing with more than two persons reduces the strategic possibilities. Four cards are dealt...
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Fernando Álvarez de Toledo Alba, duque de
Fernando Álvarez de Toledo Alba, duque de , b. 1507 or 1508, d. 1582, Spanish general and administrator. After a distinguished military career in Germany and Italy, Alba returned to Spain as adviser to King Philip II. Advocating a stern policy toward the rebels against Spain in the Netherlan...
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vampire
vampire in folklore, animated corpse that sucks the blood of humans. Belief in vampires has existed from the earliest times and has given rise to an amalgam of legends and superstitions. They were most commonly thought of as spirits or demons that left their graves at night to seek and enslave thei...
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pulse
pulse alternate expansion and contraction of artery walls as heart action varies blood volume within the arteries. Artery walls are elastic. Hence they become distended by increased blood volume during systole, or contraction of the heart. During diastole, or relaxation of the heart, blood volu...
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Mene Mene, Tekel, Upharsin
Mene Mene, Tekel, Upharsin , in the Bible, the mysterious riddle written by a hand on the wall at Belshazzar's feast. These Aramaic words may be translated literally as, "It has been counted and counted, weighed and divided." Daniel interpreted this to mean that the king's deeds had been weighed...
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Lance Armstrong
Lance Armstrong 1971-, American cyclist, b. Dallas, Tex. He won (1991) the U.S. amateur cycling championship, turned professional (1992), and by the mid-1990s had won the Tour DuPont twice and was being hailed as the finest U.S. cyclist. In 1996, however, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer, wh...
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Sir William Osler
Sir William Osler , 1849-1919, Canadian physician, M.D. McGill Univ., 1872. Renowned as a physician and as a medical historian, he was also the most brilliant and influential teacher of medicine in his day. He was professor at McGill (1875-84), the Univ. of Pennsylvania (1884-89), Johns Hopkins (188...
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