5,190 Matching Annotations
  1. Aug 2019
    1. high-fructose corn syrup

      A sweetener made from corn starch. It contains a mixture of glucose and fructose molecules which taste the same and have the same calories, though they are processed differently in the body.

    2. tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS)

      Tandem means having two in a row. and mass spectrometry is a method used to analyze samples to look at chemical makeup by looking at charge-to-mass signatures of individual atoms in a sample. Putting two mass spectrometers in a row increases the sensitivity of this method so that ions that are close in mass can be told apart. A great analogy and explanation can be found in this Youtube video.

    1. Langley

      Samuel Pierpont Langley (1834-1906) was an American astronomer, physicist and inventor. His research on solar and lunar radiation greatly influenced Arrhenius.

      Arrhenius used data from Langley's 1890 publication "The Temperature of the Moon" as the basis for his model.

    2. Fourier

      Joseph Fourier (1768-1830) was a French scientist and mathematician who studied heat transfer. He theorized that Earth's atmosphere could act as a thermal insulator by absorbing heat (radiation) emitted by Earth's surface.

    3. transparency of the atmosphere

      De Marchi seems to refer to the ability of the atmosphere to let through all wavelengths of radiation. He probably focused on the ability of water vapor in clouds to reflect incoming solar radiation, reducing how much solar energy reaches Earth's surface.

      When Arrhenius discusses transparency in relation to his model, he focuses on the ability of water vapor to absorb infrared radiation and re-emit it back toward Earth's surface.

    4. eccentricity

      A measure of the shape of an ellipse, how far it is flattened from a circular shape. An orbit with low eccentricity is almost circular, whereas an orbit with high eccentricity is highly elliptical.

      Items 3, 5 and 9 in De Marchi's list make up the Milankovitch Cycles, which affect how much energy Earth receives from the Sun and how that energy is distributed over the globe.

      For more information, see this resource from Climatica: http://climatica.org.uk/climate-science-information/long-term-climate-change-milankovitch-cycles

    5. The position of the equinoxes.

      Also called "precession", this refers to the orientation of Earth's rotational axis relative to its position in its orbit around the Sun.

      Items 3, 5 and 9 in De Marchi's list make up the Milankovitch Cycles, which affect how much energy Earth receives from the Sun and how that energy is distributed over the globe.

      For more information, see this resource from Climatica: http://climatica.org.uk/climate-science-information/long-term-climate-change-milankovitch-cycles

    6. The obliquity of the earth's axis to the ecliptic.

      The tilt of Earth's rotational axis relative to the plane of its orbit around the Sun.

      Items 3, 5 and 9 in De Marchi's list make up the Milankovitch Cycles, which affect how much energy Earth receives from the Sun and how that energy is distributed over the globe.

      For more information, see this resource from Climatica: http://climatica.org.uk/climate-science-information/long-term-climate-change-milankovitch-cycles

    7. A fortiori

      even more

      This is a Latin phrase which translates as "from the stronger". Here, Arrhenius uses it to indicate that the remainder of the sentence presents an even stronger argument than the previous sentence.

  2. Jul 2019
    1. protoplasmic astrocytes

      Protoplasmic astrocytes are a subset of astrocytes that are located in the gray matter (which consists mostly of cell bodies) in the brain. They have many complex processes that can contact blood vessels and neurons.

    2. synaptic signaling

      Synaptic signaling refers to how neurons communicate with one another.

      A projection called an axon from the pre-synaptic neuron touches or "synapses on" the dendritic projections of the post-synaptic neuron. Chemicals called neurotransmitters are released from the pre-synaptic neuron and mediate responses in the post-synaptic neuron.

    3. single-nucleus RNA sequencing

      In single-nucleus RNA sequencing, the nucleus (which contains DNA and nascently transcribed RNA) is isolated from a single cell. The isolated RNA undergoes RNA-sequencing, in which the RNA is broken up into fragments. Using a database, these fragments are then aligned to specific transcripts.

    4. genetic heterogeneity of autism

      Genetic heterogeneity refers to the ability of a phenotype (in this case, autism) to manifest via genetic mutations in multiple different loci. This means that there isn't one single genetic mutation that's associated with autism.

    1. enantioinduction

      Enantioinduction is also popularly known as asymmetric induction. This process is the preferential formation of one enantiomer over the other as a result of the influence of a chiral feature present in reactants or the catalyst.

    2. chemo- and enantioselectivity

      Chemoselectivity is the preferential reaction of a reagent with a specific functional group over others. Enantioselectivity is the extent to which one enantiomer is formed over the other in a chemical reaction.

  3. Jun 2019
    1. recitation

      A meeting of a subset of students from a larger lecture course in which students can ask questions, get clarification on lecture topics, and may solve additional problems or take quizzes (typically required with very large college courses).

    2. resulting in a significant gender × condition interaction

      Interaction effects occur when the effect of one variable depends on another variable.

      In this case, the effect of the intervention (values affirmation or control) depended on the student gender (male or female).

    3. z scores

      A z-score is a measure of the number of standard deviations above or below the average score a raw, individual score is. The higher the z-score, the more different a data point is from the average.

    4. continuous

      Continuous variables have an infinite number of possible values. This is in contrast to categorical variables, which have a discrete number of defined values (for example, in this study "man" or "woman" for gender).

    5. as a function of

      A function defines one variable in terms of another. Here, the more strongly a woman in the control group endorsed the gender stereotype, the lower her exam scores were.

      Defining y "as a function of" x means that y varies based on the level of x.

    6. condition

      Assigned group, either the intervention group or the control group. In this case, the control group contained students who did not participate in the values affirmation intervention.

    1. petrosal and nodose neurons

      Brain cells in a group of nerves found at the base of the skull. The nodose and petrosal neurons are part of the vagus and glossopharyngeal nerves, respectively.

    1. sensitization

      Repeated administration of a stimulus can cause a response to the stimulus.

      Eg. If you give your cat piping hot milk the first day, the cat may not drink it as it will burn its mouth. However, if you continue to give your cat hot milk for several days in a row, the cat will eventually start drinking the milk as it is habituated to the new stimulus (hot milk) and will not complain

    2. gateway drugs

      the substances are mild and not addictive on consumption. However, the continuous consumption of these mild substances can lead to the use of other addictive drugs. They are also known as ‘habit-forming drug.’

      Eg. Alcohol, Cigarettes.

    3. illicit drug

      Substances that are addictive to the central nervous system.

      These substances are illegal to be possessed, have no documented therapeutic effect, and are referred to as drugs of abuse.

      Eg. Cocaine, Heroin