Water Quality
A rating of a body of water based on measurable physical, chemical, and biological characteristics.
Water
Water Supply
Water Pollution
Quality of Life
A generic concept reflecting concern with the modification and enhancement of life attributes, e.g., physical, political, moral and social environment; the overall condition of a human life.
Water Purification
Any of several processes in which undesirable impurities in water are removed or neutralized; for example, chlorination, filtration, primary treatment, ion exchange, and distillation. It includes treatment of WASTE WATER to provide potable and hygienic water in a controlled or closed environment as well as provision of public drinking water supplies.
Water Microbiology
Water Pollutants
Substances or organisms which pollute the water or bodies of water. Use for water pollutants in general or those for which there is no specific heading.
Rivers
Large natural streams of FRESH WATER formed by converging tributaries and which empty into a body of water (lake or ocean).
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Environmental Monitoring
The monitoring of the level of toxins, chemical pollutants, microbial contaminants, or other harmful substances in the environment (soil, air, and water), workplace, or in the bodies of people and animals present in that environment.
Quality Control
Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis
Testing for the amount of biodegradable organic material in a water sample by measuring the quantity of oxygen consumed by biodegradation of those materials over a specific time period.
Water Movements
Quality of Health Care
Eutrophication
The enrichment of a terrestrial or aquatic ECOSYSTEM by the addition of nutrients, especially nitrogen and phosphorus, that results in a superabundant growth of plants, ALGAE, or other primary producers. It can be a natural process or result from human activity such as agriculture runoff or sewage pollution. In aquatic ecosystems, an increase in the algae population is termed an algal bloom.
Lakes
Inland bodies of still or slowly moving FRESH WATER or salt water, larger than a pond, and supplied by RIVERS and streams.
Water Softening
Body Water
Fluids composed mainly of water found within the body.
Quality Assurance, Health Care
Activities and programs intended to assure or improve the quality of care in either a defined medical setting or a program. The concept includes the assessment or evaluation of the quality of care; identification of problems or shortcomings in the delivery of care; designing activities to overcome these deficiencies; and follow-up monitoring to ensure effectiveness of corrective steps.
Filtration
Water Resources
Enterobacteriaceae
A family of gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria that do not form endospores. Its organisms are distributed worldwide with some being saprophytes and others being plant and animal parasites. Many species are of considerable economic importance due to their pathogenic effects on agriculture and livestock.
Water Pollution, Chemical
Adverse effect upon bodies of water (LAKES; RIVERS; seas; groundwater etc.) caused by CHEMICAL WATER POLLUTANTS.
Enterococcus
A genus of gram-positive, coccoid bacteria consisting of organisms causing variable hemolysis that are normal flora of the intestinal tract. Previously thought to be a member of the genus STREPTOCOCCUS, it is now recognized as a separate genus.
Quality Indicators, Health Care
Norms, criteria, standards, and other direct qualitative and quantitative measures used in determining the quality of health care.
Seawater
The salinated water of OCEANS AND SEAS that provides habitat for marine organisms.
Waste Water
Contaminated water generated as a waste product of human activity.
Sanitation
Seasons
Groundwater
Liquid water present beneath the surface of the earth.
Agriculture
The science, art or practice of cultivating soil, producing crops, and raising livestock.
Chlorine
A greenish-yellow, diatomic gas that is a member of the halogen family of elements. It has the atomic symbol Cl, atomic number 17, and atomic weight 70.906. It is a powerful irritant that can cause fatal pulmonary edema. Chlorine is used in manufacturing, as a reagent in synthetic chemistry, for water purification, and in the production of chlorinated lime, which is used in fabric bleaching.
Phytoplankton
Free-floating minute organisms that are photosynthetic. The term is non-taxonomic and refers to a lifestyle (energy utilization and motility), rather than a particular type of organism. Most, but not all, are unicellular algae. Important groups include DIATOMS; DINOFLAGELLATES; CYANOBACTERIA; CHLOROPHYTA; HAPTOPHYTA; CRYPTOMONADS; and silicoflagellates.
Swimming Pools
'Swimming pools' in a medical context typically refers to man-made bodies of water designed for swimming and other recreational activities, which can also serve as potential reservoirs for various infectious diseases if not properly maintained, including those transmitted through waterborne pathogens, fecal contamination, or poor water chemistry.
Ecosystem
A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
Life Support Systems
Systems that provide all or most of the items necessary for maintaining life and health. Provisions are made for the supplying of oxygen, food, water, temperature and pressure control, disposition of carbon dioxide and body waste. The milieu may be a spacecraft, a submarine, or the surface of the moon. In medical care, usually under hospital conditions, LIFE SUPPORT CARE is available. (From Webster's New Collegiate Dictionary)
Satellite Communications
Conservation of Natural Resources
The protection, preservation, restoration, and rational use of all resources in the total environment.
Enterococcaceae
A family of gram-positive bacteria in the order Lactobacillales, phylum Firmicutes.
Gas, Natural
A combustible, gaseous mixture of low-molecular weight PARAFFIN hydrocarbons, generated below the surface of the earth. It contains mostly METHANE and ETHANE with small amounts of PROPANE; BUTANES; and higher hydrocarbons, and sometimes NITROGEN; CARBON DIOXIDE; HYDROGEN SULFIDE; and HELIUM. (from McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)
Hydrology
Science dealing with the properties, distribution, and circulation of water on and below the earth's surface, and atmosphere.
Bacterial Load
Measurable quantity of bacteria in an object, organism, or organism compartment.
Environmental Policy
Colony Count, Microbial
Enumeration by direct count of viable, isolated bacterial, archaeal, or fungal CELLS or SPORES capable of growth on solid CULTURE MEDIA. The method is used routinely by environmental microbiologists for quantifying organisms in AIR; FOOD; and WATER; by clinicians for measuring patients' microbial load; and in antimicrobial drug testing.
Household Articles
Aquaculture
Cultivation of natural faunal resources of water. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)
Geologic Sediments
A mass of organic or inorganic solid fragmented material, or the solid fragment itself, that comes from the weathering of rock and is carried by, suspended in, or dropped by air, water, or ice. It refers also to a mass that is accumulated by any other natural agent and that forms in layers on the earth's surface, such as sand, gravel, silt, mud, fill, or loess. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed, p1689)
Feces
Excrement from the INTESTINES, containing unabsorbed solids, waste products, secretions, and BACTERIA of the DIGESTIVE SYSTEM.
Dental Equipment
Cryptosporidium
Industrial Waste
Bays
An area of water mostly surrounded by land, usually smaller than a gulf, and affording access to the sea.
Florida
I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Florida" is a geographical location and not a medical term or condition with a specific definition. It is the 27th largest state by area in the United States, located in the southeastern region of the country and known for its diverse wildlife, beautiful beaches, and theme parks. If you have any medical questions or terms that need clarification, please feel free to ask!
Tajikistan
I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Tajikistan" is not a medical term and does not have a medical definition; it is the name of a country located in Central Asia, officially known as the Republic of Tajikistan.
Diarrhea
Ecological Systems, Closed
Systems that provide for the maintenance of life in an isolated living chamber through reutilization of the material available, in particular, by means of a cycle wherein exhaled carbon dioxide, urine, and other waste matter are converted chemically or by photosynthesis into oxygen, water, and food. (NASA Thesaurus, 1988)
Environmental Pollution
Contamination of the air, bodies of water, or land with substances that are harmful to human health and the environment.
Manure
United States Environmental Protection Agency
An agency in the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. It was created as an independent regulatory agency responsible for the implementation of federal laws designed to protect the environment. Its mission is to protect human health and the ENVIRONMENT.
Phosphorus
Nephelometry and Turbidimetry
Chemical analysis based on the phenomenon whereby light, passing through a medium with dispersed particles of a different refractive index from that of the medium, is attenuated in intensity by scattering. In turbidimetry, the intensity of light transmitted through the medium, the unscattered light, is measured. In nephelometry, the intensity of the scattered light is measured, usually, but not necessarily, at right angles to the incident light beam.
Fishes
Disinfection
Methanobrevibacter
Micropore Filters
Fertilizers
Nitrates
Ecotoxicology
The study of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTION and the toxic effects of ENVIRONMENTAL POLLUTANTS on the ECOSYSTEM. The term was coined by Truhaut in 1969.
Nitrogen
An element with the atomic symbol N, atomic number 7, and atomic weight [14.00643; 14.00728]. Nitrogen exists as a diatomic gas and makes up about 78% of the earth's atmosphere by volume. It is a constituent of proteins and nucleic acids and found in all living cells.
Hygiene
Soil
Swimming
Metals, Heavy
Total Quality Management
Giardia
Ecology
The branch of science concerned with the interrelationship of organisms and their ENVIRONMENT, especially as manifested by natural cycles and rhythms, community development and structure, interactions between different kinds of organisms, geographic distributions, and population alterations. (Webster's, 3d ed)
Oocysts
Inorganic Chemicals
United States
The term "United States" in a medical context often refers to the country where a patient or study participant resides, and is not a medical term per se, but relevant for epidemiological studies, healthcare policies, and understanding differences in disease prevalence, treatment patterns, and health outcomes across various geographic locations.
Waste Disposal, Fluid
Coral Reefs
Water Deprivation
The withholding of water in a structured experimental situation.
Great Lakes Region
The geographic area of the Great Lakes in general and when the specific state or states are not indicated. It usually includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.
Escherichia coli
A species of gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacteria (GRAM-NEGATIVE FACULTATIVELY ANAEROBIC RODS) commonly found in the lower part of the intestine of warm-blooded animals. It is usually nonpathogenic, but some strains are known to produce DIARRHEA and pyogenic infections. Pathogenic strains (virotypes) are classified by their specific pathogenic mechanisms such as toxins (ENTEROTOXIGENIC ESCHERICHIA COLI), etc.
Environment
Arsenic
A shiny gray element with atomic symbol As, atomic number 33, and atomic weight 75. It occurs throughout the universe, mostly in the form of metallic arsenides. Most forms are toxic. According to the Fourth Annual Report on Carcinogens (NTP 85-002, 1985), arsenic and certain arsenic compounds have been listed as known carcinogens. (From Merck Index, 11th ed)
Nitrobacter
A genus of gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that oxidizes nitrites to nitrates. Its organisms occur in aerobic environments where organic matter is being mineralized, including soil, fresh water, and sea water.
Brazil
I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Brazil" is not a medical term or concept, it is a country located in South America, known officially as the Federative Republic of Brazil. If you have any questions related to health, medicine, or science, I'd be happy to help answer those!
Temperature
The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.
Biodiversity
Ecuador
Questionnaires
Health Resorts
'Health resorts' are establishments, often located in scenic or climatically favorable areas, that offer a range of services and facilities aimed at promoting, maintaining, or restoring the health and well-being of individuals, typically through a combination of medical treatments, therapeutic interventions, healthy lifestyle practices, and relaxation techniques.
Tropical Climate
Biota
Agricultural Irrigation
The routing of water to open or closed areas where it is used for agricultural purposes.
Bacteria
One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.
Disasters
Environmental Health
Geographic Information Systems
Disinfectants
Substances used on inanimate objects that destroy harmful microorganisms or inhibit their activity. Disinfectants are classed as complete, destroying SPORES as well as vegetative forms of microorganisms, or incomplete, destroying only vegetative forms of the organisms. They are distinguished from ANTISEPTICS, which are local anti-infective agents used on humans and other animals. (From Hawley's Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 11th ed)
Food Quality
Nicaragua
I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Nicaragua" is not a medical term and does not have a medical definition. Nicaragua is the largest country in the Central American isthmus, bordering Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south. It has both Atlantic and Pacific coasts. The term you might be looking for is "Nicotine," which is a highly addictive stimulant found in tobacco leaves and is used as an ingredient in various products, including cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, and some medications.
Organic Chemicals
A broad class of substances containing carbon and its derivatives. Many of these chemicals will frequently contain hydrogen with or without oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and other elements. They exist in either carbon chain or carbon ring form.
Gastrointestinal Diseases
Models, Theoretical
Public Health
Refuse Disposal
The discarding or destroying of garbage, sewage, or other waste matter or its transformation into something useful or innocuous.
Enterovirus
Bacteroidetes
A phylum of bacteria comprised of three classes: Bacteroides, Flavobacteria, and Sphingobacteria.
Epidemiological Monitoring
Collection, analysis, and interpretation of data about the frequency, distribution, and consequences of disease or health conditions, for use in the planning, implementing, and evaluating public health programs.
Nebraska
I'm sorry for any confusion, but "Nebraska" is a state located in the central United States and does not have a medical definition. If you have any medical terms or concepts you would like defined, I would be happy to help!