A gas that has been used as an aerosol propellant and is the starting material for polyvinyl resins. Toxicity studies have shown various adverse effects, particularly the occurrence of liver neoplasms.

A polyvinyl resin used extensively in the manufacture of plastics, including medical devices, tubing, and other packaging. It is also used as a rubber substitute.

A polymer prepared from polyvinyl acetates by replacement of the acetate groups with hydroxyl groups. It is used as a pharmaceutic aid and ophthalmic lubricant as well as in the manufacture of surface coatings artificial sponges, cosmetics, and other products.

A nitrovinyl furan used as a schistosomicidal agent and proposed for trypanosomiasis, especially Chagas disease.

The location of the atoms, groups or ions relative to one another in a molecule, as well as the number, type and location of covalent bonds.

A rare malignant neoplasm characterized by rapidly proliferating, extensively infiltrating, anaplastic cells derived from blood vessels and lining irregular blood-filled or lumpy spaces. (Stedman, 25th ed)

Exclusive legal rights or privileges applied to inventions, plants, etc.

A generic term for all substances having the properties of stretching under tension, high tensile strength, retracting rapidly, and recovering their original dimensions fully. They are generally POLYMERS.

A novel composition, device, or process, independently conceived de novo or derived from a pre-existing model.

Property, such as patents, trademarks, and copyright, that results from creative effort. The Patent and Copyright Clause (Art. 1, Sec. 8, cl. 8) of the United States Constitution provides for promoting the progress of science and useful arts by securing for limited times to authors and inventors, the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries. (From Black's Law Dictionary, 5th ed, p1014)

Polymers of silicone that are formed by crosslinking and treatment with amorphous silica to increase strength. They have properties similar to vulcanized natural rubber, in that they stretch under tension, retract rapidly, and fully recover to their original dimensions upon release. They are used in the encapsulation of surgical membranes and implants.

Organic compounds containing carbon and hydrogen in the form of an unsaturated, usually hexagonal ring structure. The compounds can be single ring, or double, triple, or multiple fused rings.

Chemical reaction in which monomeric components are combined to form POLYMERS (e.g., POLYMETHYLMETHACRYLATE).

Toxic chlorinated unsaturated hydrocarbons. Include both the 1,1- and 1,2-dichloro isomers. Both isomers are toxic, but 1,1-dichloroethylene is the more potent CNS depressant and hepatotoxin. It is used in the manufacture of thermoplastic polymers.

Phylum of green nonsulfur bacteria including the family Chloroflexaceae, among others.

A broad family of synthetic organosiloxane polymers containing a repeating silicon-oxygen backbone with organic side groups attached via carbon-silicon bonds. Depending on their structure, they are classified as liquids, gels, and elastomers. (From Merck Index, 12th ed)

A high-molecular-weight polymeric elastomer derived from the milk juice (LATEX) of HEVEA brasiliensis and other trees and plants. It is a substance that can be stretched at room temperature to at least twice its original length and after releasing the stress, retract rapidly, and recover its original dimensions fully.

A device, activated electronically or by expired pulmonary air, which simulates laryngeal activity and enables a laryngectomized person to speak. Examples of the pneumatic mechanical device are the Tokyo and Van Hunen artificial larynges. Electronic devices include the Western Electric electrolarynx, Tait oral vibrator, Cooper-Rand electrolarynx and the Ticchioni pipe.

Organic siloxanes which are polymerized to the oily stage. The oils have low surface tension and density less than 1. They are used in industrial applications and in the treatment of retinal detachment, complicated by proliferative vitreoretinopathy.

Artificial substitutes for body parts, and materials inserted into tissue for functional, cosmetic, or therapeutic purposes. Prostheses can be functional, as in the case of artificial arms and legs, or cosmetic, as in the case of an artificial eye. Implants, all surgically inserted or grafted into the body, tend to be used therapeutically. IMPLANTS, EXPERIMENTAL is available for those used experimentally.

Substances used to create an impression, or negative reproduction, of the teeth and dental arches. These materials include dental plasters and cements, metallic oxide pastes, silicone base materials, or elastomeric materials.

Materials applied to fabrics, bedding, furniture, plastics, etc. to retard their burning; many may leach out and cause allergies or other harm.

Heterocyclic rings containing three nitrogen atoms, commonly in 1,2,4 or 1,3,5 or 2,4,6 formats. Some are used as HERBICIDES.

A highly reactive aldehyde gas formed by oxidation or incomplete combustion of hydrocarbons. In solution, it has a wide range of uses: in the manufacture of resins and textiles, as a disinfectant, and as a laboratory fixative or preservative. Formaldehyde solution (formalin) is considered a hazardous compound, and its vapor toxic. (From Reynolds, Martindale The Extra Pharmacopoeia, 30th ed, p717)

The presence in food of harmful, unpalatable, or otherwise objectionable foreign substances, e.g. chemicals, microorganisms or diluents, before, during, or after processing or storage.

Polymers of high molecular weight which at some stage are capable of being molded and then harden to form useful components.

Substances made up of an aggregation of small particles, as that obtained by grinding or trituration of a solid drug. In pharmacy it is a form in which substances are administered. (From Dorland, 28th ed)

Hard, amorphous, brittle, inorganic, usually transparent, polymerous silicate of basic oxides, usually potassium or sodium. It is used in the form of hard sheets, vessels, tubing, fibers, ceramics, beads, etc.

Promotion and protection of the rights of children; frequently through a legal process.

Products made by baking or firing nonmetallic minerals (clay and similar materials). In making dental restorations or parts of restorations the material is fused porcelain. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed & Boucher's Clinical Dental Terminology, 4th ed)

Earth or other matter in fine, dry particles. (Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

The use of a layer of tooth-colored material, usually porcelain or acrylic resin, applied to the surface of natural teeth, crowns, or pontics by fusion, cementation, or mechanical retention.

A hard thin translucent layer of calcified substance which envelops and protects the dentin of the crown of the tooth. It is the hardest substance in the body and is almost entirely composed of calcium salts. Under the microscope, it is composed of thin rods (enamel prisms) held together by cementing substance, and surrounded by an enamel sheath. (From Jablonski, Dictionary of Dentistry, 1992, p286)

The unconsolidated mineral or organic matter on the surface of the earth that serves as a natural medium for the growth of land plants.

Oils derived from plants or plant products.

A plant genus of the family EUPHORBIACEAE, order Euphorbiales, subclass Rosidae. Commercial natural RUBBER is mainly obtained from Hevea brasiliensis but also from some other plants.

Sheets of latex rubber punched and placed over the teeth during dental procedures to isolate the field of operation from the rest of the oral cavity (Jablonski; Illustrated Dictionary of Dentistry, 1982). Rubber dams are useful in preventing the swallowing of instruments or restorations during dental work.

Unctuous combustible substances that are liquid or easily liquefiable on warming, and are soluble in ether but insoluble in water. Such substances, depending on their origin, are classified as animal, mineral, or vegetable oils. Depending on their behavior on heating, they are volatile or fixed. (Dorland, 28th ed)

Complex petroleum hydrocarbons consisting mainly of residues from crude oil distillation. These liquid products include heating oils, stove oils, and furnace oils and are burned to generate energy.

Oils which evaporate readily. The volatile oils occur in aromatic plants, to which they give odor and other characteristics. Most volatile oils consist of a mixture of two or more TERPENES or of a mixture of an eleoptene (the more volatile constituent of a volatile oil) with a stearopten (the more solid constituent). The synonym essential oils refers to the essence of a plant, as its perfume or scent, and not to its indispensability.

A publication issued at stated, more or less regular, intervals.

A quantitative measure of the frequency on average with which articles in a journal have been cited in a given period of time.

"The business or profession of the commercial production and issuance of literature" (Webster's 3d). It includes the publisher, publication processes, editing and editors. Production may be by conventional printing methods or by electronic publishing.

The use of statistical methods in the analysis of a body of literature to reveal the historical development of subject fields and patterns of authorship, publication, and use. Formerly called statistical bibliography. (from The ALA Glossary of Library and Information Science, 1983)

The evaluation by experts of the quality and pertinence of research or research proposals of other experts in the same field. Peer review is used by editors in deciding which submissions warrant publication, by granting agencies to determine which proposals should be funded, and by academic institutions in tenure decisions.

The study of the structure, growth, function, genetics, and reproduction of bacteria, and BACTERIAL INFECTIONS.

The profession of writing. Also the identity of the writer as the creator of a literary production.

A molecule that binds to another molecule, used especially to refer to a small molecule that binds specifically to a larger molecule, e.g., an antigen binding to an antibody, a hormone or neurotransmitter binding to a receptor, or a substrate or allosteric effector binding to an enzyme. Ligands are also molecules that donate or accept a pair of electrons to form a coordinate covalent bond with the central metal atom of a coordination complex. (From Dorland, 27th ed)

Shortened forms of written words or phrases used for brevity.

Porphyrins which are combined with a metal ion. The metal is bound equally to all four nitrogen atoms of the pyrrole rings. They possess characteristic absorption spectra which can be utilized for identification or quantitative estimation of porphyrins and porphyrin-bound compounds.

Organic compounds that have the general formula R-SO-R. They are obtained by oxidation of mercaptans (analogous to the ketones). (From Hackh's Chemical Dictionary, 4th ed)

A prodromal phase of infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Laboratory criteria separating AIDS-related complex (ARC) from AIDS include elevated or hyperactive B-cell humoral immune responses, compared to depressed or normal antibody reactivity in AIDS; follicular or mixed hyperplasia in ARC lymph nodes, leading to lymphocyte degeneration and depletion more typical of AIDS; evolving succession of histopathological lesions such as localization of Kaposi's sarcoma, signaling the transition to the full-blown AIDS.

The voluntary portion of Medicare, known as the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) Program, that includes physician's services, home health care, medical services, outpatient hospital services, and laboratory, pathology, and radiology services. All persons entitled to Medicare Part A may enroll in Medicare Part B on a monthly premium basis.

Neutral or negatively charged ligands bonded to metal cations or neutral atoms. The number of ligand atoms to which the metal center is directly bonded is the metal cation's coordination number, and this number is always greater than the regular valence or oxidation number of the metal. A coordination complex can be negative, neutral, or positively charged.