Many words and phrases used within the MoreLife and SelfSIP websites are technical scientific terms not commonly understood, are ones which have had their meanings distorted or usurped by persons biased towards certain philosophical viewpoints or are ones that we have not found to be used in English, again at least partly because of the incomplete or inconsistent philosophical basis for much of the vernacular language. Our definitions for the distorted and usurped words and phrases are an attempt to return to their consistent and unambiguous root meanings. We have coined and used those of the third class because we think they are highly descriptive and valuable to illustrate a more complete and consistent approach to the reality of human relationships.
Within any paragraph or section of text, the first usage of either type of word or phrase (technical, distorted or coined) is linked to its definition/explanation within this glossary or elsewhere.
Most of the locally defined terms in this glossary are ones that have significant and particular application to human life expansion. Many of them have one or more technical meanings within the sciences related to life expansion that are different from that of the common usage, or even within other sciences. In such cases, we have chosen to include only the meaning(s) relevant to the subject(s) covered within MoreLife. In constructing our definitions we wish to acknowledge the value of these references.
In order to prevent unnecessary duplication, we have selected several excellent sources for external definitions. However, since our usage of some terms is quite specialized and we wish to emphasize certain parts of their meanings, we often locally define terms from these dictionaries within this glossary. In addition, because many anatomical parts and various specific diseases may be of interest to the reader, links to well presented glossary information on other websites have been provided.
| saccharide | Any carbohydrate; the term is applied especially to the simple sugars, i.e. the monosaccharides, disaccharides, and short-chain oligosaccharides. See also polysaccharide. |
| saturated saturation (of a compound) unsaturated unsaturated fats |
The state of an organic compound which contains only single carbon to carbon bonds. Thus, a compound is unsaturated when it has one or more double or triple carbon to carbon bonds. The term unsaturated is most commonly used for unsaturated fats which are either monounsaturated or polyunsaturated. |
| scavenge scavenger |
The process of reacting with (or otherwise removing) a trace component, such as a trace metal ion or reaction intermediate. |
| scientific (studies) | An evolving term which currently means experiments which include both a control group and an experimental group, which are carefully and fully recorded in sufficient detail to enable them to be reproduced, and which are published with full detail in a peer-reviewed journal. For additional elucidation see Scientific Method. |
| second messenger | A mediator that is caused to accumulate in an effector (target) cell by the action of a hormone, growth factor, or other agonist, and that brings about the action of that agonist on the cell. |
| selenoamino acid selenol group |
An amino acid in which a selenium atom replaces a sulfur atom. The selenol group is the moiety containing the selenium atom and is, thus, a thiol group with its sulfur atom replaced by selenium. |
| self-sovereign | The state of a human individual in which s/he has effective, ultimate and inalienable moral authority over his/her own body, mind and property, beyond that of any other person or group of persons and only subject to the laws of reality. This does not imply that a self-sovereign individual is inviolable by other persons, but only that such violation has no ethical validity. |
| sigma bond sigma electron |
A sigma or  bond is the type of covalent bond formed between atoms by electrons occupying s orbitals. In particular, when carbon is bonded to another atom, one of the bonds formed is always a sigma bond. All bonds to hydrogen are sigma bonds. |
| social preferencing | The practice of promoting and interacting, or censuring and refraining from interacting with a person to the extent of hir demonstrated agreement or disagreement, respectively, with one's own most important values. One would positively socially preference (also socially preference against) towards those whose behavior (actions and expressed ideas) is based on values and principles that closely correspond with one's own. Likewise, those who demonstrate that their values and principles are in opposition to one's own are negatively socially preferenced (also socially preferenced against). Also see essays on subject at Focus on Freedom and exchanges at Miscellaneous Dialogues sections of Self-Sovereign Individual Project. A search of MoreLife and SelfSIP websites will yield all usages. |
| standards organization | Any group of individuals who are cooperating with each other for the purpose of setting certain standards of activity, behavior, definitions, nomenclature, units of measurement, etc. in a well defined area of human endeavor in which the individuals operating the organization are highly knowledgeable. Such organizations will gain income by licensing the use of the standards which they create and by selling services related to them. |
| starch amylose amylopectin |
The most important energy storage polysaccharide found in plants. It is a glucan consisting of two components: amylose, which is a homopolymer of glucose units linked only by  (1->4) bonds; and amylopectin, also a glucose homopolymer (branched) that contains (1->6) bonds as well as (1->4) bonds. Starch is synthesized as a temporary storage form of fixed carbon in chloroplasts during active periods of photosynthesis, accumulating as starch grains. The starch is subsequently converted to sucrose and translocated to storage organs, such as seeds and tubers, where it is re-formed. Compare glycogen. |
| steroid | Any of a large group of substances that have in common a ring system based on 1,2-cyclopentanoperhydrophenanthrene. The group includes such natural products as bile acids, corticosteroids, sex hormones (female:estrogen and progesterone; male: androgens), sterols, and various plant steroids. |
| structure (molecular) formulas diagrams |
The (generally 3-dimensional) spatial relationships of the atoms within a molecule to each other. Organic chemists use a variety of ways to write structural formulas and to represent molecules in diagrammatic formulas. While the 3-dimensional structure of many organic molecules is essential to their function, for simplicity on this website the structure of molecules is generally shown by use of one of the 2-dimensional forms shown below. Compare connectivity. The amino acid L-arginine is used below to illustrate these various forms. The molecular formula simply lists all the atoms in the molecule with subscripts for the number of occurences of each. The condensed formula lists the atoms and their number, but also attempts to uniquely group them together. Sometimes additional dashes are included to make the connectivity of the main chain clearer. 
The dashed formula makes the connectivity completely clear (except where connectivity is spontaneously variable). Often the hydrogen dash bonds are omitted as here. For illustration, we have included an indication of the -carbon.
The Bond-line formula greatly reduces the complexity of the fully dashed formula by the conventions of omitting all hydrogen atoms which are connected to carbons, and replacing the carbons by corners and ends of bond-lines.A wedge diagram is often employed to show the orientation of the chiral centers. In a wedge diagram, a line represents a bond in the plane of the page, a solid wedge represents a bond which projects upward out of the plane of the page, and a dashed wedge represents a bond projecting down under the plane of the page. We only use such 3-dimensional diagrams when knowledge of the 3-d structure is essential for understanding the accompanying text. Often such detail is only applied to the particular area of the molecule under consideration. Full 3-d dynamic views are obtainable by means of browser plugins from Cambridge Chemical Software. If you download or have such a plugin you will be able to view arginine with it. More basics on chemical models. |
| subjective (event) subjectivity (of a person) subjectively |
An event or experience the detection and details of which is essentially modified by the unique hierarchy of values of an individual (usually by occuring inside his mind). Until some kind of mind reading exists (if even possible), the nature and effect of such events can only be determined by the individual affected and will not be agreed upon even by reasonable observers. However, they may still be repeatedly verified to the agreement of the individual under consideration (the subject). Subjectivity, a person's inability or failure to detect and report the objective nature of an event as unmodified by his/her internal values. Because our brain is purposefully trained to filter its input (otherwise our mind would be swamped and impotent), objectivity is not merely a simple volitional act. Instead, a mind needs to be trained to understand and "see between the lines" of its filters in order to become truly objective. To the extent that an individual cannot or will not do this, he is said to be acting subjectively. Note however, that even the most objective person will have essentially subjective experiences, and even the most subjective person cannot escape the objective nature of reality. subjectively, adv. Compare with objective, objectivity. |
| sugar | A general and imprecise name used for any, usually sweet, soluble disaccharide or small oligosaccharide carbohydrate. More specifically it is applied to sucrose, the sugar of commerce. The name is also sometimes used as a synonym for carbohydrate |
| synapse presynaptic nerve endings synaptic cleft postsynaptic membrane synaptic |
Or (rare) synapsis. The junction between a nerve fiber of one neuron and another neuron; the site of interneuronal communications. As the nerve fiber approaches the synapse it enlarges into a specialized structure, the presynaptic nerve endings, which contains mitochondria and synaptic vesicles. At the tip of the nerve ending is the presynaptic membrane; facing it and separated from it by a minute cleft - the synaptic cleft - is a specialized area of membrane on the receiving cell, know as the postsynaptic membrane. In response to the arrival of nerve impulses, the presynaptic nerve ending secretes molecules of neurotransmitter, stored in the synaptic vesicles, into the synaptic cleft. These diffuse across the cleft and transmit the signal to the postsynaptic membrane. Synaptic, adj. Synapse Diagrams |
| synthesis synthesize (synthesise, Br.) |
The production of a more complex compound from simpler reagents by one or a series of reactions. Verb, synthesize or synthesise |
| synthetic (compound) | Any compound synthesized by conscious human activity not using lifeforms. Synthetic compounds may be identical to their natural counterparts. |
| technical definition (term) common (vernacular) definition |
A clear, formal (categorical, consistent and unambiguous) definition of a word or phrase related to a particular art, science, profession, trade, etc., as opposed to its common or vernacular definition used within the everyday speech of those speaking the language involved. Different arts, sciences, etc. often assign very different technical definitions to the same words and phrases, and these are often quite unrelated to the common usage. |
| thiol mercaptan sulfhydryl |
1. Any organic compound containing -SH as the principal group directly attached to a carbon atom (formerly mercaptan). 2. The (covalently linked) -GH group in any compound (also called sulfhydryl). |
| tiny perfect relationship | A tiny and narrow interpersonal relationship in number and scope of personal attributes and interface parameters, which can be kept near perfect (ie. contradiction and conflict free) because it is so small in scope. As a relationship gets larger than tiny, the potential for contradictions and conflicts appears to grow exponentially with the number of parameters of the interface. |
| trans- trans+ |
1) Denoting that two specified substituents lie on opposite sides of a reference plane in the molecule. Most commonly used to specify the isomeric configuration of a double bond connection in a mono or polyunsaturated fatty acid carbon chain where the hydrogen atoms connected to the double bonded carbons lie on opposite sides of the chain. The effect of this is to cause the chain to be straight similar to saturated fatty acids. This is thought to be a major reason why trans configured unsaturated fatty acids have similar biological effects (especially on lipoprotein production) to saturated fatty acids. In systematic names it is denoted by the symbol "E". Compare cis. 2) trans+ a combining form denoting across, beyond, on the other side, transverse; transfer, interchange. |
| triacylglycerol triglyceride acylglycerol |
The correct name for triglyceride (now obsolete). Any triester of glycerol with fatty acids; the three fatty acids may all be the same, or differ in any permutation. Triacylglycerols are important components of plant oils, animal fats, and animal plasma lipoproteins. The degree of unsaturation of the component fatty acids determines the melting point; plant oils, which typically contain high percentages of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids, are liquid, while animal fats, being more highly saturated are solid or semisolid. Acylglycerol: any mono-, di-, or tri-ester of glycerol with (one or more) fatty acids (termed respectively monoacylglycerol, diacylglycerol, or triacylglycerol); formerly known as mono-, di-, or triglyceride. |
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