Mindblown: a blog about philosophy.

The pressure of the blood within an artery, the arterial pressure. Also called the intra-arterial pressure.

The sampling of the blood levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide within the arteries, as opposed to the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in venous blood. Typically the acidity, or pH, of the blood is measured simultaneously with the gas levels in ABG sampling.

An aneurysm involving an artery.

The continuation of the external iliac artery after it passes under the inguinal ligament. The femoral arteries supply oxygenated blood from the heart to the lower extremities.

A Chinese herb (qinghaosu or sweet wormwood) from which is extracted the antimalarial agent artemisinin.

Artemisinin: Artemisia (Artemisia annua), also known as sweet Annie or annual wormwood, is an annual herb native to China, where it is known as qinghao. Artemisia is mentioned in the Chinese Handbook of Prescriptions for Emergency Treatments of 340 AD for treatment of fevers. Artemisinin, pronounced ar-te-mis’-in-in with the accent on the mis, was first isolated in…

Artemidorus of Daldis. Greek physician who wrote Oneirocritica, a work dedicated to the interpretation of dreams, in the middle of the second century C.E. Artemidorus gathered evidence during interviews with thousands of people about their dreams. While his work has often been dismissed as mere divination, the careful study of dreams by modern psychiatrists has…

Treatment that suppresses or stops a retrovirus. One of the retrovirus is the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) that causes AIDS. Retroviruses are so named because they carry their genetic information in the form of RNA rather than DNA so that the information must be transcribed in “reverse” direction — from RNA into DNA.

A colorless highly toxic gas and one of the simplest compounds of arsenic. Arsine has a garlic-like or fishy odor. Because arsine is nonirritating and produces no immediate symptoms, persons exposed to hazardous levels of it may be unaware of its presence. Arsine is water soluble. It is generally shipped in cylinders as a liquefied compressed gas. Exposure…

A metallic element that forms a number of poisonous compounds, arsenic is found in nature at low levels mostly in compounds with oxygen, chlorine, and sulfur. These are called inorganic arsenic compounds. Arsenic in plants and animals combines with carbon and hydrogen. This is called organic arsenic. Organic arsenic is usually less harmful than inorganic…