DEFINITIONS - LETTER M

MARASMIC KWASHIORKOR - protein starvation; associated with thin appendages and swollen abdomen as seen in starving children in 3rd world countries

MEAN ARTERIAL PRESSURE (MAP) = diastolic pressure + 1/3 (pulse pressure); where pulse pressure is systolic pressure minus diastolic pressure

MEMBRANE POTENTIALS - these are electrical differences which exist across (inside versus outside) a cell membrane.  A negative resting membrane potential (tmpr) exists because of outward K+ diffusion.  Membrane potentials fluctuate with the opening and closing of ion channels and with changes in ion concentrations in the body.

MENARCHE - the onset of the first menses; usually occurs following several "silent" or anovulatory ovarian cycles; one indicator of puberty in the female

MONOSACCHARIDES - the simple sugars, pentoses and hexoses such as glucose, fructose and ribose

MUCOPOLYSACCHARIDES - made of mucin and complex carbohydrates (glycogen-like or "starch"-like molecules)

MULTINUCLEATE - having multiple nuclei within a single cell - eg. skeletal muscle cells which must express very high concentrations of protein in order to maintain their protein-rich structural integrity are multinucleate - recall that the nucleus contains the genetic code for the structural synthesis of proteins

MYOGENIC - originates from within the muscle