DEFINITIONS - LETTER P

PARACRINE - effects of a hormone exerted in the organ which produces the hormone are called paracrine effects

PATHOLOGICAL - related to a disease or injury; not normal or physiological; pathology is the study of disease

PERFUSION - the movement of fluids, artificial or endogenous, through blood vessels and tissues - necessary for successful exchange to occur

PERICENTROMERIC - in the region of the centromere

PERIPUBERTAL - around the time of puberty

PERMEABILITY - the degree to which a substance can pass through a membrane; for example, membranes are very permeable to lipid soluble substances

PHENOTYPIC -  the actual physical appearance of an anatomic structure; ie. does it appear male or female?

POPLITEAL - the back of the knee

POSTURAL MUSCLES - this term refers to the muscles that help us to stand and balance, and thus are important in walking and running.  The postural muscles must work for prolonged periods of time without fatigue and so are composed with an above average concentration or red (aerobic) slow twitch muscle fibers.

PRIMORDIAL - very primitive; the progenitor tissue; the tissue which has the potential to develop into something functional

PROTEOLYTIC - proteolytic enzymes are enzymes which break apart peptide bonds between amino acids; in other words, proteolytic enzymes break up proteins