dew point

dew point

[dyo̅o̅]

the temperature at which air becomes saturated with water vapor and the water vapor condenses to liquid. In aerosol therapy, water may condense on containers, tubing, and other surfaces when the dew point is reached.

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point

1. a small area or spot; the sharp end of an object.

2. to approach the surface, like the pus of an abscess, at a definite spot or place.

3. a single tine of an antler.

4. extremities of a sheep fleece which has been removed from the sheep and laid out on a classing table.

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auricular point

the center of the opening of the external acoustic meatus.

boiling point

the temperature at which a liquid will boil: at sea level, 212°F (100°C).

point of buttock

the prominence caused by the ischial tuberosity.

point of croup

highest point of the croup; caused by the sacral tuberosity.

dew point

the temperature at which moisture in the atmosphere is deposited as dew.

point of the elbow

the summit of the olecranon process.

point firing

see firing.

freezing point

the temperature at which a liquid begins to freeze; for water, 32°F (0°C).

point of the hip

the most lateral point of the hip; caused by the coxal tuberosity.

point of the hock

the summit of the calcaneus.

ice point

the temperature of equilibrium between ice and air-saturated water under one atmosphere pressure.

isobestic point

the wavelength at which two substances have the same absorptivity.

isoelectric point (pI)

the pH of a solution in which molecules of a specific substance, such as a protein, have equal numbers of positively and negatively charged groups and therefore do not migrate in an electric field.

lacrimal point

lacrimal puncta.

point of lay

the age of sexual maturity in female fowls.

point of maximal impulse (PMI)

the point on the chest where the impulse of the left ventricle is felt most strongly. It is usually on the left chest wall, around the area of the 5th costochondral junction.

melting point

the minimum temperature at which a solid begins to liquefy.

nodal p's

two points on the axis of an optical system situated so that a ray falling on one will produce a parallel ray emerging through the other.

point outbreak

see point epidemic.

paper point

very fine, tapered swabs used in endodontics to dry up the root canal.

point prescriptions

details of the exact needle procedures and locations of insertions for the treatment of specific diseases.

point prevalence rate

the proportion of the animals in a population at a point in time which are affected by the subject disease at that point. Called also instantaneous prevalence.

point selection

can be based on a table of prescriptions for specific diseases, or on the basis of which acupoints are tender, or on the basis of the innervation of the area of the lesion, and so on for a series of 11, and possibly more, strategies.

point of the shoulder

the point over the greater tubercle of the humerus.

point source epidemic

see point epidemic.

point of the sternum

the most cranial point of the sternum, caused by the manubrium.

trigger point

a spot on the body at which pressure or other stimulus gives rise to specific sensations or clinical signs.

triple point

the temperature and pressure at which the solid, liquid, and gas phases of a substance are in equilibrium.