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assimilation

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assimilation


  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Photosynthesis  \Pho`to*syn"the*sis\,  n.  (Plant  Physiol.) 
  The  process  of  constructive  metabolism  by  which  carbohydrates 
  are  formed  from  water  vapor  and  the  carbon  dioxide  of  the  air 
  in  the  chlorophyll-containing  tissues  of  plants  exposed  to 
  the  action  of  light.  It  was  formerly  called  {assimilation}, 
  but  this  is  now  commonly  used  as  in  animal  physiology.  The 
  details  of  the  process  are  not  yet  clearly  known  Baeyer's 
  theory  is  that  the  carbon  dioxide  is  reduced  to  carbon 
  monoxide,  which  uniting  with  the  hydrogen  of  the  water  in 
  the  cell,  produces  formaldehyde,  the  latter  forming  various 
  sugars  through  polymerization.  Vines  suggests  that  the 
  carbohydrates  are  secretion  products  of  the  chloroplasts, 
  derived  from  decomposition  of  previously  formed  proteids.  The 
  food  substances  are  usually  quickly  translocated  those  that 
  accumulate  being  changed  to  starch,  which  appears  in  the 
  cells  almost  simultaneously  with  the  sugars.  The  chloroplasts 
  perform  photosynthesis  only  in  light  and  within  a  certain 
  range  of  temperature,  varying  according  to  climate.  This  is 
  the  only  way  in  which  a  plant  is  able  to  organize 
  carbohydrates.  All  plants  without  a  chlorophyll  apparatus,  as 
  the  fungi,  must  be  parasitic  or  saprophytic.  -- 
  {Pho`to*syn*thet"ic},  a.  --  {Pho`to*syn*thet"ic*al*ly},  adv 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Assimilation  \As*sim`i*la"tion\,  n.  [L.  assimilatio:  cf  F. 
  assimilation.] 
  1.  The  act  or  process  of  assimilating  or  bringing  to  a 
  resemblance,  likeness,  or  identity;  also  the  state  of 
  being  so  assimilated;  as  the  assimilation  of  one  sound  to 
  another. 
 
  To  aspire  to  an  assimilation  with  God.  --Dr.  H. 
  More 
 
  The  assimilation  of  gases  and  vapors.  --Sir  J. 
  Herschel. 
 
  2.  (Physiol.)  The  conversion  of  nutriment  into  the  fluid  or 
  solid  substance  of  the  body,  by  the  processes  of  digestion 
  and  absorption,  whether  in  plants  or  animals. 
 
  Not  conversing  the  body,  not  repairing  it  by 
  assimilation,  but  preserving  it  by  ventilation. 
  --Sir  T. 
  Browne. 
 
  Note:  The  term  assimilation  has  been  limited  by  some  to  the 
  final  process  by  which  the  nutritive  matter  of  the 
  blood  is  converted  into  the  substance  of  the  tissues 
  and  organs. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  assimilation 
  n  1:  the  absorbing  of  one  cultural  group  into  harmony  with 
  another  [syn:  {absorption}] 
  2:  the  state  of  being  assimilated 
  3:  a  linguistic  process  by  which  a  sound  becomes  similar  to  an 
  adjacent  sound 
  4:  the  process  of  absorbing  nutrients  into  the  body  after 
  digestion  [syn:  {absorption}] 
  5:  the  process  of  assimilating  new  ideas  into  an  existing 
  cognitive  structure  [syn:  {acculturation}] 
  6:  in  the  theories  of  Jean  Piaget:  the  application  of  a  general 
  schema  to  a  particular  instance 




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