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more about assimilation
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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