Life at the Cell and Below-Cell Level. The Hidden History of a Fundamental Revolution in Biology
by
Gilbert N. Ling, Ph.D.
Pacific Press
2001
ISBN 0-9707322-0-1

"Dr. Ling is one of the most inventive biochemist I have ever met."
Prof. Albert Szent-Györgyi, Nobel Laureate

A Super-Glossary 
for Words, Terms and Basic Concepts Used in the Book

S

A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z

 S

S.D. or s.d.: See standard deviation.

S.E. or s.e.: See standard error of the mean.

salt linkage: the ionic bond between fixed ions of opposite charges on proteins due to Coulombic interaction.

salt-linkage hypothesis: a hypothesis offered by G.N. Ling in 1952 to account for the failure to demonstrate selective adsorption of K+, Na+ in isolated proteins. This hypothesis was confirmed by Ling and Zhang in 1984.114

saltatory route: a mode of migration of ions in fixed charge systems in which the ion penetrates the cell through the polarized-oriented surface water between fixed sites without undergoing an adsorption-desorption process.

sarcode: the name given by Felix Dujardin to what was later called protoplasm.

sarcomere: the basic unit of the contractile machine in striated muscle A longitudinally oriented sequence of sarcomeres makes up a myofibril. A bundle of myofibrils, in turn, makes up the substance of a muscle fiber or cell.

sartorius muscle: a thin, flat muscle extending from the pubis to the side of the knee. In the frog, the sartorius muscle contains about 1000 single muscle fibers, each running parallel to one another all the way from one end of the muscle to the other end.

satellite peaks: Due to the nuclear Zeeman effect, the NMR peak of a nuclide like Na23 with non-spherical distribution of nuclear charge splits into three peaks, a tall one in the middle and two flat ones one on each side. These side ones are called satellite peaks.

saturated hydrocarbon: a hydrocarbon molecule with neither free valence, nor double bond nor triple bond.

scalar quantity: a quantity that has magnitude but no direction. (The opposite is vector.)

Schwann's cell theory: the theory offered in 1839 by Theodor Schwann that living cells are the basic units of all living matter.

scintillation counter: See γ-scintillation counter.

SDS: See sodium dodecyl sulfate.

second order quadrupole broadening: In an exaggerated quadrupole splitting of NMR signal, the center peak falls below the theoretically expected value and the phenomenon is then known as second order quadrupole broadening.

secondary structure of protein: the folding (or non-folding) pattern of a protein.

semipermeability: a name originally introduced by van't Hoff describing the (assumed) properties of membranes that allow only the passage of water but not the solute dissolved in the water As time went by, a much looser definition became accepted in which quantitatively different permeability toward water and solutes are also considered as indicative of semipermeability.

semipermeable membrane: Now taken more to mean that a membrane is semipermeable if some constituent of a given solution passes through rapidly while others do not. (See semipermeability.)

Sephadex column: a column packed with beads of cross-linked dextran—high molecular weight polysaccharides containing exclusively D-glucose or dextrose monomeric units—used in gel filtration, desalting and in concentrating protein solutions.

serine: a common a-amino acid found in most protein hydrolysates When incorporated into a protein, a serine residue offers a hydroxyl group on a short side chain.

serosal membrane: the membrane of a bifacial epithelial cells like that of the intestine which faces the side opposite to that of the intestinal lumen.

SH group: sulfhydryl group, found in proteins on cysteinyl residues.

"shell of high probability of association": Ants are attracted to a lump of sugar lying on the ground. If one draws imaginary concentric circles around the sugar lump, and take successive photos of the sugar lump and visiting insects, you will find that the circular band immediately next to the sugar lump will have more visitor-ants recorded than the next band, and so on. Thus the circular band nearest to the sugar may be called the "band of high probability of visits." If we now move to a three-dimensional world of atoms and ions, replace the sugar lump with an attractive fixed oxyacid anion and the visiting ants with free cations like K+. draw imaginary concentric spherical shells around the fixed anion, and again take photos repeatedly, then one will find that the shell closest to the fixed anions will have the high probability of receiving visiting K+, the next shell less and so on. The closest shell is what is called the "shell of high probability of association."

short-range attributes: properties which cannot be perceived without direct contact and thus opposite to long-range attributes which can be perceived from a distance.

short-range influence: influence which can only reach sites close-by.

sigmoid curve: an S-shaped curve.

sigmoidity: being S-shaped.

silicone rubber: rubber made from silicone elastomers noted for its retention of flexibility, resilience and tensile strength.

silicone rubber gasket: packing of silicone rubber that makes a frog muscle in an EMOC preparation fluid-tight.

silver electrode: an electrode when used in conjunction with a reference electrode and a voltage-measuring instrument or pH meter can determine the silver ion concentration (or more accurately, activity) in a solution, just as a pH electrode can measure the activity of H+ in a solution.

silver grains: Photographic film contains light-sensitive silver salt as part of an emulsin also containing gelatin. On exposure to light, metallic silver grains are formed at the location of light exposure and "paints" the darker touches of the image.

sine qua non: an absolutely indispensable or essential thing.

Singer-Nicolson fluid mosaic membrane theory: a theory of cell membrane structure offered by S.J. Singer and G.L. Nicolson in 1960 in which a phospholipid bilayer forms the continuous phase of the membrane with islands of protein molecules fully or partly submerged.

single fiber sucrose space method: A method introduced by G. N. Ling, S. Will and P. Shannon to measure the size of the extracellular space in frog muscle by quantitative comparison of the concentration of radioactively labeled sucrose in single muscle fibers which have no extracellular space and whole muscles which do.

size rule: the q-value of a solute in cell water and water in model systems varies inversely with the molar volume or size of the solute.

Sloan-Kettering Institute: Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center located at 1275 York Ave. in Manhattan, New York.

SO42-: the sulfate anion.

sodium azide: NaN3, a poison.

sodium channel, Na channel: a hypothetical pore-like structure in the cell membrane based on the membrane pump theory It is supposed to be closed when the cell is at rest but opens momentarily during activity when it would allow only Na+ ion to go through but nothing else.

sodium citrate: СбН5O7Na3·3H2O, the sodium salt of citric acid, to which citrus fruits owe their acidity.

sodium dodecylsulfate: a long-chain anionic detergent.

sodium iodoacetate: the sodium salt of iodoacetic acid, a metabolic poison.

sodium pump: a hypothetical mechanism located in the cell membrane, which ceaselessly pumps Na+ out of the cell at the expense of metabolic energy and in spite of constant inward diffusion so that a suitable low concentration of this ion is maintained. {See Chapter 12 and also [15.4].}

sodium pump hypothesis: a hypothesis for the existence and function of the sodium pump.

sol: liquid colloidal system as defined by Thomas Graham.

soleus muscle: a broad, flat muscle of the calf of the leg, situated under the gastrocnemius muscle.

solute: a dissolved substance

Solution 731: a special frog Ringer's solution containing vitamins, free amino acids and other nutrients as well as antibiotics in which isolated frog muscle could survive as long as 9 days at room temperature. See Ref. 381.

solvate: a complex of an ion and solvent molecules.

solvency: the quality or state of being able to dissolve.

soma: all of an organism except the germ cells.

sorb: to take up and hold by either adsorption or absorption.

sorbitol: one of the six-carbon sugar alcohols (hexitols), also known as D-sorbitol or D-glucitol. It is one of the most wide-spread naturally occurring polyols found exclusively in plants.

sorption: the process, or state of being sorbed.

sorption theory: A theory of solute distribution in living cells presented formally and in depth in book form by A.S.Troshin in 195891 (possibly in 195690), in which a solute may exist as free solute in cell water and adsorbed or otherwise complexed to cell proteins. According to Troshin himself, basic ideas of this theory were introduced earlier by M. Fischer, W.W. Lepeschkin, D. Nasonov, and others. (See Chapter 7 for details.)

spatial fixation: the act of holding motionless at a location in space.

spin quantum number: The rotation of an electron along its axis is called spin and as such contributes to the total angular momentum. The contribution is supposed to be quantized. The spin quantum number of electrons represented by s, can have only two alternative values, viz., +1/2 and -1/2 (in units of angular momentum, h/2π where h is the Planck constant equal to 6.625 × 10-27 erg second) with one spin rotating in one direction and the other in the opposite direction. In the case of atomic nuclei, the nuclear spin quantum number is zero or an odd or even multiple of 1/2. As a general rule, elements of even atomic weight have zero nuclear spin (with the exception of deuterium and nitrogen). Hydrogen nucleus has spin quantum number of' 1/2. Na23, 3/2.

spinal cord: the longitudinal cord of nervous tissue extending from the brain along the back inside the cavity within the column of vertebrae called the spinal canal.

"sponge protein": nickname of the intracellular protein(s) in bifacial epithelial cells, which sops up ions and/or other transported solutes and discharges them in cycles as part of the hypothetical mechanism for true active transport according to the AI Hypothesis.

squid axon, squid giant axon: Giant nerve fiber measuring some 400 to 800 μ in diameter can be dissected from North Atlantic squids (Loligo) and is a very useful nerve preparation for the investigations of the nerve impulses and their underlying mechanisms. Similar giant axons are obtainable from cuttlefish (Sepia). Chilean squid axons may have diameters as large as 1.5 mm.

standard deviation, S.D. or s.d.: a statistical parameter to measure the degree of scattering or dispersion in a population of measurements or values It is equal to the quadratic means of the deviations of values from the arithmetic mean, or put differently, it equals the square root of the sum of the squares of the deviations from the arithmetic mean divided by the degree of freedom or sample size.

standard error of the means, S.E. or s.e.: a statistical parameter measuring dispersion and equal to the standard deviation of the sample divided by the square root of the sample size.

standard free energy of adsorption: In the context of this document, the standard free energy of adsorption (ΔF°) refers to the free energy change associated with the (close-contact) adsorption of an ion, molecule or other solute on an adsorption site. And it is related to the equilibrium adsorption constant, K, by the relation: ΔF° = - RT ln K, where R and Т are the gas constant and absolute temperature respectively. (See van't Hoff equation for the historical derivation of this equation.)

s.andard free energy of solute distribution, Δ: The standard free energy change (ΔF°) in the distribution of a solute between two contiguous but largely immiscible phases is described by the equation: ΔF° = - RT ln q (which can be derived from van't Hoff equation for chemical reactions), where R and Т are the gas constant and absolute temperature respectively, q is the true equilibrium distribution coefficient of the solute.

standing К potential: a concept introduced in the Hodgkin-Huxley theory of action potential It refers to the steady or standing potential generated by the much higher (assumed free) K+ concentration within living cells than that in the free K+ concentration in the bathing medium. {For evidence intracellular K+ is in fact not free, see [10.2].}

standing Na potential: a concept introduced in the Hodgkin-Huxley theory of action potential It refers to the steady or standing potential generated by the much higher free Na+ concentration in the surrounding medium than the much lower Na+ concentration in (the assumed free) cell water. {For evidence that cell water is not free, see Chap. 11}

static: of or relating to body at rest and exerting influence without motion.

static structure: of or relating to structure at rest.

statistical mechanics: a branch of mechanics dealing with the application of the principle of statistics to the mechanism of a system consisting of a large number of parts having motions that differ by small steps over a large range.

steady state: a condition of a system where no changes are observable in a particular parameter due to the fact that any process occurring in one direction is exactly balanced by an equivalent process in the opposite direction The shape of the flame of a steadily burning candle represent such a steady state. In its common usage, a steady state is maintained by a continual supply of energy and in this way it differs from an equilibrium state.

Stentor: any of a widely distributed Genus (Stentor) of ciliated protozoa that have a trumpet-shaped body attached to the substrate at the small end and with the mouth at the large end.

steroid: any of the numerous compounds containing the ring system of sterols.

stoichiometric: of, or relating to, quantitative chemical properties and composition, esp. as a factor in chemical or physical change.

straight-line distribution curve, significance of: See rectilinear distribution curve, significance of.

striated muscle: muscle tissue that is marked by transverse dark and light bands and under voluntary control (in contrast to smooth muscle which does not show striation nor under voluntary control).

strontium: a malleable bivalent metal belonging to the alkali earths, its ion represented as Sr2+.

strychnine (sulfate): alkaloid present in seeds of Strychnof nux vomica and other species of Strychnos genus; a nerve poison, causing intense convulsion.

subcellular particles (organelles): specialized structures in living cells like mitochondria.

substrate: a substance acted upon (as by an enzyme); the base on which an organism lives; an underlying support.

sucrose, cane sugar: a sweet-tasting disaccharide from sugar canes and beets When hydrolyzed, it yields an equimolar mixture of D-glucose and D-fructose.

sulfonate group: SO3-, the univalent anionic group of the dissociated sulfonic acid, SO3H.

superconducting magnet: In certain metals (e.g., niobium-titanium), electric resistance drops to zero when the temperature is brought to near absolute zero. A superconducting magnet is made from coils of wire of these metals, where rapid circular electric current produces strong magnetic field while the coils are kept at liquid helium temperature (-268.9°).

supercool: to cool below the freezing point without crystallization or solidification.

surface adsorption theory, SA theory: older name of the theory of cellular electrical potential according to the association-induction hypothesis, now known as the close-contact surface-adsorption (CSA) theory.

surface component of the polarization energy (Us): the portion of the water-to-water interaction energy in polarized and oriented water which arises from the enhanced interaction of a solute molecules with the immediately surrounding water molecules.

surface-limited diffusion: If the slowest step in a diffusion process from one phase (say a solid) to another phase (say a liquid) is across the boundary between the phases, the process is surface-limited.

surrogate ion: an ion that serves as a substitute for another ion.

swelling and shrinkage: increasing and decreasing of the volume of a body, usually as a result of the gain or loss of its water content.

swelling water: water in a swollen tissue, cell or colloid.

switch protein: nickname of a hypothetical protein, which turns on or off a physiological process.

switching: making a shift or exchange.

synapse: the point at which a nerve impulse passes from one neuron to another.

Разделы книги
"Life at the Cell and Below-Cell Level.
The Hidden History of a Fundamental Revolution in Biology":

Contents (PDF 218 Kb)
Preface (
PDF 155 Kb)
Answers to Reader's Queries (Read First!) (
PDF 120 Kb)
Introduction

1. How It Began on the Wrong Foot---Perhaps Inescapably
2. The Same Mistake Repeated in Cell Physiology
3. How the Membrane Theory Began
4. Evidence for a Cell Membrane Covering All Living Cells
5. Evidence for the Cell Content as a Dilute Solution
6. Colloid, the Brain Child of a Chemist
7. Legacy of the Nearly Forgotten Pioneers
8. Aftermath of the Rout
9. Troshin's Sorption Theory for Solute Distribution
10. Ling's Fixed Charge Hypothesis (LFCH)
11. The Polarized Multilayer Theory of Cell Water
12. The Membrane-Pump Theory and Grave Contradictions
13. The Physico-chemical Makeup of the Cell Membrane
14. The Living State: Electronic Mechanisms for its Maintenance and Control
15. Physiological Activities: Electronic Mechanisms and Their Control by ATP, Drugs, Hormones and Other Cardinal Adsorbents
16. Summary Plus
17. Epilogue 

A Super-Glossary

List of Abbreviations
List of Figures, Tables and Equations
References (
PDF 193 Kb)
Subject Index
About the Author

A Super-Glossary
Назад к оглавлению
На страницу "Gilbert Ling"
На главную страницу

Hosted by uCoz
[AD]
[AD]