Assimilation definition

Assimilation





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4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Photosynthesis \Pho`to*syn"the*sis\, n. (Plant Physiol.)
     The process of constructive metabolism in which green plants
     utilize the energy of sunlight to manufacture carbohydrates
     from carbon dioxide and water in the presence of chlorophyll.
     It was formerly called {assimilation}, but this is now
     commonly used as in animal physiology. --


     {Pho`to*syn*thet"ic}, a. -- {Pho`to*syn*thet"ic*al*ly}, adv.
     [Webster 1913 Suppl.]
  
     Note: In green plants water is absorbed by the roots and
           carried to the leaves by the xylem, and carbon dioxide
           is obtained from air that enters the leaves through the
           stomata and diffuses to the cells containing
           chlorophyll. The green pigment chlorophyll is uniquely
           capable of converting the active energy of light into a
           latent form that can be stored (in food) and used when
           needed.
           The initial process in photosynthesis is the
           decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen, which is
           released, and hydrogen; direct light is required for
           this process. The hydrogen and the carbon and oxygen of
           carbon dioxide (CO2) are then converted into a series
           of increasingly complex compounds that result finally
           in a stable organic compound, glucose (C6H12O6 ), and
           water. This phase of photosynthesis utilizes stored
           energy and therefore can proceed in the dark. The
           simplified equation used to represent this overall
           process is 6CO2+12H2O+energy=C6H12O6+6O2+6H2 O. In
           general, the results of this process are the reverse of
           those in respiration, in which carbohydrates are
           oxidized to release energy, with the production of
           carbon dioxide and water.
           The intermediary reactions before glucose is formed
           involve several enzymes, which react with the coenzyme
           ATP (see adenosine triphosphate ) to produce various
           molecules. Studies using radioactive carbon have
           indicated that among the intermediate products are
           three-carbon molecules from which acids and amino
           acids, as well as glucose, are derived.
           --http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0860378.html
  
     Note: The role of chlorophyll
           Chlorophyll contains a hydrophyllic head group and a
           hydrophobic tail region. A magnesium atom is held in
           the center of a cyclic, conjugated double bond
           porphyrin ring which is responsible for absorbing red
           light. (There also is an absorption band in the blue.
           Thus red and blue are absorbed and green passes
           through, giving plants a characteristic green color.)
           Light is absorbed by antenna chlorophyll molecules,
           then transferred to the reaction center chlorophylls.
           Some hundreds of antenna chlorophyll molecules transfer
           energy to a reaction center, with transfer times of
           about 10-10 sec from the edge of the unit to the
           center.
           The energy from light is used to pump H+ ions from the
           stroma into the thylakoid space and to reduce NADP+ to
           NADPH. Flow of H+ back into the stroma releases energy
           which is used to phosphorylate ADP to ATP. The
           chemiosmotic coupling is working here in a similar way
           to the mechanism of ATP generation used in
           mitochondria.
           Carbon Fixation Carbon fixation is catalyzed by
           ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase (RuBP carboxylase),
           the world's most abundent enzyme.
           The
  
     { Calvin cycle} combines three carbon dioxide molecules into
        one molecule of three carbon glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate.
        Some plants, particularly many which live in hot, dry
        climates, have a mechanism for storing carbon dioxide by
        combining it with a three carbon molecule to form a four
        carbon molecule. This pathway is known as the C4 or
        Hatch-Slack pathway.
  
        --http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Tom/bil255/bil255sum98/17_photo.html
        [PJC] Phototaxis

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              To aspire to an assimilation with God. --Dr. H.
                                                    More.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              The assimilation of gases and vapors. --Sir J.
                                                    Herschel.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
        [1913 Webster]
  
              Not conversing the body, not repairing it by
              assimilation, but preserving it by ventilation.
                                                    --Sir T.
                                                    Browne.
        [1913 Webster]
  
     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.
           [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  assimilation
       n 1: the state of being assimilated; people of different
            backgrounds come to see themselves as part of a larger
            national family
       2: the social process of absorbing one cultural group into
          harmony with another [syn: {absorption}]
       3: the process of absorbing nutrients into the body after
          digestion [syn: {absorption}]
       4: a linguistic process by which a sound becomes similar to an
          adjacent sound
       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

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  290 Moby Thesaurus words for "assimilation":
     Americanization, Anschluss, ablation, about-face, absorbency,
     absorbent, absorption, accommodation, accordance, acculturation,
     adaptation, addition, adjustment, admissibility, admission,
     adoption, adsorbent, adsorption, affiliation, agglomeration,
     aggregation, agreement, alchemy, alikeness, alliance, allophone,
     alveolar, amalgamation, analogy, apico-alveolar, apico-dental,
     aping, apperception, approach, approximation, articulation,
     aspiration, assimilation, association, assumption, attrition,
     attunement, awareness, basal metabolism, becoming, bilabial, bile,
     blend, blending, blotter, blotting, blotting paper, burning up,
     cabal, cacuminal, cartel, catabolism, centralization, cerebral,
     change, change-over, check, chemisorption, chemosorption,
     citizenship by naturalization, citizenship papers, closeness,
     coalescence, coalition, coaptation, combination, combine, combo,
     community, comparability, comparison, completeness, composition,
     comprehension, comprehensiveness, comprisal, confederacy,
     confederation, conformity, congeries, conglomeration, conjugation,
     conjunction, consciousness, consolidation, consonant, conspiracy,
     consumption, continuant, conversion, coordination, copying,
     correspondence, coverage, culture shock, dental, depletion,
     digestion, digestive system, diphthong, dissimilation, drain,
     eating up, ecumenism, eligibility, embodiment, embracement,
     encompassment, endosmosis, engrossment, enosis, envisagement,
     epenthetic vowel, erosion, exhaustion, exhaustiveness, exosmosis,
     expending, expenditure, explosive, federalization, federation,
     finishing, flip-flop, fusion, gastric juice,
     gastrointestinal tract, glide, glottal, glottalization, growth,
     guttural, harmonization, hookup, identification, identity,
     imbibing, imitation, impoverishment, inclusion, inclusiveness,
     incorporation, infiltration, ingestion, integration,
     intestinal juice, junction, junta, labial, labialization,
     labiodental, labiovelar, lapse, laryngeal, lateral, league,
     likeness, likening, lingual, liquid, liver, manner of articulation,
     marriage, meld, melding, membership, merger, metabolism, metaphor,
     mimicking, mindfulness, modification, monophthong, morphophoneme,
     mute, nasal, nationalization, naturalization,
     naturalized citizenship, nearness, occlusive, openness, osmosis,
     package, package deal, palatal, pancreas, pancreatic digestion,
     pancreatic juice, papers, parallelism, parasitic vowel, parity,
     participation, passage, peak, percolation, pharyngeal,
     pharyngealization, phone, phoneme, plosive, predigestion, progress,
     prothetic vowel, re-formation, reception, reconcilement,
     reconciliation, reconversion, reduction, regulation, resemblance,
     resolution, retroflex, reversal, saliva, salivary digestion,
     salivary glands, sameness, secondary digestion, seepage,
     segmental phoneme, semblance, semivowel, shift, similarity, simile,
     similitude, simulation, soaking-up, solidification, sonant,
     sonority, sorption, speech sound, spending, sponge, sponging,
     squandering, squaring, stop, surd, switch, switch-over,
     syllabic nucleus, syllabic peak, syllable, synchronization,
     syncretism, syndication, syneresis, synthesis, taking-in, tie-up,
     timing, tolerance, toleration, transformation, transit, transition,
     transition sound, triphthong, turning into, unification, union,
     using up, velar, vocable, vocalic, vocoid, voice, voiced sound,
     voiceless sound, voicing, volte-face, vowel, wastage, waste,
     wastefulness, wasting away, wearing away, wearing down, wedding,
     whole
  
  

















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