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BIOETHICS DICTIONARY - "Q"s
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Q
FEVER: Caused by rickettsia Coxiella hurmetii with fever, headache
and pneumonia. Named as Q fever due to many unanswered questions.(JA)
QABBALA: ("Tradition"
in Hebrew). See KABBALA.
QALYs: See
QUALITY ADJUSTED LIFE YEARS.
QUAILKEN: A
chimaera of cell fusion of primitive streak in embryonic development
of a chicken and a quail. (JA)
QUALITATIVE JUDGEMENTS: See
SUBJECTIVITY.
QUALITY ADJUSTED LIFE YEARS: A
measurement index derived from a modification of standard life-table
procedures and designed to take account of the quality as well as
the duration of survival; this index can be used in assessing the
outcome of health care procedures or services. (DM)
QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE: The
adequacy of patient care or of health services, as measured against
social or professional standards. (DM)
QUALITY OF LIFE:
In popular language, quality of life refers to the size of one's
house and car, how often one goes out to dinner, and where one goes
on holiday. In medicine, it is a technical concept measured by questionnaires
about pain, depression, independence from nursing care, ambulatory
mobility, etc. The degree, to which Quality of Life should be a
consideration in decisions about discontinuing life-preserving treatment,
is a matter for debate. (See MEANING OF LIFE) (FL)
QUANTIFICATION: See STATISTICS, OBJECTIVITY.
QUANTUM: (Latin:
quantus "how much") A quantum is the smallest indivisible
unit, usually of energy. Radiation can only be absorbed in discrete
whole quanta, and the energy content of a quantum is proportional
to its natural vibration frequency (expressed by E=hv where E=quantum
energy, h=Planck’s constant, v=radiation frequency). (See
QUANTUM THEORY) (MP & IP)
QUANTUM COMPUTING: The
application of quantum physics to computer science, a field of research
pioneered by David Deutsch at Oxford University. The goal is to
engineer a quantum computer which would be many magnitudes more
powerful than electronic microchip technologies. This would be a
calculating device utilizing the quantum properties of particles
such as atoms, electrons, ions or photons to encode information.
Groups of particles may provide exponential increases in calculating
power, potentially allowing computations to be performed for any
humanly imaginable problem and simulations for modeling or virtual
reality to be run with incredible levels of complexity. New extensions
to the 0-1 binary code which allow simultaneous parallel calculations
are possible using quantum properties such as the superposition
of electron spin states into an intermediate multiple state. Information
at this scale may be measured in qubits (quantum bits). Nuclear
magnetic resonance has achieved several qubits and other techniques
are being investigated such as using the energy and vibration of
trapped ions. The major obstacle is decoherence - disruption resulting
from interaction with the environment. If the problem of decoherence
is successfully tackled the next generation of computers will generate
unimaginable powers and incredible technologies which would be highly
valuable to commerce and the military. We will require global ethical
maturity to manage any unknown risks. (See QUBIT, QUANTUM THEORY,
COMPUTER, DNA COMPUTER) (MP)
QUANTUM ENTANGLEMENT: A
condition in which a pair of quantum particles are intimately associated,
or "entangled" with one another such that a measurement of one of
the pair instantaneously influences characteristics of the other
such as spin, despite any intervening distance between the two particles.
Such quantum entanglement has been experimentally demonstrated despite
apparently contradicting the view of Einstein, and has implications
for philosophy, teleportation research, fiber-optic communications
and quantum computing. (See QUANTUM COMPUTING, TELEPORTATION) (MP)
QUANTUM MECHANICS: Classical
Newtonian mechanics no longer functions at atomic scales, and is
replaced by quantum mechanics which describes the behavior of atoms
and their component parts such as quarks, gluons and electrons,
and other elementary particles such as photons and leptons. (See
QUANTUM THEORY, CLASSICAL MECHANICS, QUARK, LEPTON, PHOTON) (MP)
QUANTUM THEORY: (Latin:
quantus "how much" + Greek: theoria "speculation")
Quantum theory is the branch of physics dealing with the fundamental
particles of matter and their interaction with electromagnetic radiation.
The theory was first pioneered by Max Planck in 1900 when his research
indicated that for red-hot bodies classical laws failed to account
for the expected distribution of energy between wavelengths of the
electromagnetic spectrum. Planck suggested that physical systems
can only have properties such as energy in discrete whole values;
small packets of energy called quanta. Subsequent studies paved
the way for the development of the quantum theory of matter, which
is the foundation of all modern physics as well as much of chemistry.
Einstein quantized light, demonstrating that light radiation behaves
like particles as well as waves. Louis de Broglie expanded these
insights into the field of wave mechanics, Niels Bohr quantized
the angular momentum of electrons, Erwin Schrödinger
developed the equation
describing wave functions, Paul Dirac postulated antimatter, Richard
Feynman investigated quantum electrodynamics, and Werner Heisenberg
developed his uncertainty principle. Despite many of its axioms
seeming paradoxical and contradictory to preconceived common-sense
notions of reality, there is continued scientific evidence providing
support for quantum theory. Quantum theory has applications to many
technologies including quantum computing, fiber-optics and nuclear
research. (See QUANTUM, QUANTUM MECHANICS, QUANTUM COMPUTING, HEISENBERG’s
UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE, RELATIVITY THEORY) (MP & IP)
QUARANTINE: Limitation of the freedom of movement of persons who have been exposed
to a communicable disease (and, loosely, of patients and infected
persons), for the purpose of preventing the spread of disease. (DM)
QUARK: Subatomic particle. The
term "quark" was coined by Murray Gell-Mann, apparently based upon
the novel "Finnegan's Wake" by James Joyce. Page 363 of the novel
begins "Three quarks for Muster Mark!". Quarks are considered to
be a building block for protons and neutrons. Groups of three quarks
form a proton or a neutron. Quarks are divided into six types, based
on a quality termed "flavor". The flavors of quarks are: up, down,
strange, charm, top, and bottom. The quarks constituting a proton
or neutron are "held together" by gluons (see GLUON). Another quality
of gluons is known as color. An "up" quark, for example, may be
red, yellow, or blue. The term color in this context is not based
on visual perception. (AG)
QUBIT: The
qubit (quantum bit) is the unit of information in quantum computing.
Unlike the bits and bytes of ordinary computers, a qubit can simultaneously
be 0 and 1 in a superimposed state. Such multiple simultaneous calculations
give quantum computing its potential extraordinary power. Two qubits
can be superimposed into four states, three qubits into eight states,
and several hundred qubits would be able to simultaneously make
calculations equivalent to the number of atoms in the known universe.
(See QUANTUM COMPUTING) (MP)
QUEER: an offensive slang term
for homosexual which ranked number 20 in the "taboos rating" of
dirty words but the term is again becoming an acceptable expression
among the gay community [German quer athwart/across as in
thwart or cross] (see QUEER THEORY) (IP)
QUEER THEORY: argues
for a flourishing of the many sexualities; that is, "male" and "female"
are not and should not be the two concepts from which all the other
definitions of sex and sexuality flow. The theory maintains that
the varieties of homosexualism, heterosexualism, transvestism, transsexualism
and hermaphroditism are all autonomous, equally valid and normal
in their own right; that is, not derived from a false notion of
"maleness" or "femaleness." (see HETEROSEXUAL-HOMOSEXUAL BEHAVIOR
RATING SCALE) (IP)
QURAN: (from the Arabic root
q.r.'., meaning "to read") The sacred book of Islam. According to
Islamic tradition, the Quran was revealed to Muhammad by God in
a series of prophecies. The book is written in classical Arabic,
and contains 114 chapters of varying length. In the Quran, the prophets
of both the Old and New Testaments are accorded great respect, and
reference is made to many Biblical characters and events. The Quran
is the primary source of Islamic laws and traditions, and sections
of it are recited at every Islamic prayer. (See RELIGIOUS EDUCATION)
(AG)
QUICKENING:
first movements of the fetus felt in utero by the mother,
usually occurring between 16 and 20 weeks of pregnancy. In some
cases, movement can be felt as early as the 10th week
while in other, very unusual instances, not at all. Quickening marks
the period when the mother’s love for her infant picks up pace.
(See UNCONDITIONAL LOVE). (IP)
QUIT SMOKING:
to desist, cease or to pay off by discharging a (drug-related) debt
or obligation (dependence) as in " we"re quits " indicating
a willingness to give up. The colloquialism can also refer to quitting
drugs other than nicotine. Cigarette smoking remains the most important
preventable cause of disease and death thus many community-wide
health education programs and smoking cessation strategies have
been developed with varying degrees of success. Many make use of
the mass media to target specific subgroups identified by, for example,
sex, age, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. However, the majority
of such smoking control efforts concentrate on increasing cessation
rather than on preventing initiation. Physicians, nurses and teachers
are important role models and educators for appropriate health behavior;
thus cigarette smoking by individuals in these occupations undermines
both of these roles. (See ADDICTION, SMOKING, QUITTING DRUGS) (IP)
QUOTA: A
proportion of the total which is allocated or belongs to a particular
individual, organization or district. (See FISHING QUOTA) (MP)
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