-ics, -tics [-ac after i]

World politics.

The branch of medicine that deals with the systematic gain of body weight.

1. The use of cold in the treatment of disease.
2. Medical treatment that involves cooling the body, especially by applying ice packs.

A field of engineering that studies the design and functioning of electronics systems, circuits, and devices at temperatures approaching absolute zero (0 Kelvin or -270 degrees Celsius); especially, as applied to the phenomenon of superconductivity.

1. The branch of science that deals with the realm of extremely low temperatures and their effects on matter.
2. The science concerned with the production and effects of very low temperatures, particularly temperatures in the range of liquid helium.

You will find more information about cryogenics or "freezing, cold" applications for industrial use by going to this Cryogenics, Part 1; as well as, Cryogenics, Part 2.

A therapeutic process that includes the application of externally cold therapy to an area and which is followed with a full passive range of movements.

1. Any of several medical techniques that use cold for therapeutic purposes; such as, using ice to deaden pain.
2. The study or practice of keeping a newly dead body at an extremely low temperature in the hope of restoring it to life later with the help of future medical advances: The process of cryonics involves replacing the blood with an anti-freeze fluid, slowly cooling the body to -70C, and then packing it in dry ice to be transported to a storage facility.

The scientific theory underlying cryonics is theoretical or hypothetical and controversial, and there is a great deal of disagreement about its ethical implications.

A branch of physics that is concerned with processes and phenomena at temperatures approaching absolute zero.

1. The theoretical study of communication and control processes in biological, mechanical, and electronic systems; especially, the comparison of these processes in real and artificial programs: Cybernetics involves the study of how life evolves and creatures learn; as well as, how they manage themselves.
2. The replication or imitation of biological control setups with the use of technology: The transmission of signals in cybernetics involves those in animal nervous structures and the power over automatic productions of machinery.

Originally, cybernetics drew upon electrical engineering, mathematics, biology, neurophysiology, anthropology, and psychology to study and to describe actions, feedback, and responses in systems of all kinds.

The purpose of cybernetics is to understand the similarities and differences in internal workings of organic and machine processes and, by formulating abstract concepts common to all structures, to understand their behavior.

3. The study of messages and communication in humans, social groups, machines, etc.; especially, in reference to regulation and the circumscription of mechanisms: The analysis of cybernetics in feedback mechanisms serves to govern or to modify the actions of various kinds of programs.

Related recent developments of cybernetics (often referred to as "sciences of complexity") that are distinguished as separate disciplines are artificial intelligence, neural networks, systems theory, and chaos theory; however, the boundaries between those and cybernetics proper are not precise.

4. Etymology: coined by U.S. mathematician Norbert Wiener (1894-1964) who hypothesized that there is a similarity between the human nervous system and electronic machines: "Wiener derived the term cybernetics from the Greek kybernetes, 'steersman' (by extension, 'guide, governor') + -ics, 'matters relevant to'; which might have been based on French cybernétique, 'the art of governing'."

The art of hunting with dogs.

1. A branch of veterinary medicine that specializes in the treatment of dogs.
2. The study of canine diseases.

A member of a sect of ancient Greek philosophers who believed virtue to be the only good and self-control to be the only means of achieving virtue.

The Greek word kunikos, from which "cynic" comes, was originally an adjective meaning "doglike", from kuōn, "dog".

The word was probably applied to the Cynic philosophers because of the nickname kuōn given to Diogenes of Sinope, the prototypical Cynic.

The first use of the word recorded in English, in a work published from 1547 to 1564, is in the plural for members of this philosophical sect. In 1596, we find the first instance of cynic meaning "faultfinder", a sense that was to develop into our modern-English usage.

The meaning "faultfinder" came naturally from the behavior of countless Cynics who in their pursuit of virtue pointed out the various flaws in others. Such faultfinding could led to the belief associated with cynics of today that selfishness determines human behavior.

The cellular composition of a bodily structure.

1. A branch of biology which deals with heredity and the cellular components; especially, chromosomes that are associated with heredity.
2. The study of the relationships between inheritance and the structure and function of cell components by using the sciences of cytology and genetics.

The study of cell systems (cytomes) at a single cell level.

It combines bioinformatic knowledge in order to understand the molecular architecture and functionality of the cell system (cytome).