<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[A Blog Around The Clock]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[http://blog.coturnix.org]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[Bora Zivkovic]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://blog.coturnix.org/author/coturnix/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[Basic Terms and&nbsp;Concepts]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<p>I know I kinda burried that at the bottom of the <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/clock/2007/01/crunch_time.php" target="_blank" title="">previous post</a>, but now that I see that a number of my SciBlings are trumpeting it loudly (see <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/principles/2007/01/basic_concepts.php" target="_blank" title="">Chad</a>, <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/aetiology/2007/01/everything_you_wanted_to_know.php" target="_blank" title="">Tara</a>, <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/ethicsandscience/2007/01/getting_down_to_basics.php" target="_blank" title="">Janet</a>, <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/afarensis/2007/01/12/anthropology_basic_concepts_10/" target="_blank" title="">Afarensis</a> and <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/goodmath/2007/01/back_to_the_basics.php" target="_blank" title="">Mark</a>, so far), I guess I&#8217;ll make a little bit louder call myself.<br />
When you are immersed in a scientific field for a number of years, it is easy to forget that not everybody undrestands the basic concepts and terms of your field.  While I always try to keep that in mind, I am sure I baffled you on occasion.  Does everyone know the difference between phase, period and amplitude, the difference between phase-delay and phase-advance, what the acronyms PRC and SCN stand for?<br />
You may have noticed the link on my side-bar to the <a href="http://www.circadian.org/dictionary.html" target="_blank" title="">Dictionary of Circadian Physiology</a>, where you can get a quick definition of the term you are unsure of.  Or, if you have time and inclination, you can dig deeper into my <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/clock/chronobiology/clock_tutorials/" target="_blank" title="">Clock Tutorials</a> archives.  For stuff in biology outside of chronobiology, you may be following my <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/mt/search?IncludeBlogs=49&amp;search=BIO101" target="_blank" title="">BIO101 lecture notes</a> (hmmm, I should make a separate Category for it).<br />
The bloggers here at Scienceblogs have a large repository of knowledge in a variety of areas of science.  So, if you have questions about animal physiology, animal behavior, or chronobiology, you can always ask me.  If I don&#8217;t know, I can always refer you to a SciBling who is more likely to do.  Pick the terms or concepts that keep popping up but you are not exactly clear what they mean and I&#8217;ll try to explain.<br />
<strong>Update:</strong> <a href="http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts/2007/01/clade.php" target="_blank" title="">John Wilkins</a> has broken the ice with the very first post in this series.</p>
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