Glossary

reticular activating system or reticular system – the system within the brain responsible for arousal. It consists of the reticular formation within the midbrain and its connections to modulating relays going through the hypothalamus and thalamus to the cortex of the cerebrum.

Red blood cell (aka erythrocyte).  The predominant cell in blood whose main function is to carry oxygen from the lungs throughout the body.

Recombinant: Refers to genetic material (DNA, RNA, protein, etc.), cell or organism that results from the combination of DNA segments from different organisms.

Rigid External Device – descriptive term referring to an external frame fixed to the skull and midface. This apparatus is used to pull the midface out to the desired location after it has been surgically detached from the skull’s base.

Rheumatoid factor

Rostral interstitial nucleus of medial longitudinal fasciculus – a portion of the medial longitudinal fasciculus which controls vertical gaze.

Ribonucleic acid – is a ubiquitous family of large biological molecules that perform multiple vital roles in the coding, decoding, regulation, and expression of genes.

RNA interference – this is a process where RNA molecules inhibit (interfere) gene expression, usually by destroying the mRNA involved in the expression.

Respiratory syncytial virus – a virus that causes infections in the respiratory tract infections. There is typically an epidemic during the winter months in temperate clinics and during the rang season in tropical climates. By the age of 3 most children will have been infected by this virus.

The two ventral protuberances seen within the Aqueduct of Sylvuis’s adytum or inlet. They are due to the rubral nuclei bulging into the lumen of the aqueduct.