Cram101.com - useful for common sense knowledge bases?

[gusl]

Cram101.com offers summaries of books, the stuff you would highlight, for a monthly fee.

I imagine this could be an efficient way of organizing (constructing) one's knowledge of the domain, i.e. learning, if only because these sentences lack context (the only "context" is in the terms used). This probably also means that you can't deep knowledge... it seems depth forces vagueness.

In normal books, it's easy to get lost if you're not patient and want to skip around. Impatience is one of my worst vices, only partially compensated by my persistence and refusal to accept defeat on things that should be doable.

For the same reason (context-freeness), this kind of text could be useful common sense knowledge bases, as well as for for Question Answering in Information Retrieval. As you can see, these definitions look a lot like WordNet glosses.

Here's one of their samples:

Basic Concepts in Biology
Starr, 5th Edition, Brooks/Cole

Concepts and Methods in Biology (see text page 2)
1. The scientific study of life is biology.

2. The main site of photosynthesis in a plant; consists of a flattened blade and a stalk that joins the leaf to the stem.

3. Natural refers to occurring or produced as a normal part of nature apart from any activity or intervention of humans. Opposite of artificial, synthetic, human-made, or caused by humans.

4. Sample that goes through all the steps of an experiment but lacks the factor or is not exposed to the factor being tested is a control.

5. Extra nucleotides added to the beginning of an RNA transcript in the nucleus of a eukaryotic cell is called cap.


6. The amount of energy associated with the movement of the atoms and molecules in a body of matter. Heat is energy in its most random form.

7. Atmosphere refers to the gaseous mass surrounding our planet. Also: a unit of pressure, equal to the normal pressure of air at sea level.

8. Member of the order Primate.

9. Lineage refers to evolutionary line of descent.

10. Group of organisms of the same species occupying a certain area and sharing a common gene pool is referred to as population.

11. A deviation or interruption of the normal structure or function of any part of the body that is manifested by a characteristic set of symptoms and signs is disease.

12. The amount of matter in an object is referred to as mass.

13. The modification of genetic material to achieve specific goals is referred to as genetic engineering.

14. Pandemic refers to an increase in the occurrence of a disease within a large and geographically widespread population .

15. The capacity to perform work, or to move matter in a direction it would not move if left alone is referred to as energy.

16. Anything that affects an organism during its lifetime is an environment.

17. To produce a new individual of the same kind is to reproduce.

18. Diversity refers to the number of taxa in a local area or region. Also, a measure of the variety of taxa in a community that takes into account the relative abundance of each one.

19. Group of similarly constructed organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring is a species.

20. A basic structural design that includes an entire animal, its organ systems, and the integrated functioning of its parts. Phylogenetic groups of organisms are classified in part on the basis of a shared body plan.

21. Observable, coordinated responses to environmental stimuli is referred to as behavior.

22. Evolution refers to genetic change in a population or species over generations; all the changes that transform life on Earth; the heritable changes that have produced Earth's diversity of organisms.

23. In science, an explanation for natural events that is based on a large number of observations and is in accord with scientific principles, especially causality is called theory.

24. Differential success in reproduction by different phenotypes resulting from interactions with the environment. Evolution occurs when natural selection produces changes in the relative frequencies of alleles in a population's gene pool.

25. The process by which some organisms leave more offspring than competing ones and their genetic traits tend to appear in greater proportions among members of succeeding generations than the traits of those individuals that leave fewer offspring is a selection.

26. A process used to solve problems or develop an understanding of natural events is called science.

27. Noncellular obligate parasite of living cells consisting of an outer capsid and an inner core of nucleic acid is referred to as virus.

28. Infrastructure refers to the sewer and water systems, roadways, bridges, and other facilities that underlie the functioning of a city and that are owned, operated, and maintained by the city.

29. A state of optimal physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity is called health.

30. Descendants of a set of parents are offspring.

31. Particles in the nucleus of an atom that have a positive electrical charge are called protons.

32. The negatively charged particles moving at a distance from the nucleus of an atom that balance the positive charges of the protons are called electrons.

33. Particles in the nucleus of an atom that have no electrical charge are called neutrons.

34. Anything that takes up space and has mass is called matter.

35. Clock hypothesis stating that one can assume a constant rate of amino acid or nucleotide substitution as a means of determining the genealogies of organisms is molecular.

36. Nucleic acids refers to complex molecules that store and transfer information within a cell. They are constructed of fundamental monomers known as nucleotides.

37. Large polymers composed of hundreds to thousands of amino-acid subunits strung together in a specific order into long chains. Proteins are required for the structure, function, and regulation of the body's cells, tissues, and organs.

38. Large organic molecules that do not easily dissolve in water are called lipids.

39. A group of two or more atoms held together by covalent bonds is called molecule.

40. Nucleic acid refers to a polymer consisting of many nucleotide monomers; serves as a blueprint for proteins and, through the actions of proteins, for all cellular structures and activities. The two types of nucleic acids are DNA and RNA.

41. Molecules tending to raise the hydrogen ion concentration in a solution and to lower its ph numerically are referred to as acid.

42. The light-colored rock that forms most of the continental crust is granite.

43. The building blocks of proteins are amino acids.

44. Analogy refers to the similarity of structure between two species that are not closely related; attributable to convergent evolution.

45. Molecules, produced by organisms, that are able to control the rate at which chemical reactions occur is an enzymes.

46. Organic macromolecule that is composed of either one or several polypeptides is referred to as protein.

47. Series of stages by which a zygote becomes an organism or by which an organism changes during its life span are referred to as development.

48. Nonflagellate female gamete is referred to as egg.

49. The proportion of total phenotypic variance ascribable to genetic variance is called heritability.

50. End of a muscle that is attached to a relatively immovable bone is referred to as origin.

51. The genetic transmission of characteristics from parent to offspring is called inheritance.

52. The conduction of impulses to the central nervous system is a transmission.

53. The creation of new individuals from existing ones is called reproduction.

54. Sperm refers to male sex cell with three distinct parts at maturity: head, middle piece, and tail.

55. Cell refers to a basic unit of living matter separated from its environment by a plasma membrane; the fundamental structural unit of life.

56. An arthropod that usually has three body segments , three pairs of legs, and one or two pairs of wings is called insect.

57. The reaction of an organism to a stimulus is called response.

58. Receptors refers to proteins embedded in the membrane of a cell that bind to growth factors and other ligands; initiating a signal transduction pathway in the cell.

59. Specialized portions of higher plants that are the sites of photosynthesis is referred to as leaves.

60. Pupa refers to a developmental stage in some insect species in which the organism stops moving and feeding and may be encased in a cocoon; occurs between the larval and the adult phases.

61. In statistics, defined as the proportion of individuals in a certain category, relative to the total number of individuals being considered is called frequency.

62. RNA A small RNA that binds an amino acid and delivers it to the ribosome for incorporation into a polypeptide chain during protein synthesis is a transfer.

63. Smallest particle of an element that displays the properties of the element is an atom.

64. Electron refers to a subatomic particle with a single unit of negative electrical charge. One or more electrons move around the nucleus of an atom.

65. The many chemical reactions that occur in organisms is called metabolism.

66. Process by which plants and algae make their own food using the energy of the sun are called photosynthesis.

67. Chemical energy refers to energy stored in the chemical bonds of molecules; a form of potential energy.

68. Nucleotide with three phosphate groups. The breakdown of ATP into ADP + P makes energy available for energy-requiring processes in cells.

69. Any monosaccharide or disaccharide is a sugar.

70. Respiration that requires free oxygen is referred to as aerobic respiration.

71. Gas exchange, or breathing; the exchange of 02 and CO2 between an organism and its environment. An aerobic organism takes up 02 and gives off C02. Cellular respiration; the aerobic harvest of energy from food molecules by cells.

72. Organism refers to an individual living thing, such as a bacterium, fungus, protist, plant, or animal.

73. Stimulus in a nervous system, a factor that triggers sensory transduction.

74. On or in a cell, a specific protein molecule whose shape fits that of a specific molecular messenger, such as a hormone is called receptor.

75. Hormone refers to a regulatory chemical that travels in the blood from its production site, usually an endocrine gland, to other sites, where target cells respond to the regulatory signal.

76. Gut refers to an animal's digestive tract.

77. A type of connective tissue with a fluid matrix called plasma in which blood cells are suspended.

78. Fluid that surrounds the body's cells is a tissue fluid.

79. A liquid or gas is referred to as fluid.

80. Pancreas refers to a gland with dual functions: The nonendocrine portion secretes digestive enzymes and an alkaline solution into the small intestine via a duct; the endocrine portion secretes the hormones insulin and glucagon into the blood.

81. Organ refers to a structure consisting of several tissues adapted as a group to perform specific functions.

82. A protein hormone, secreted by islet cells in the pancreas, that lowers the level of glucose in the blood is called insulin.

83. Refers to the multiple types of variation that can exist at alternative alleles, including more than one nucleotide substitution, a substitution in combination with a small deletion, a duplication, or another insertion are complex.

84. The probability of living from one age or time period to the next is called survival.

85. Hierarchy refers to a rank order; the pecking order, leadership, or dominance patterns among the members of a population.

86. Malignant tumor whose nondifferentiated cells exhibit loss of contact inhibition, uncontrolled growth, and the ability to invade tissues and metastasize is a cancer.

87. Assemblage of populations interacting with one another within the same environment is a community.

88. The domain that contains procaryotic cells with primarily diacyl glycerol diesters in their membranes and with bacterial rRNA. Bacteria also is a general term for organisms that are composed of procaryotic cells and are not multicellular.

89. Ecosystem refers to all the organisms in a given area, along with the nonliving factors with which they interact; a biological community and its physical environment.

90. Biosphere refers to the global ecosystem; that portion of Earth that is alive; all of life and where it lives.

91. Crust refers to the outermost layer of the earth .

92. A condition in which a large number of nerve cells provide input to a smaller number of cells is called convergence.

93. A group of organs that work together in performing vital body functions is referred to as organ system.

94. A protein secreted by a cytotoxic T cell that lyses an infected cell by perforating its membrane is called perform.

95. A structure with a specialized function within a cell is an organelle.

96. Compartment refers to regions in the embryo that are formed exclusively from the descendants of a few founder cells; there is no cell movement beween compartments once delimited.

97. Prokaryotic cells refers to one of the two major types of cells. They do not have a typical nucleus bound by a nuclear membrane and lack many of the other membranous cellular organelles.

98. Element refers to a substance that cannot be broken down to other substances by chemical means. Scientists recognize 92 chemical elements occurring in nature.

99. Matter consisting of only one kind of atom is referred to as elements.

100. Subatomic particle refers to the particles of which atoms are made- electrons, protons, and neutrons.

101. Positive subatomic particle, located in the nucleus and having a weight of approximately one atomic mass unit is referred to as proton.

102. An electrically neutral particle , found in the nucleus of an atom is referred to as neutron.

103. Organisms that produce new organic material from inorganic material with the aid of sunlight are producers.

104. Plants refers to members of the kingdom Plantae, which consists of photosynthetic, eukaryotic, and multicellular organisms.

105. A biome, located in the centers of continents, that supports grasses is referred to as grassland.

106. A biome dominated by grasses and scattered trees is called savanna.

107. Plant refers to a member of the kingdom Plantae. Multicellular, gaining its nutrition by photosynthesis.

108. The state of matter in which the molecules are packed tightly together is called solid.

109. Molecules required by organisms for growth, reproduction, or repair are nutrients.

110. A substance acquired from the environment and needed for the survival, growth, and development of an organism is called nutrient.

111. In plants, any structure that actively synthesizes sugar and away from which phloem fluid will be transported is called source.

112. Tail refers to extra nucleotides added at the end of an RNA .

113. A dynamic system involving three components: mineral particles, detritus, and soil organisms feeding on the detritus.

114. Animals refers to members of the kingdom Animalia, which consists of heterotrophic, eukaryotic, multicellular organisms.

115. Organisms that must obtain energy in the form of organic matter are consumers.

116. Organisms that use dead organic matter as a source of energy are called decomposers.

117. Learning in which past experiences are reorganized to solve new problems is an insight.

118. Cholera refers to an acute infectious enteritis, endemic and epidemic in Asia, which periodically spreading to the Middle East, Africa, Southern Europe, and South America; caused by Vibrio cholerae.

119. A slow but steady rise in Earth's surface temperature, caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere is referred to as global warming.

120. Biodiversity refers to all of the variety of life; usually refers to the variety of species that make up a community; concerns both species richness and the relative abundance of the different species.

121. Energy flow refers to the passage of energy through the components of an ecosystem.

122. Focused refers to bending of light rays by the cornea, lens, and humors so that they converge and create an image on the retina.

123. The arrangement of organisms into groups based on mutual similarity or evolutionary relatedness is referred to as classification.

124. Genus in classification, the taxonomic category above species; the first part of a species' binomial; for example, Homo.

125. The name of an organism formed from the two smallest major taxonomic categories-the genus and the species is a scientific name.

126. In classification, the taxonomic category above genus is referred to as family.

127. In classification, the taxonomic category above family is called order.

128. In classification, the taxonomic category above order are called class.

129. Phylum refers to a subdivision of a kingdom.

130. Kingdom in classification, the broad taxonomic category above phylum or division.

131. Archaebacteria refers to a group of bacteria that are among the most primitive still in existence, characterized by the absence of peptidogylcan in their cell walls, a feature that distinguishes them from all other bacteria.

132. A taxonomic kingdom including unicellular, eukaryotic organisms is a protista.

133. The kingdom that contains the fungi.

134. The kingdom that contains the plants is plantae.

135. The kingdom that contains the animals is referred to as Animalia.

136. Nucleus refers to an atom's central core, containing protons and neutrons. The genetic control center of a eukaryotic cell.

137. Growing or metabolizing in the absence of oxygen is anaerobic.

138. Habitat refers to a place where an organism lives; an environmental situation in which an organism lives.

139. Colony refers to a cluster or assemblage of microorganisms growing on a solid surface such as the surface of an agar culture medium; the assemblage often is directly visible, but also may be seen only microscopically.

140. Bacterium refers to an organism that is a member of the domain Bacteria.

141. Long, hairlike structures projecting from the cell surface that enable locomotion is a flagella.

142. Range refers to the geographical distribution of a species.

143. Fungus refers to a heterotrophic eukaryote that digests its food externally and absorbs the resulting small nutrient molecules. Most fungi consist of a netlike mass of filaments called hyphae. Molds, mushrooms, and yeasts are examples of fungi.

144. In an angiosperm, a short stem with four sets of modified leaves, bearing structures that function in sexual reproduction is referred to as flower.

145. A compound resulting from the formation of ionic bonds, also called an ionic compound is referred to as salt.

146. Referring to cells of organisms of the domain Eukarya . Eukaryotic cells have genetic material enclosed within a membrane-bound nucleus and contain other membrane-bound organelles.

147. Animals that feed directly on plants are referred to as herbivores.

148. Animals that eat other animals are carnivores.

149. Heritable refers to able to be inherited; in biology usually refers to genetically determined traits.

150. Observation refers to step in the scientific method by which data are collected before a conclusion is drawn.

151. Artificial selection refers to a selective breeding procedure in which only those individuals with particular traits are chosen as breeders; used mainly to enhance desirable traits in domestic plants and animals; may also be used in evolutionary biology.

152. Differences between members of the same species are referred to as variation.

153. Trait refers to one form of a character: Eye color is a character; brown eyes and blue eyes are traits.

154. Mutations refers to heritable alterations in DNA sequence.

155. Irreversible increase in volume is a growth.

156. Mutation refers to a change in the nucleotide sequence of DNA; the ultimate source of genetic diversity.

157. Birds refers to vertebrates that have feathers and lay eggs with calcified shells on land.

158. Forest refers to a region that, because it receives sufficient average annual precipitation, supports trees and small vegetation.

159. Antibiotics refers to drugs that selectively kill or inhibit the growth of a particular cell type.

160. Streptomycin refers to a bactericidal aminoglycoside antibiotic produced by Streptomyces griseus.

161. Antibiotic refers to substance such as penicillin or streptomycin that is toxic to microorganisms. Usually a product of a particular microorvanism or plant.

162. Tuberculosis refers to an infectious disease of humans and other animals resulting from an infection by a species of Mycobacterium and characterized by the formation of tubercles and tissue necrosis, primarily as a result of host hypersensitivity and inflammation. Infection is usually by inhalation, and the disease commonly affects the lungs, although it may occur in any part of the body.

163. Gonorrhea refers to an acute infectious sexually transmitted disease of the mucous membranes of the genitourinary tract, eye, rectum, and throat. It is caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae.

164. A relationship between two organisms in which both organisms are harmed is called competition.

165. Step of the scientific method which follows the formulation of a hypothesis and assists in creating the experimental design is referred to as prediction.

166. A tentative explanation a scientist proposes for a specific phenomenon that has been observed is a hypothesis.

167. Probability refers to the chance that an event will happen, expressed as a percentage or fraction.

168. A way of gaining information about the world around you that involves observation, hypothesis formation, testing of hypotheses, theory formation, and law formation is called scientific method.

169. Conclusion refers to statement made following an experiment as to whether the results support or falsify the hypothesis.

170. Variable refers to factors in an experimental situation or other circumstance that are changeable.

171. Taste refers to a chemical sense for substances dissolved in water or saliva; in mammals, perceptions of sweet, sour, bitter, or salt produced by the stimulation of receptors on the tongue.

172. An opening through which food is taken into an animal's body is called mouth.

173. Control group refers to the situation used as the basis for comparison in a controlled experiment. The group in which there are no manipulated variables.

174. The group in a controlled experiment that has a variable manipulated is referred to as experimental group.

175. A thin slice, usually for microscopy, as a tangential section or a transverse section.

176. A re-creation of an event that enables a scientist to gain valid and reliable empirical evidence is referred to as experiment.

177. Facts or pieces of information collected through observation and/or experimentation are data.

178. Concept supported by a broad range of observations, experiments, and conclusions is a scientific theory.

179. Expression refers to production of an observable phenotype by a gene-usually by directing the synthesis of a protein.

180. The phenomenon in which growth on a restricting host changes a phage so that succeeding generations grow more efficiently on that same host is referred to as modification.

181. Pathogenic refers to capable of producing disease; refers to an organism with such a capability .

182. A cell that responds to a regulatory signal, such as a hormone is a target cell.

183. Outer membrane refers to outermost of the two membranes surrounding an organelle; the membrane adjacent to the cytosol.

184. A population of organisms that descends from a single organism or pure culture isolate is a strain.

185. Bacteriophage refers to a virus that infects bacteria; also called a phage.

186. Intestinal bacterium widely used because it can be conveniently cultured for prokaryotic genetics studies is referred to as escherichia coli.

187. Vertebrates that have hair and mammary glands are mammals.

188. The wastes of the digestive tract is referred to as feces.

189. The organic waste and wastewater generated by residential and commercial establishments is referred to as sewage.

190. The invasion of a host by a microorganism with subsequent establishment and multiplication of the agent. An infection may or may not lead to overt disease.

191. Culture refers to the accumulated knowledge, customs, beliefs, arts, and other human products that are socially transmitted over the generations.

192. The process of determining that a particular isolate or organism belongs to a recognized taxon is called identification.

193. Nutrition refers to collectively, the processes involved in taking in, assimilating, and utilizing nutrients.

194. A measure of the intensity of heat, reflecting the average kinetic energy or speed of molecules is referred to as temperature.

195. A mixture of molecules, such as sugars, amino acids, and ions, dissolved in water is called solution.

196. Refers to issues involving numbers are quantitative.

197. Consciousness refers to awareness; a mental state characterized by conscious thinking and self-awareness.

198. Group in which members of species are organized in a cooperative manner, extending beyond sexual and parental behavior is a society.

199. Set by the federal or state governments, the maximum levels of various pollutants that are to be legally tolerated. If levels go above the standards, various actions may be taken.

200. Small, tubular appendage that extends outward from the cecum of the large intestine is the appendix.

201. Accumulation of energy or biomass is a production.

202. Describing a dispersion pattern in which individuals are spaced in a patternless, unpredictable way is called random.

203. Insects refers to arthropods with three pairs of legs and one pair of antennae. Few are marine, an exception being the water strider .

204. An area of habitat with the necessary resources and conditions for a population to persist is a patch.

205. Organism that provides nourishment for a predator is referred to as prey.

206. An element that is one of the constituents of water, organic matter, and many other chemicals. Oxygen gas, composed of two oxygen atoms, is needed for respiration and is produced by photosynthesis.

207. The anteriormost segment of an animal with segmentation is a head.

208. Theory that is generally accepted by an overwhelming number of scientists is referred to as law.

209. RNA splicing A type of regulation at the RNA-processing level in which different mrna molecules are produced from the same primary transcript depending on which RNA segments are treated as exons and which as introns is referred to as alternative.

210. Diet refers to the food and drink consumed by a person from day to day.

211. Weather refers to short-term fluctuations in temperature, humidity, cloud cover, wind, and precipitation in a region over periods of hours to days.

212. The presence of contaminants in the air in concentrations that overcome the normal dispersive ability of the air and that interfere directly or indirectly with human health, safety, or comfort or with the full use and enjoyment of property is referred to as air pollution.

213. Any environmental change that adversely affects the lives and health of living things is referred to as pollution.

214. A physical mapping approach that uses fluorescent tags to detect hybridization of nucleic acid probes with chromosomes is referred to as fish.

215. Photosynthetic organism at the start of a grazing food chain that makes its own food is referred to as producer.

216. Organism that feeds on another organism in a food chain is called consumer.

217. Decomposer refers to an organism that derives its energy from organic wastes and dead organisms; also called a detritivore.