What's the difference between alter and switch?

Alter


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To make otherwise; to change in some respect, either partially or wholly; to vary; to modify.
  • (v. t.) To agitate; to affect mentally.
  • (v. t.) To geld.
  • (v. i.) To become, in some respects, different; to vary; to change; as, the weather alters almost daily; rocks or minerals alter by exposure.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Herpesviruses such as EBV, HSV, and human herpes virus-6 (HHV-6) have a marked tropism for cells of the immune system and therefore infection by these viruses may result in alterations of immune functions, leading at times to a state of immunosuppression.
  • (2) The process of sequence rearrangement appears to be a significant part of the evolution of the genome and may have a much greater effect on the evolution of the phenotype than sequence alteration by base substitution.
  • (3) The various evocational changes appear to form sets of interconnected systems and this complex network seems to embody some plasticity since it has been possible to suppress experimentally some of the most universal evocational events or alter their temporal order without impairing evocation itself.
  • (4) When chimeric animals were subjected to a lethal challenge of endotoxin, their response was markedly altered by the transferred lymphoid cells.
  • (5) Morphological alterations in the lungs of pheasants after prolonged high-dosage administration of bleomycin sulfate were studied by light and electron microscopy.
  • (6) Incubation with IFN alpha or IFN gamma for 24 h resulted in only modest cytokinetic alterations, and they did not modify the effects of FUra.
  • (7) We report a series of experiments designed to determine if agents and conditions that have been reported to alter sodium reabsorption, Na-K-ATPase activity or cellular structure in the rat distal nephron might also regulate the density or affinity of binding of 3H-metolazone to the putative thiazide receptor in the distal nephron.
  • (8) In dorsoventral (DV) reversed wings at both shoulder or flank level, the motor axons do not alter their course as they enter the graft.
  • (9) Neither spermidine nor spermine (0.5 mM) significantly altered [Ca2+]i.
  • (10) In addition to the changes associated with blood group A, we also found a decrease in sugar content, alterations in other antigens, and changes in the levels of several glycosyltransferases in cancerous tissues.
  • (11) When the concentration of thrombin or fibrinogen was altered systematically, mu T and mup were found to mirror each other except when the fibrinogen concentration was increased at low thrombin concentrations.
  • (12) Arteries treated with atrial natriuretic peptide showed no alterations in relaxation or cGMP content after incubation with pertussis toxin.
  • (13) These results could be explained by altered tissue blood flow and a decreased metabolic capacity of the liver in obese subjects.
  • (14) The sequential histopathologic alterations in femorotibial joints of partial meniscectomized male and female guinea pigs were evaluated at 1, 2, 3, 6, and 12 weeks post-surgery.
  • (15) However, survival was closely related to the severity of the illness at the time of randomization and was not altered by shunting.
  • (16) Brain damage may be followed by a number of dynamic events including reactive synaptogenesis, rerouting of axons to unusual locations and altered axon retraction processes.
  • (17) Since the advance and return of sperm inside the tubes could facilitate the interaction of sperm with secretions participating in its maturation, the persistent infertility after vasectomy could be related to the contractile alteration that follows the excessive tubal distention.
  • (18) Sixteen patients (27%) manifested anomalies of the urinary tract: 12 had markedly altered kidneys, 8 of which were unilateral and ipsilateral to the diaphragmatic defect.
  • (19) Corticosterone (4 x 10(-5) M) did not alter the stimulation-evoked 3H-overflow at 1-30 Hz.
  • (20) The results show that the presence of histones does not alter the bimodal DNA binding process.

Switch


Definition:

  • (n.) A small, flexible twig or rod.
  • (n.) A movable part of a rail; or of opposite rails, for transferring cars from one track to another.
  • (n.) A separate mass or trees of hair, or of some substance (at jute) made to resemble hair, worn on the head by women.
  • (n.) A mechanical device for shifting an electric current to another circuit.
  • (v. t.) To strike with a switch or small flexible rod; to whip.
  • (v. t.) To swing or whisk; as, to switch a cane.
  • (v. t.) To trim, as, a hedge.
  • (v. t.) To turn from one railway track to another; to transfer by a switch; -- generally with off, from, etc.; as, to switch off a train; to switch a car from one track to another.
  • (v. t.) To shift to another circuit.
  • (v. i.) To walk with a jerk.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) We also demonstrated a significant difference in the Hb switching process between male and female newborns.
  • (2) Accumulating evidence indicates that for most tumors, the switch to the angiogenic phenotype depends upon the outcome of a balance between angiogenic stimulators and angiogenic inhibitors, both of which may be produced by tumor cells and perhaps by certain host cells.
  • (3) Nine years of clinical experience of the application of the Q-switched ruby laser to the removal of tattoos is presented.
  • (4) Males exploit this behavioural switch by increasing their sneaky mating attempts.
  • (5) It is hypothesized, furthermore, that the kinetics of emergence and loss of these various populations may reflect switching in the mode of immunity being expressed, particularly during the chronic phase of the infection, from that of a state of active immunity to one of immunologic memory.
  • (6) Police in Rockhampton have ordered residents to leave their homes as electricity is switched off in low-lying areas.
  • (7) The drug I started taking caused an irritating, chronic cough, which disappeared when I switched to an inexpensive diuretic.
  • (8) Our aim is to obtain evidence for trans-acting factors that regulate developmental hemoglobin (Hb) switching.
  • (9) Should such symptoms occur, the doctor has the choice of either switching to another first-step compound or reducing the dose of the first agent and combining it with one of other available drugs.
  • (10) I’ve warned Dave before to mind his ps and qs when the cameras are rolling, but the problem is you can never tell when the microphones are switched on.
  • (11) This modification improves the convergence properties of the network and is used to control a switch which activates the learning or template formation process when the input is "unknown".
  • (12) Usage of analyzing cardiac monitors with a signalling system switched on by the preset values of ST-segment depression prevented the evolution of myocardial ischemia and the development of exercise-induced anginal episodes.
  • (13) "It's very clear now that the administration agrees with us," said Wyden, hailing a switch from both the Bush and Obama administration stance that "collecting these records is vital to western civilisation".
  • (14) A programmable controller manages the olfactometer dilution stage selection, the odor stimulus switch and starts the peripheral devices required by the experiment.
  • (15) In hybrids before the switch, the gamma-genes are unmethylated.
  • (16) "The default switch should be set to release information unless there is an extremely good reason for withholding it.".
  • (17) A transistor radio activated by a mercury switch was used to reinforce head posture in two retarded children with severe cerebral palsy.
  • (18) The swi1+ gene is necessary for effective mating-type (MT) switching in Schizosaccharomyces pombe.
  • (19) Consequently mother cells can switch their mating type whereas bud cells cannot.
  • (20) Even if nobody switched party, the general election result would look very different to what’s predicted if millennials could be persuaded to vote at the same rate as pensioners, as polls factor in turnout differences and oversample the elderly accordingly.