(n.) A dark, obscure, or inexplicable saying; a riddle; a statement, the hidden meaning of which is to be discovered or guessed.
(n.) An action, mode of action, or thing, which cannot be satisfactorily explained; a puzzle; as, his conduct is an enigma.
Example Sentences:
(1) The nature of the putative autoantigen in Graves' ophthalmopathy (Go) remains an enigma but the sequence similarity between thyroglobulin (Tg) and acetylcholinesterase (ACHE) provides a rationale for epitopes which are common to the thyroid gland and the eye orbit.
(2) The role of growth hormone (GH) and the related placental lactogens in implantation and subsequent embryonic and fetal development is an enigma.
(3) The exact association between psoriasis and arthritis remains an enigma.
(4) And then there is the great enigma of that involuntary separation inflicted by the death of those without whom we would never have wanted to live.
(5) An apparent enigma during platelet aggregation is that increased glycogenolysis occurs despite a fall in cyclic AMP levels; Activation by a classical cascade is therefore unlikely, and an alternative stimulus for phosphorylase a formation was sought.
(6) This triad is currently an enigma in the field of internal medicine.
(7) Rectal carcinoma remains an enigma to surgical and medical oncologists.
(8) Most of the known central actions of angiotensin II, for example the regulation of blood pressure and of electrolyte and water balance, seem to be mediated by the AT1 receptor, while the role of the AT2 receptor is still an enigma.
(9) What they say "You are an enigma wrapped in a riddle nestled in a sesame seed bun of mystery" – Stephen Colbert
(10) We believe that the "missing pathway" for factor XI activation remains an enigma that warrants further investigation.
(11) He, of course, disclaimed his commitment, telling an American admirer that he was "a person who prefers life to art, and who knows it is a far finer thing to be in love…" The record of his creativity suggests the opposite, only adding to the aura of enigma that still surrounds him.
(12) Against this background the present study was performed, and it has been shown that the resolution to the enigma is that there are two different populations of bipolar cells in the rat visual cortex.
(13) The biologic background to the clinical behavior of these metastasizing tumors remains an enigma.
(14) The author argues that the similarity of the Bushman trance state, kia and that of drug-induced altered states of consciousness has been paid too little attention in the research, and that an enigma currently exists with regard to the degree to which plant drugs may have influenced the !Kung trance phenomenon and healing beliefs.
(15) In many ways the problem of diaphragmatic hernia is as much of an enigma to today's physician-scientist as it was to Bochdalek in the nineteenth century.
(16) The treatment of keloids continues to be an enigma to the surgeon and the patient as well.
(17) And we need to declare war on them.” The rhetoric injected renewed urgency into the effort to unlock the enigma of a couple who had lived quietly and privately with their six-month-old daughter.
(18) Facial palsy is a distressing nonfatal disorder that creates an emotional crisis for the patient and often a therapeutic enigma for the physician.
(19) The function of the third one called the tissue type is still an enigma.
(20) A variety of pharmacologic manipulations were employed to help solve this enigma.
Sphinx
Definition:
(n.) In Egyptian art, an image of granite or porphyry, having a human head, or the head of a ram or of a hawk, upon the wingless body of a lion.
(n.) On Greek art and mythology, a she-monster, usually represented as having the winged body of a lion, and the face and breast of a young woman.
(n.) Hence: A person of enigmatical character and purposes, especially in politics and diplomacy.
(n.) Any one of numerous species of large moths of the family Sphingidae; -- called also hawk moth.
(n.) The Guinea, or sphinx, baboon (Cynocephalus sphinx).
Example Sentences:
(1) This paper describes the distribution of histamine-like immunoreactivity in the midbrain and suboesophageal ganglion of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta.
(2) The influence of position (sphinx, lateral, supine), surfactant depletion, and different positive end-expiratory pressure (PEEP) on functional residual capacity (FRC), series dead space (VdS) and compliance of the respiratory system (Crs) were evaluated in five dogs.
(3) Wild-caught female C. silacea were allowed to feed to repletion on mandrills, (Mandrillus sphinx), which were microfilaremic with human L. loa or on uninfected laboratory rats.
(4) Cynopterus sphinx breeds twice annually in quick succession at Varanasi.
(5) We have characterized the responses and structure of olfactory descending neurons (DNs) that reside in the protocerebrum (PC) of the brain of male sphinx moths Manduca sexta and project toward thoracic ganglia.
(6) FRC and ventilation homogeneity were improved in the sphinx position (prone position with upright head).
(7) This paper presents Sphinx, an expert system for computer-aided diagnosis in diabetes therapeutic.
(8) Like the sphinx without a secret then, this was a PBR without a theme.
(9) Hunt said Miliband's support for the IPPR report showed a "substantive response" to Cameron, who was dismissed by Michael Gove's former aide as a "sphinx without a riddle" .
(10) Desperate to lure outsiders to this far-flung, sparsely populated region, officials have ordered the construction of a replica of the Great Sphinx of Egypt ; the Parthenon ; Beijing’s Summer Palace and Forbidden City, and even of a stretch of the Great Wall of China.
(11) A comparison of the primary structures of the Mandrill hemoglobin chains with those of other species of the Cercopithecidae family shows that Mandrillus sphinx should be placed between Cercopithecus and Macaca on one side and Papio, Theropithecus and Cercocebus on the other.
(12) In the optic lobes (OLs) of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta, 300-350 neurons per hemisphere are immunoreactive with an antiserotonin antiserum.
(13) In particular, we compared the nucleotide sequences of whole genomes, gene region by gene region, between a given pair of viruses, including four types of SIVs--isolated from mandrills (Papio sphinx), African green monkeys (Cercopithecus aethiops), sooty mangabeys (Cercocebus atys), and rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta)--as well as HIVs.
(14) A long-faced Norseman with a touch of the archetypal brooding Scandinavian (as well as a hint of the Sphinx), Nansen was born near Christiania, the former name of Oslo, in 1861, and in the course of a tumultuous life became an outstanding scientist, diplomat and humanitarian as well as an explorer.
(15) The origin and orientation of the heart nerves in Sphinx ligustri and Ephestia kuehniella were investigated by scanning electron microscopy using a special technique which involved pinning the dissected specimens on a stabilizing metal pad.
(16) A single serotonin-immunoreactive neuron in the antennal lobe (AL) of the brain of the sphinx moth Manduca sexta is present in larval, pupal, and adult stages.
(17) The heart and alary muscles in Sphinx particularly their caudal extremity were also examined by transmission electron microscopy.
(18) A mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) and 6 cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascularis) were infected by subcutaneous injection of third-stage larvae of human L. loa from Gabon.
(19) Behind is a statue of the sphinx, a menacing portent of what was to come.
(20) She is known as the sphinx of Indian politics, the mysterious widow who rose to lead a nation of 1.14 billion people.