What's the difference between fortuitous and obscure?

Fortuitous


Definition:

  • (a.) Happening by chance; coming or occuring unexpectedly, or without any known cause; chance; as, the fortuitous concourse of atoms.
  • (a.) Happening independently of human will or means of foresight; resulting from unavoidable physical causes.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Fortuitous withdrawal of therapy and transplant nephrectomy may have been responsible for the patient's survival.
  • (2) Two major facilities of the Western Division of Dow Chemical USA are located fortuitously within an area covered by the population-based California Tumor Registry, which allowed linkage of records to identify incident cancers among 1,403 male workers.
  • (3) The unusual activity of IM effector preparations against HLA-mismatched LCLs arises from fortuitous cross-recognition of allogeneic cells by immunologically specific cytotoxic T cell clones coincidentally expanded in vivo alongside the EBV-specific response.
  • (4) Because there is no known nut site cis to 'trpA, we suggest that the 'trpA segment itself fortuitously contains a nut sequence that is able to function with excess N of any of the types tested and with either NusAEc or NusASal.
  • (5) Because of this phenomenon it is difficult to distinguish whether a given protein's presence in bone is advantageous or merely fortuitous.
  • (6) The enhanced transposition frequency of Tn917-LTV1 and Tn917-LTV3 (about 100-fold in Bacillus subtilis) is believed to be due to the fortuitous placement of vector-derived promoters upstream from the Tn917 transposase gene.
  • (7) According to their different clinical presentations, patients were divided into 4 groups: 1: Documented cancer, 2: Hepatic cirrhosis, 3: Fortuitous ultrasonic detection, 4: Clinical hepatic tumor.
  • (8) The article describes a way to estimate the probability of the clustering being fortuitous.
  • (9) The age correlation was caused only by an attenuated response in the young subjects below 40 years of age and may be fortuitous.
  • (10) The somewhat fortuitous isolation of Nocardia asteroides and its significance are discussed.
  • (11) However, it seems that the reduced incidence of the AUV discovered by a few Italian authors is not fortuitous (genetic factors?
  • (12) It is easy to point to lines that have a fortuitous topicality: knowing chuckles now greet George's admission that "There's a sense in which I even quite like a war", and later suggestion that, if Labour can't beat the Tories, the best solution is to join them.
  • (13) Endobronchial localizations of the granular cell tumours or Abrikossoff's tumour are very rare (6%) but their association with malignant tumours is exceptional and perhaps fortuitous.
  • (14) These T-ALLs may represent a fortuitous transformation of T cell subsets with alternative T3-Ti complexes.
  • (15) Gender identity change in a conservatively diagnosed 21-year-old transexual after faith healing was fortuitously observed, was objectively and independently measured, and is reported.
  • (16) Although the pathogenesis remains unclear, three possible explanations are suggested: disturbance of the pluripotent stem cell resulting in a combined myeloplasmatic disorder, coexistence of two diseases, or a fortuitous association.
  • (17) This tumour was discovered in a systematic fashion in 8 of the 10 cases and fortuitously in one.
  • (18) In addition, we found, fortuitously, that the ligated DNA circles could also integrate by homologous recombination, although usually at a much lower frequency than the Int-mediated integration into attB.
  • (19) Their coexistence in our patient, although the statistic probability is very low, seems to be a fortuitous coincidence more than the result of a common genetic and pathogenetic mechanism.
  • (20) It is not known whether the conversion of a portion of S5 to S5a is physiological or fortuitous.

Obscure


Definition:

  • (superl.) Covered over, shaded, or darkened; destitute of light; imperfectly illuminated; dusky; dim.
  • (superl.) Of or pertaining to darkness or night; inconspicuous to the sight; indistinctly seen; hidden; retired; remote from observation; unnoticed.
  • (superl.) Not noticeable; humble; mean.
  • (superl.) Not easily understood; not clear or legible; abstruse or blind; as, an obscure passage or inscription.
  • (superl.) Not clear, full, or distinct; clouded; imperfect; as, an obscure view of remote objects.
  • (a.) To render obscure; to darken; to make dim; to keep in the dark; to hide; to make less visible, intelligible, legible, glorious, beautiful, or illustrious.
  • (v. i.) To conceal one's self; to hide; to keep dark.
  • (n.) Obscurity.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) This diagnosis was obscured by the absence of cutaneous, oropharyngeal, and respiratory involvement.
  • (2) The mechanism of ACTH action on brain catecholamine metabolism is still obscure, however, an increased release of the NA to ACTH peptides is very likely in the light of the present observations.
  • (3) However, peptide bonds between 193 and 194, and 194 and 195 were cleaved in the presence of mAb 1C3 as easily as in the presence of mAb 31A4, suggesting that the region of residues 200 to 202 was obscured by, or within the antibody binding site, but that the region of residues 193 to 195 was not.
  • (4) The physician's approach to the differential diagnosis of obscure, atypical pneumonias has changed.
  • (5) The thigh and hip manifestations can obscure the primary intra-abdominal process either due to the obvious emphysema or to the obtunded abdominal signs secondary to associated neuropathy.
  • (6) While tonic pupil and reduced sweating can be attributed to the affection of postganglionic cholinergic parasympathetic and sympathetic fibres projecting to the iris and sweat glands, respectively, the pathogenesis of diminished or lost tendon jerks remains obscure.
  • (7) It is found that generic averages obscure some rather substantial differences at the species level for both Cercopithecus and Cercocebus.
  • (8) Although the pathophysiology of the pancreatic injury is obscure, the lack of other etiological factors and temporal association of the pancreatitis with acetaminophen-induced hepatic and renal toxicity suggest a causal relationship.
  • (9) Because reticulocytes contain a pool of uncombined alpha chains which might have obscured the demonstration of an alpha chain-dependent mechanism for beta-chain synthesis, subsequent studies were done with bone marrow cells.
  • (10) However, the mechanism by which Ag II is able to modulate anterior pituitary secretion still remains obscure.
  • (11) Other causes were 20 (13%) with cerebrovascular diseases, 30 (20%) hepatic failure and 11 (8%) were of miscellaneous and obscure causes.
  • (12) In such a case with a large hematoma, the presence of a tumor may be obscured on CT scan and angiography.
  • (13) However, the difficulty still remains that the latter may be obscured by differences not related to thermostability etc.
  • (14) The activating mechanism of the condition still remains obscure.
  • (15) Its language is “archaic and obscure”, the commission says.
  • (16) Clofibrate, an antilipidemic drug that acts by a still obscure mechanism, is known to specifically increase up to 30-fold the activity of the hepatic cytochrome P-450 isozyme that omega-hydroxlates lauric acid.
  • (17) On the electron microscopy, the sarcomere was shortened and Z-line was partly obscure.
  • (18) Photographs of 82 boys from the Harpenden Growth Study were measured at ages 5 to 18 years, in an order that obscured which photographs were of the same boy at different ages.
  • (19) Although the K+ concentration of the contents of the GI tract as well as the K+ transport by the portal vein were increased, the source of the excess K+ remains obscure.
  • (20) The effects of long-term exposure of humans to formaldehyde, however, are more obscure.