Occlusion

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Occlusion is a term indicating that the state of something, which is normally open, is now totally closed.

In medicine, the term is often used to refer to blood vessels, arteries or veins which have become totally blocked to any blood flow. For issues of artery occlusion, see stenosis, atheroma, and coronary catheterization.

In dentistry, the term is used to refer to the manner in which the teeth from upper and lower arches come together when the mouth is closed.

In psychology, specifically memory research, occlusion is the phenomenon of items associated to the same cue as the target blocking the successful retrieval of that target, through strength dependent response competition. The tip-of-the-tongue phenomenon is an example of occlusion.

In meteorology, the term refers to the complex frontal structure formed when a cold front overtakes a warm front. It is associated with widespread rainfall in advance of the occluded front.

In computer graphics, the term is used to describe the manner in which an object closer to the viewport masks (or occludes) an object further away from the viewport. In the graphics pipeline one implements a form of occlusion culling to remove hidden surfaces before shading and rasterizing take place.

[edit] See also

• Occlusive
• Occultation

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