| relative specificity | The specificity of a medical screening test as determined by comparison with the same type of test (e.g., specificity of a new serological test relative to specificity of an established serological test). (05 Mar 2000) |
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| analytical specificity | Freedom from interference by any element or compound other than the analyte. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| antibody specificity | The property of antibodies which enables them to react with some antigenic determinants and not with others. Specificity is dependent on chemical composition, physical forces, and molecular structure at the binding site. (12 Dec 1998) |
| biological specificity | <biology, zoology> The specific, orderly patterns of development and metabolism which define and characterise an individual and its species. (21 Mar 1998) |
| sensitivity and specificity | Measures for assessing the results of diagnostic and screening tests. Sensitivity represents the proportion of truly diseased persons in a screened population who are identified as being diseased by the test. It is a measure of the probability of correctly diagnosing a condition. Specificity is the proportion of truly nondiseased persons who are so identified by the screening test. It is a measure of the probability of correctly identifying a nondiseased person. (12 Dec 1998) |
| species specificity | Restriction of a characteristic or response to the members of one species; it usually refers to that property of the immune response which differentiates one species from another on the basis of antigen recognition, but the concept is not limited to immunology and is used loosely at levels higher than the species. (12 Dec 1998) |
| specificity | The ability of the immune response to interact with individual antigens. (09 Oct 1997) |
| specificity constant | Ratio of the maximum velocity (Vmax) or kcat to the true Km value for a specific substrate in an enzyme-catalyzed reaction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| substrate specificity | A characteristic feature of enzyme activity in relation to the kind of substrate on which the enzyme or catalytic molecule reacts. (12 Dec 1998) |
| diagnostic specificity | The probability (P) that, given the absence of disease (D), a normal test result (T) excludes disease; i.e., P(T/D). (05 Mar 2000) |
| organ specificity | Restriction of a characteristic or response to a particular organ of the body; it usually refers to that property of the immune response which differentiates one organ from another on the basis of antigen recognition, but the concept is not limited to immunology. (12 Dec 1998) |
| blood relative | A relative of a person sharing some of the sources from which genes are derived. These will include many of the genes that operate in the blood and its constituents but no special importance attaches to the blood as a vehicle of inheritance. Spouses are not ordinarily blood relatives and when they are, the marriage is consanguineous and carries a higher risk than average of progeny homozygous by descent from ancestors in common. Such marriages are discouraged and within certain degrees of kindred may be illegal. Origin: a folk metaphor of breeding (05 Mar 2000) |
| relative | One who, or that which, relates to, or is considered in its relation to, something else; a relative object or term; one of two object or term; one of two objects directly connected by any relation. Specifically: A person connected by blood or affinity; strictly, one allied by blood; a relation; a kinsman or kinswoman. "Confining our care . . . To ourselves and relatives." . A relative prnoun; a word which relates to, or represents, another word or phrase, called its antecedent; as, the relatives " who", "which", "that". Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| relative accommodation | Quantity of accommodation required for single binocular vision for any specified distance, or for any particular degree of convergence. (05 Mar 2000) |
| relative afferent pupillary defect | An asymmetry of the pupillomotor input between the two eyes; tested by alternating the light from one eye to the other and comparing the direct light reactions. (05 Mar 2000) |
| relative aperture | <microscopy> The ratio of the focal length of a lens to the diameter of its entrance pupil. This gives a number known as the f-number, usually written f:8, f:16, etc. Thus, if the focal length is divided by the number 8, 16, etc., the result will be the diameter of the entrance pupil of the lens, or if the diaphragm of the lens is wide open it will be very nearly the diameter of the free aperture of the lens. See: F-number. (05 Aug 1998) |