| sediment | <biology> A precipitate, especially one that is formed spontaneously. Origin: L. Sedimentum (18 Nov 1997) |
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| sedimentary | Of or pertaining to sediment; formed by sediment; containing matter that has subsided. Sedimentary rocks. <geology> See Aqueous rocks, under Aqueous. Origin: Cf. F. Sedimentaire. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| sedimentary cataract | A hypermature cataract in which the nucleus gravitates within the capsule. Synonym: sedimentary cataract. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sedimentate | <biology> A precipitate, especially one that is formed spontaneously. Origin: L. Sedimentum (18 Nov 1997) |
| sedimentation | <procedure> The act of causing the deposit of sediment, especially by the use of a centrifugal machine. (18 Nov 1997) |
| sedimentation coefficient | <physics> The ratio of the velocity of sedimentation of a molecule to the centrifugal force required to produce this sedimentation. It is a constant for a particular species of molecule and the value is given in Svedberg units that, it should be noted, are nonadditive. (18 Nov 1997) |
| sedimentation constant | The constant s in Svedberg's equation for estimating the molecular weight of a protein from the rate of movement in a centrifugal field:where M is the molecular weight, R the gas constant, T the absolute temperature, D the diffusion constant (in square centimeters per second), V the partial specific volume of the protein, ρ the density of the solvent. The constant s, with dimensions of time per unit of field force (s = drb/dt /ω2ro where rb is the position at time t, r0 is the position at time 0, and ω is the angular velocity) is usually between 1 × 10-13 and 200 × 10-13 second. The Svedberg unit (S) is arbitrarily set at 1 × 10-13 second and is very often used to describe the sedimentation rate of macromolecules; e.g., 4 S RNA. Synonym: sedimentation coefficient. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sedimentation rate | A sedimentation rate, or sed rate , is a blood test that detects and monitors inflammation activity. It is measured by recording the rate at which red blood cells (rbcs) sediment in a tube over time. It increases (the rbcs sediment faster) with more inflammation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| sedimentation velocity | The rate of movement of a substance, typically a macromolecule, in centrifugation; these centrifugation studies provide data on the structure of the macromolecule. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sedimentator | A centrifuge. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sedimentometer | A photographic apparatus for the automatic recording of the blood sedimentation rate. Origin: sediment + G. Metron, measure (05 Mar 2000) |
| sedimentum | Synonym: sediment. Origin: L. (05 Mar 2000) |
| sedimentum lateritium | A sediment of urates in the urine. Synonym: sedimentum lateritium. (05 Mar 2000) |