| operating table | A table on which the patient lies during a surgical operation. (05 Mar 2000) |
|---|---|
| receiver operating characteristic | A plot of the sensitivity of a diagnostic test as a function of non-specificity (one minus the specificity). The ROC curve indicates the intrinsic properties of a test's diagnostic performance and can be used to compare the relative merits of competing procedures. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receiver operating characteristic curve | A plot of true positive versus false positive results, usually in a trial of a diagnostic test. A graphical means of assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons. Synonym: ROC curve. (05 Mar 2000) |
| standard operating procedure | <microscopy> A written set of instructions detailing the normal procedures for operating a piece of equipment. WWW: Available online (05 Aug 1998) |
| operating microscope | <instrument> A binocular microscope used to obtain good visualization of fine structures in the operating field; in the standing type of microscope, a motorised zoom lens system operated by hand or foot controls provides an adjustable working distance; in headborne models, interchangeable oculars provide the magnification needed. Synonym: operating microscope. (05 Mar 2000) |
| operating room information systems | Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of operating room services and facilities. (12 Dec 1998) |
| operating room nursing | The functions of the professional nurse in the operating room. (12 Dec 1998) |
| operating rooms | Facilities equipped for performing surgery. (12 Dec 1998) |
| operating room technicians | Specially trained personnel to assist in routine technical procedures in the operating room. (12 Dec 1998) |
| universal | 1. Of or pertaining to the universe; extending to, including, or affecting, the whole number, quantity, or space; unlimited; general; all-reaching; all-pervading; as, universal ruin; universal good; universal benevolence or benefice. "Anointed universal King." "The universal cause Acts not by partial, but by general laws." (Pope) "This universal frame began." (Dryden) Universal and its derivatives are used in common discourse for general and its derivatives. See General. 2. Constituting or considered as a whole; total; entire; whole; as, the universal world. "At which the universal host up dent A shout that tore Hell's concave." (Milton) 3. <mechanics> Adapted or adaptable to all or to various uses, shapes, sizes, etc.; as, a universal milling machine. 4. <logic> Forming the whole of a genus; relatively unlimited in extension; affirmed or denied of the whole of a subject; as, a universal proposition; opposed to particular; e. G. (universal affirmative) All men are animals; (universal negative) No men are omniscient. 5. Universal dial, a dial by which the hour may be found in any part of the world, or under any elevation of the pole. 6. <astronomy> Universal instrument, a contrivance used for joining two shafts or parts of a machine endwise, so that the one may give rotary motion to the other when forming an angle with it, or may move freely in all directions with respect to the other, as by means of a cross connecting the forked ends of the two shafts. Since this joint can not act when the angle of the shafts is less than 140 deg, a double joint of the same kind is sometimes used for giving rotary motion at angles less than 140 deg. 7. <botany> Universal umbel, a primary or general umbel; the first or largest set of rays in a compound umbel; opposed to partial umbel. A universal involucre is not unfrequently placed at the foot of a universal umbel. Synonym: General, all, whole, total. Origin: L. Universalis: cf. F. Universel, OF. Also universal. (10 Mar 1998) |
| universal antidote | <pharmacology> A preparation of activated charcoal that can adsorb and therefore neutralise many toxic chemicals. (09 Oct 1997) |
| universal appliance | A combination of the edgewise and ribbon arch appliance techniques, affording precise control of individual teeth in all planes of space. (05 Mar 2000) |
| universal coverage | Health insurance coverage for all persons in a state or country, rather than for some subset of the population. It may extend to the unemployed as well as to the employed; to aliens as well as to citisens; for pre-existing conditions as well as for current illnesses; for mental as well as for physical conditions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| universal donor | In blood grouping, a person belonging to group O; i.e., one whose erythrocytes do not contain either agglutinogen A or B and are, therefore, not agglutinated by plasma containing either of the ordinary isoagglutinins, alpha or beta. (05 Mar 2000) |
| universal gas constant | <radiobiology> R = 8.314 x 10^7 ergs per degree C per mole. (09 Oct 1997) |