| CAI | cellular adaptive immunotherapy; complete androgen insensitivity; computer-assisted instruction |
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| CAL | cafe au lait; calcium test; calculated average life; calories; chronic airflow limitation; computer-... |
| CAM | calf aortic microsome; cell adhesion molecule; cell-associating molecule; chorioallantoic membrane; ... |
| CAMP | Christie-Atkins-Munch-Petersen [test]; computer-assisted menu planning; concentration of adenosine m... |
| CAMS | computer-assisted monitoring system |
| decision making | The process of making a selective intellectual judgment when presented with several complex alternatives consisting of several variables, and usually defining a course of action or an idea. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| decision making, organizational | The process by which decisions are made in an institution or other organization. (12 Dec 1998) |
| decision notice | The written record of a federal agency decision after an environmental assessment. The decision notice chooses one of the alternatives, or a blend of the alternatives. A decision notice is subject to appeal. (05 Dec 1998) |
| decision support systems, clinical | Computer-based information systems used to integrate clinical and patient information and provide support for decision-making in patient care. (12 Dec 1998) |
| decision support systems, management | Computer-based systems that enable management to interrogate the computer on an ad hoc basis for various kinds of information in the organization, which predict the effect of potential decisions. (12 Dec 1998) |
| decision support techniques | Mathematical or statistical procedures used as aids in making a decision. They are frequently used in medical decision-making. (12 Dec 1998) |
| decision theory | A theoretical technique utilizing a group of related constructs to describe or prescribe how individuals or groups of people choose a course of action when faced with several alternatives and a variable amount of knowledge about the determinants of the outcomes of those alternatives. (12 Dec 1998) |
| decision tree | Alternative choices available at each stage of deciding how to manage a clinical problem, displayed graphically; at each branch or decision node, the probabilities of each outcome that can be predicted are shown; the relative worth of each outcome is described in terms of its utility or quality of life, e.g., as measured by probability of life expectancy or freedom from disability. (05 Mar 2000) |
| decision trees | A graphic device used in decision analysis, series of decision options are represented as branches (hierarchical). (12 Dec 1998) |
| assisted cephalic delivery | Extraction of a foetus that presents by the head. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assisted circulation | Pumping that aids the natural activity of the heart. (12 Dec 1998) |
| assisted mechanical ventilation | <anaesthetics> The use of a mechanical device to fill the lungs with oxygenated air then allow time for passive exhalation. (27 Sep 1997) |
| assisted reproductive technology | Originally, a range of techniques for manipulating eggs and sperm in order to overcome infertility. Encompasses drug treatments to stimulate ovulation; surgical methods for removing eggs (e.g., laparoscopy and ultrasound-guided transvaginal aspiration) and for reimplanting embryos (e.g., zygot intrafallopian transfer (or ZIFT); in vitro and in vivo fertilization (e.g., artificial insemination and gamete intrafallopian transfer (or GIFT); ex utero and in utero foetal surgery; as well as laboratory regimes for freezing and screening sperm and embryos, and micromanipulating and cloning embryos. The field's first major success came in 1978 with the birth of "test-tube baby" Louise Brown, engineered by Steptoe, Edwards, et al., of England. As the technologies spread, they increasingly are being employed for purposes beyond infertility, i.e., to reduce the risk of, or avoid passing on, hereditary disease and to select for infant sex. Further uses that would aim at improving the "quality" of offspring have been widely discussed and raise profound legal and ethical questions. See: eugenics. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assisted respiration | Application of mechanically or manually generated positive pressure to gas(es) in or about the airway during inhalation as a means of augmenting movement of gases into the lungs. Synonym: assisted respiration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| assisted ventilation | Application of mechanically or manually generated positive pressure to gas(es) in or about the airway during inhalation as a means of augmenting movement of gases into the lungs. Synonym: assisted respiration. (05 Mar 2000) |