| NLM | National Library of Medicine; noise level monitor |
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| AERP | antegrade effective refractory period; atrial effective refractory period |
| ESP | early systolic paradox; echo spacing; effective sensory projection; effective systolic pressure; end... |
| MEC | median effective concentration; middle ear canal; middle ear cell; minimum effective concentration |
| PQOL | Perceived Quality of Life [scale] |
| effective dose | The dose that produces the desired effect; when followed by a subscript (generally "ED50"), it denotes the dose having such an effect on a certain percentage (e.g., 50%) of the test animals; ED50 is the median effective dose, in radiation protection, the sum of the equivalent doses in all tissues and organs of the body weighted for tissue effects of radiation. The unit of effective dose is the sievert (Sv), epilation dose, the minimum amount of radiation sufficient to produce hair loss, usually in 10 to 14 days. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| effective half-life | <radiobiology> Time required for a radioactive substance contained in a biological system (such as a person or an animal) to reduce its radioactivity by half, as a combination result of radioactive decay and biological elimination from the system. (09 Oct 1997) |
| effective osmotic pressure | That part of the total osmotic pressure of a solution that governs the tendency of its solvent to pass across a boundary, usually a semipermeable membrane; it is commonly represented by the product of the total osmotic pressure of the solution and the ratio (corrected for activities) of the number of dissolved particles that do not permeate the bounding membrane to the total number of particles in the solution; equivalent in meaning to tonicity; commonly expressed in equivalent units of osmolality rather than pressure per se. (05 Mar 2000) |
| effective refractory period | The period during which impulses may appear but are too weak to be conducted; the longest interval between adequate stimuli, falling just short of the time necessary to allow a propagated response to be evoked in a tissue by the second stimulus; it differs from the functional refractory period in that it is a measure of stimulus interval rather than response interval of time. (05 Mar 2000) |
| effective renal blood flow | The amount of blood flowing to the parts of the kidney that are involved with production of constituents of urine. (05 Mar 2000) |
| effective renal plasma flow | <physiology> The amount of plasma flowing to the parts of the kidney that have a function in the production of constituents of urine; the clearance of substances such as iodopyracet and p-aminohippuric acid, assuming that the extraction ratio in the peritubular capillaries is 100%. It is the amount of plasma perfusing the kidney tubules per unit time, generally measured by p-aminohippurate clearance. It should be differentiated from renal plasma flow which is approximately 10% greater than the effective renal plasma flow. (07 Mar 2000) |
| effective temperature | A comfort index or scale which takes into account the temperature of air, its moisture content, and movement. (05 Mar 2000) |
| effective temperature index | A composite index of environmental comfort which is compared after exposure to different combinations of air temperature, humidity, and movement. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ACE level | <investigation> This is a blood test which measures the concentration of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) in the bloodstream. Elevations in angiotensin-converting enzyme are seen sarcoidosis, histoplasmosis, alcoholic cirrhosis, asbestosis, berylliosis, diabetes, Hodgkin's disease, hyperthyroidism, amyloidosis, primary biliary cirrhosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, pulmonary embolism, scleroderma, silicosis, tuberculosis, Gaucher's disease and leprosy. The normal values are 18 to 67 U/ml over 20 years of age (people under 20 have higher levels). (15 Jan 1998) |
| acoustic reference level | The biological reference level for sound measurements. When the term decibel is used to indicate the noise level, a reference quantity is implied; this reference value is usually expressed as a sound pressure of 20 micronewtons per square meter. The reference level is referred to as 0 decibels, the baseline of the scale of noise level's; this baseline is considered the weakest sound that can be heard by a person with very good hearing in an extremely quiet location. Other equivalent reference level's still being used include 0.0002 microbar and 0.0002 dyne per square centimeter. (05 Mar 2000) |
| background level | The average amount of a substance present in the environment. Originally referring to naturally occurring phenomena. Used in toxic substance monitoring. (05 Dec 1998) |
| blood porphyrin level | A test which is used to measure red blood cell porphyrin levels. Porphyrins are pigments found in both animal and plant life. This test is useful in evaluating any number of porphyrin disorders (involving the various porphyrins) of red blood cells. Increased levels of coproporphyrins can indicate congenital erythropoietic porphyria or sideroblastic anaemia. Increased protoporphyrins may be seen in infection, thalassaemia, sideroblastic anaemia, iron deficient anaemia, increased erythropoiesis and lead poisoning. Increased uroporphyrins may indicate congenital erythropoietic porphyria or erythropoietic protoporphyria. (27 Sep 1997) |
| carbon dioxide blood level | A measure of the bicarbonate level in the blood based on a venipuncture specimen. The serum carbon dioxide is one of the normally reported values in the electrolytes profile. Lower levels of carbon dioxide indicate an acidosis. The normal level is 20 to 29 mEq/L. Lower than normal levels can indicate diabetic ketoacidosis, lactic acidosis, alcoholic ketoacidosis, kidney disease, renal failure, diarrhoea, Addison's disease, ethylene glycol poisoning or methanol poisoning. Greater than normal levels can be seen with excessive vomiting, hyperaldosteronism and Cushing's syndrome. (27 Sep 1997) |
| vasopressin level | This test measures the amount of ADH in the serum. It is used to detect disorders that may affect the level of ADH in the serum. Normal values are: 0 to 4.7 pg/ml. Elevated ADH levels can indicate a CNS infection, fluid imbalance, CNS tumour, SIADH or acute porphyria. Low levels can indicate: diabetes insipidus or damage to the pituitary gland. (27 Sep 1997) |
| maximum permissible exposure level | The highest level of exposure to a substance, usually noxious, in the environment or during diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, that a body can tolerate without injury. (12 Dec 1998) |