| incomplete antigen | <immunology, molecular biology> Could be considered an isolated epitope: although a hapten (by definition) has an antibody directed against it, the hapten alone will not induce an immune response if injected into an animal, it must be conjugated to a carrier (usually a protein). The hapten constitutes a single antigenic determinant, perhaps the best known example is dinitro phenol (DNP) that can be conjugated to BSA and against which antiDNP antibodies are produced (antibodies to the BSA can be adsorbed out). Because the hapten is monovalent, immune complex formation will be blocked if the soluble hapten is present as well as the hapten carrier conjugate (assuming there is more than one hapten per carrier then an immune precipitate can be formed). Competitive inhibition by the soluble small molecule is sometimes referred to as haptenic inhibition and this term has carried over into lectin mediated haemagglutination where monosaccharides are added to try to block haemagglutination: the blocking sugar defines the specificity of the lectin. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| incomplete ascertainment | Method of locating affected individuals in which probability of locating any specific patient has a known value between 0 and 1. Synonym: truncate ascertainment. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete atrioventricular dissociation | A-V dissociation interrupted by ventricular captures. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete cleavage | Incomplete separation of the blastomeres, with the divisions being limited to the nonyolked portion of the egg. Synonym: incomplete cleavage. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete conjoined twins | Conjoined twin's, the two components of which equal one another but are less than entire individuals. Monoamniotic twins, twin's within a common amnion; such twin's are monovular in origin and may be conjoined. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete disinfectant | A disinfectant that kills only the vegetative forms, leaving the spores uninjured. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete dominance | <genetics> Two alleles of a gene which result in distinctly different phenotypes, but when they are both inherited together in an individual (one from the mother and one from the father - called heterozygosity), the individual ends up with a blend of the two phenotypes. For example: if one allele is for red hair and the other allele is for blue hair, then the individual will have purple hair. (This is in contrast to codominance, where the individual would inherit patches of blue and patches of red hair). (13 Nov 1997) |
| incomplete fistula | A fistula that ends in a cul-de-sac, being open at one extremity only. Synonym: incomplete fistula. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete foot presentation | See: breech presentation. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete fracture | A fracture in which the line of fracture does not include the entire bone. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete hemianopia | Hemianopsia involving less than half the visual field of each eye. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete metamorphosis | The development of a nymph into the imago which in many respects resembles the former; characteristic of more primitive insect orders, such as Heteroptera (true bugs), Orthoptera (locusts, grasshoppers), and Blatterria (roaches). Synonym: heterometabolous metamorphosis. (05 Mar 2000) |
| incomplete tetanus | Tetanus in which each stimulus causes a contraction to be initiated when the muscle has only partly relaxed from the previous contraction. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Freund's incomplete adjuvant | Water-in-oil emulsion of antigen, without mycobacteria. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anterior ground bundle | The ground bundle of the anterior column of the spinal cord. See: fasciculi proprii. Synonym: anterior ground bundle. Origin: L. Dim. Of fascis, bundle (05 Mar 2000) |