| MEC | median effective concentration; middle ear canal; middle ear cell; minimum effective concentration |
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| MIC | maternal and infant care; medical intensive care; Medical Interfraternity Conference; microscopy; mi... |
| MLC | minimum lethal concentration; mixed leukocyte culture; mixed ligand chelate; mixed lymphocyte concen... |
| MTC | mass transfer coefficient; maximum tolerated concentration; maximum toxic concentration; medical tes... |
| PCC | Pasteur Culture Collection; percutaneous cecostomy; pheochromocytoma; phosphate carrier compound; pl... |
| fluorescence polarization immunoassay | Fluoroimmunoassay where detection of the hapten-antibody reaction is based on measurement of the increased polarization of fluorescence-labelled hapten when it is combined with antibody. The assay is very useful for the measurement of small haptenic antigens such as drugs at low concentrations. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| fluorescence recovery after photobleaching | Many fluorochromes are bleached by exposure to exciting light. If, for example: the cell surface is labelled with a fluorescent probe and an area bleached by laser illumination, then the bleached patch that starts off as a dark area will gradually recover fluorescence. The recovery is due to the re population of the area by unbleached molecules and diffusion of bleached molecules to other areas. The rate and extent of recovery are a measure of the fluidity of the membrane and the proportion of labelled molecules that are free to exchange with adjacent areas. The technique is usually applied to cell surface fluidity or viscosity measurements, but is also applicable to other structures. (18 Nov 1997) |
| fluorescence spectrum | Fluorescence evoked over a range of wavelengths when the excitation wavelength is at a maximum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| M concentration | The maximum number of bacterial cells which can be produced in a unit volume of growth medium. (05 Mar 2000) |
| mean corpuscular haemoglobin concentration | Hgb/Hct;the average haemoglobin concentration in a given volume of packed red cells, calculated from the haemoglobin therein and the haematocrit, in erythrocyte indices. (05 Mar 2000) |
| peak plasma drug concentration | <pharmacology> The highest level of drug that can be obtained in the blood usually following multiple doses. (09 Oct 1997) |
| minimal alveolar concentration | The end-alveolar concentration of an inhalation anaesthetic which prevents somatic response to a painful stimulus in 50% of individuals; an index of relative potency of inhalation anaesthetics. Synonym: minimal anaesthetic concentration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| minimal anaesthetic concentration | The end-alveolar concentration of an inhalation anaesthetic which prevents somatic response to a painful stimulus in 50% of individuals; an index of relative potency of inhalation anaesthetics. Synonym: minimal anaesthetic concentration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| minimal inhibitory concentration | <microbiology, pharmacology> The lowest concentration of antibiotic sufficient to inhibit bacterial growth when tested in vitro. (05 Mar 2000) |
| concentration | 1. Increase in strength by evaporation. 2. <chemistry> The ratio of the mass or volume of a solute to the mass or volume of the solution or solvent. Origin: L. Concentratio (18 Nov 1997) |
| concentration camps | Facilities in which war or political prisoners are confined. (12 Dec 1998) |
| concentration cell | <physiology> An electrochemical cell in which the two compartments contain the same solutions, but at different concentrations. (05 Jan 1998) |
| concentration-effect curve | <pharmacology> This is a graph produced to show the relationship between the exposure concentration of a drug or other foreign chemical and the magnitude of the graded effect that it produces. (05 Jan 1998) |
| concentration gradient | <chemistry> A column of liquid in which the density varies continually with position, usually as a consequence of variation of concentration of a solute. Such gradients may be established by progressive mixing of solutions of different density as for example: sucrose gradients) or by centrifuge induced redistribution of solute (as for caesium chloride gradients). Density gradients are widely used for centrifugal and gravity induced separations of cells, organelles and macromolecules. The separations may exploit density differences between particles or primarily differences in size, in which latter case the function of the gradient is chiefly to stabilise the liquid column against mixing. (12 Jan 1998) |
| concentration-response curve | <pharmacology> This is a graph produced to show the relation between the exposure concentration of a drug (or other chemical) and the degree of response it produces, as measured by the percentage of the exposed population showing a defined, often quantal, effect. (05 Jan 1998) |