| antibody technology | <molecular biology> Techniques for the synthesis of polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies for use in research, diagnostics and therapeutics. (09 Feb 1998) |
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| assessment | Appraisal. (05 Mar 2000) |
| 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) |
| biological assessment | A specific process required as part of an environmental assessment. An evaluation of potential effects of a proposed project on proposed, endangered, threatened, and sensitive animal and plant species and their habitats. (05 Dec 1998) |
| Brazelton's Neonatal Behavioural Assessment Scale | A scale used by obstetricians, paediatricians, and paediatric psychologists to assess the sensory, motor, emotional and physical development of the neonate, usually beginning at birth or in the first month of life. (05 Mar 2000) |
| recombinant DNA technology | A series of procedures used to join together (recombine) DNA segments. A recombinant DNA molecule is constructed (recombined) from segments from 2 or more different DNA molecules. Under certain conditions, a recombinant DNA molecule can enter a cell and replicate there, autonomously (on its own) or after it has become integrated into a chromosome. (12 Dec 1998) |
| geriatric assessment | Evaluation of the level of physical, physiological, or mental functioning in the older population group. (12 Dec 1998) |
| personality assessment | The determination and evaluation of personality attributes by interviews, observations, tests, or scales. Articles concerning personality measurement are considered to be within scope of this term. (12 Dec 1998) |
| risk assessment | The qualitative or quantitative estimation of the likelihood of adverse effects that may result from exposure to specified health hazards or from the absence of beneficial influences. (12 Dec 1998) |
| health risk assessment | Method of describing an individual's chance of falling ill or dying of a specified condition, based on actuarial calculations that allow for known exposure to risk; expressed as expected age at which death or disease will occur, and intended as a way of drawing an individual's attention to the probable consequences of risk behaviour. (05 Mar 2000) |
| process assessment | An evaluation procedure that focuses on how care is delivered, based on the premise that there are standards of performance for activities undertaken in delivering patient care, in which the specific actions taken, events occurring, and human interactions are compared with accepted standards. (12 Dec 1998) |
| prospective payment assessment commission | The commission charged with evaluating issues and factors which affect the implementation of the prospective payment system. (12 Dec 1998) |
| self assessment (psychology) | Appraisal of one's own personal qualities or traits. (12 Dec 1998) |
| national centre for health care technology | A centre in the public health service which coordinates and administers a program of research, demonstrations, and evaluations of medical technologies and assessments of health care technology. (12 Dec 1998) |
| subjective assessment data | Those facts that are observable and measurable by the nurse. (05 Mar 2000) |