| PPC | pentose phosphate cycle; peripheral posterior curve; plasma prothrombin conversion; pneumopericardiu... |
|---|---|
| PRC | packed red cells; peer review committee; phase response curve; plasma renin concentration; professio... |
| P-V | pressure-volume [curve] |
| TAC | tachykinin; terminal antrum contraction; tetracaine, adrenalin, and cocaine; time-activity curve; to... |
| VFC | ventricular function curve |
| focal length | <microscopy> The distance from the optical centre of the lens to the focal point<microscopy> The focal length of an objective and its working distance are directly proportional. (05 Aug 1998) |
|---|---|
| leg length inequality | A condition in which one of a pair of legs fails to grow as long as the other. (12 Dec 1998) |
| length | 1. The longest, or longer, dimension of any object, in distinction from breadth or width; extent of anything from end to end; the longest line which can be drawn through a body, parallel to its sides; as, the length of a church, or of a ship; the length of a rope or line. 2. A portion of space or of time considered as measured by its length; often in the plural. "Large lengths of seas and shores." (Shak) "The future but a length behind the past." (Dryden) 3. The quality or state of being long, in space or time; extent; duration; as, some sea birds are remarkable for the length of their wings; he was tired by the length of the sermon, and the length of his walk. 4. A single piece or subdivision of a series, or of a number of long pieces which may be connected together; as, a length of pipe; a length of fence. 5. Detail or amplification; unfolding; continuance as, to pursue a subject to a great length. "May Heaven, great monarch, still augment your bliss. With length of days and every day like this." (Dryden) 6. Distance. "He had marched to the length of Exeter." (Clarendon) at length. At or in the full extent; without abbreviation; as, let the name be inserted at length. At the end or conclusion; after a long period. See Syn. Of At last, under Last. At arm's length. See Arm. Origin: OE. Lengthe, AS. Leng, fr. Land, long, long; akin to D. Lengte, Dan. Laengde, Sw. Langd, Icel. Lengd. See Long. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| length-breadth index | The ratio of the maximal breadth to the maximal length of the head, obtained by the formula: (breadth × 100)/length. Synonym: length-breadth index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| length-height index | The relation of the height to the length of the skull: (height × 100)/length. Synonym: height-length index, length-height index, transversovertical index. (05 Mar 2000) |
| length of stay | The period of confinement of a patient to a hospital or other health facility. (12 Dec 1998) |
| alignment curve | The line passing through the centre of the teeth laterally in the direction of the curve of the dental arch. (05 Mar 2000) |
| anti-Monson curve | In dentistry, a curve of occlusion which is convex upward. Synonym: anti-Monson curve. (05 Mar 2000) |
| area under curve | A statistical means of summarizing information from a series of measurements on one individual. It is frequently used in clinical pharmacology where the auc from serum levels can be interpreted as the total uptake of whatever has been administered. As a plot of the concentration of a drug against time, after a single dose of medicine, producing a standard shape curve, it is a means of comparing the bioavailability of the same drug made by different companies. (12 Dec 1998) |
| area under the curve | A measure of how much of a drug reaches the bloodstream in a set period of time, usually 24 hours. AUC is calculated by plotting drug blood concentration at various times during a 24-hour or longer period and then measuring the area under the curve between 0 and 24 hours as shown in the figure to the right. (09 Oct 1997) |
| Barnes' curve | A curve corresponding in general with Carus' curve, being the segment of a circle whose centre is the promontory of the sacrum. (05 Mar 2000) |
| biphasic growth curve | <cell culture, microbiology> A particular type of growth curve seen in cultured microorganisms in which they have two exponential growth stages separated by a plateau phase. This double-hump curve is produced when the microbes are cultured using two carbon sources, one of which must be used up before the second can be used. (19 Jan 1998) |
| buccal curve | The line of the dental arch from the canine, or cuspid tooth to the third molar. (05 Mar 2000) |
| gaussian curve | Continuous frequency distribution of infinite range. Its properties are as follows: 1) continuous, symmetrical distribution with both tails extending to infinity; 2) arithmetic mean, mode, and median identical; and 3) shape completely determined by the mean and standard deviation. (12 Dec 1998) |
| receiver operating characteristic curve | A plot of true positive versus false positive results, usually in a trial of a diagnostic test. A graphical means of assessing the ability of a screening test to discriminate between healthy and diseased persons. Synonym: ROC curve. (05 Mar 2000) |