| half-tetrad analysis | <genetics> The analysis of tetrad chromosomes (a pair of homologous chromosomes, thus four total chromosomes) after recombination when only half of the tetrad (two of the four chromosomes) can be analysed. (13 Nov 1997) |
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| half-time | The time, in a first-order chemical (or enzymic) reaction, for half of the substance (substrate) to be converted or to disappear. Compare: half-life. (05 Mar 2000) |
| half-value layer | <radiobiology> The thickness of a specified material (usually a specific absorber), which attenuates a beam of radiation so that the exposure rate or absorbed dose rate at a specified point is reduced by half. (20 Sep 2002) |
| drug half-life | The amount of time it takes for one-half of an administered drug to be lost through biological processes (metabolism and elimination). (27 Sep 1997) |
| 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) |
| elimination half-life | <pharmacology> The time it takes for the body to eliminate or breakdown half of a dose of a pharmacologic agent. (09 Oct 1997) |