| BIR | basic incidence rate; British Institute of Radiology |
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| BLS | bare lymphocyte syndrome; basic life support; blind loop syndrome; blood and lymphatic system; blood... |
| BLSA | basic life support ambulance |
| BP | Bachelor of Pharmacy; back pressure; barometric pressure; basic protein; bathroom privileges; bed pa... |
| BPI | bacterial permeability-increasing [protein]; Basic Personality Inventory; beef-pork insulin; blood p... |
| number | 1. To count; to reckon; to ascertain the units of; to enumerate. "If a man can number the dust of the earth, then shall thy seed also be numbered." (Gen. Xiii. 16) 2. To reckon as one of a collection or multitude. "He was numbered with the transgressors." (Is. Liii. 12) 3. To give or apply a number or numbers to; to assign the place of in a series by order of number; to designate the place of by a number or numeral; as, to number the houses in a street, or the apartments in a building. 4. To amount; to equal in number; to contain; to consist of; as, the army numbers fifty thousand. "Thy tears can not number the dead." (Campbell) Numbering machine, a machine for printing consecutive numbers, as on railway tickets, bank bills, etc. Synonym: To count, enumerate, calculate, tell. Origin: OE. Nombren, noumbren, F. Nombrer, fr. L. Numerare, numeratum. See Number. 1. That which admits of being counted or reckoned; a unit, or an aggregate of units; a numerable aggregate or collection of individuals; an assemblage made up of distinct things expressible by figures. 2. A collection of many individuals; a numerous assemblage; a multitude; many. "Ladies are always of great use to the party they espouse, and never fail to win over numbers." (Addison) 3. A numeral; a word or character denoting a number; as, to put a number on a door. 4. Numerousness; multitude. "Number itself importeth not much in armies where the people are of weak courage." (Bacon) 5. The state or quality of being numerable or countable. "Of whom came nations, tribes, people, and kindreds out of number." (2 Esdras III. 7) 6. Quantity, regarded as made up of an aggregate of separate things. 7. That which is regulated by count; poetic measure, as divisions of time or number of syllables; hence, poetry, verse; chiefly used in the plural. "I lisped in numbers, for the numbers came." (Pope) 8. The distinction of objects, as one, or more than one (in some languages, as one, or two, or more than two), expressed (usually) by a difference in the form of a word; thus, the singular number and the plural number are the names of the forms of a word indicating the objects denoted or referred to by the word as one, or as more than one. 9. <mathematics> The measure of the relation between quantities or things of the same kind; that abstract species of quantity which is capable of being expressed by figures; numerical value. Abstract number, Abundant number, Cardinal number, etc. See Abstract, Abundant, etc. In numbers, in numbered parts; as, a book published in numbers. Origin: OE. Nombre, F. Nombre, L. Numerus; akin to Gr. That which is dealt out, fr. To deal out, distribute. See Numb, Nomad, and cf. Numerate, Numero, Numerous. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| dibucaine number | A test for differentiation of one of several forms of atypical pseudocholinesterases that are unable to inactivate succinylcholine at normal rates; based upon percent inhibition of the enzymes by dibucaine, normal enzyme has a DN of 75 and above, heterozygous atypical enzyme has a DN of 40-70, and homozygous atypical enzyme has a DN of less than 20. See: fluoride number. (05 Mar 2000) |
| dominance threshold number | The number at which 50 percent of the total dominance measure for a given stratum is represented by one or more plant species when ranked in descending order of abundance (i.e., from most to least abundant), when this number is immediately exceeded, the dominant species for the stratum are realised. (09 Oct 1997) |
| iodine number | An indication of the quantity of unsaturated fatty acids present in a fat; it represents the number of grams of iodine absorbed by each 100 g of fat. See: hydrogen number. Synonym: iodine value. (05 Mar 2000) |
| oxidation number | The number of electrons necessary to restore an atom in a combined state to its elemental form. (09 Oct 1997) |
| thiocyanogen number | The number of grams of thiocyanogen taken up by 100 g of fat; analogous to the iodine number, except that thiocyanogen will not add to all the double bonds in polyunsaturated fatty acids as will iodine. Synonym: thiocyanogen value. (05 Mar 2000) |
| electronic number | <chemistry> The number of electrons in the outermost orbit (valence shell) of an element. (05 Mar 2000) |
| transport number | The fraction of the total current carried through a solution by a particular type of ion present in that solution. (05 Mar 2000) |
| turnover number | <biochemistry, pharmacology> Equivalent to Vmax, being the number of substrate molecules converted to product by one molecule of enzyme in unit time, when the substrate is saturating. (18 Nov 1997) |
| Kestenbaum's number | The difference between the two pupil diameters when each eye is measured in bright light with the other eye tightly covered; an indicator of the relative afferent pupillary defect in patients with two normally innervated irises. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Knoop hardness number | A number obtained by dividing the load in kg applied to a pyramid-shaped diamond of specific size divided by the projected area of the impression: KHN = L/A, where A= the projected area of the impression in mm2 and L= the load in kg; used for measurements of hardness of any materials, especially very hard and brittle substances such as tooth dentin and enamel. (05 Mar 2000) |
| Koettstorfer number | The number of milligrams of KOH required to saponify 1 g of fat; an approximate measure of the average molecular weight of a fat, with which it varies inversely. Synonym: Koettstorfer number. (05 Mar 2000) |
| fluoride number | The percent inhibition of pseudocholinesterase produced by fluorides; used to differentiate normal from atypical pseudocholinesterases. See: dibucaine number. (05 Mar 2000) |
| f-number | <radiobiology> In optics, denotes the ratio of the equivalent focal length of an objective lens to the diameter of its entrance pupil. (09 Oct 1997) |
| linking number | A property of a long biopolymer (such as duplex DNA) equal to the number of twists (related to the frequency of turns around the central axis of the helix) plus the writhing number. (05 Mar 2000) |