| FEF50/FIF50 | ratio of expiratory flow to inspiratory flow at 50% of forced vital capacity |
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| FMF | familial Mediterranean fever; fetal movement felt; flow microfluorometry; forced midexpiratory flow |
| MEF | maximal expiratory flow; middle ear fluid; midexpiratory flow; migration enhancement factor; mouse e... |
| MFR | mean flow rate; mucus flow rate |
| MIF | macrophage inhibitory factor; melanocyte[-stimulating hormone]-inhibiting factor; maximum inspirator... |
| flow void | In magnetic resonance imaging, the absence of signal from blood whose activated protons leave a region before their magnetization is measured. See: signal void. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| flow-volume curve | The graph produced by plotting the instantaneous flow of respiratory gas against the simultaneous lung volume, usually during maximal forced expiration. (05 Mar 2000) |
| laminar air flow unit | An air-filtering system used at some transplant facilities to remove particulate matter and fungi from the air. (16 Dec 1997) |
| laminar flow | The relative motion of elements of a fluid along smooth parallel paths, which occurs at lower values of Reynolds number. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced expiratory flow | Expiratory flow during measurement of forced vital capacity; subscripts specify the exact parameter measured, e.g., peak instantaneous flow, the instantaneous flow at some specified point on the curve of volume expired versus time, or on the flow-volume curve, the mean flow between two expired volumes. (05 Mar 2000) |
| forced expiratory flow rates | Measurements of rates of airflow during a forced vital capacity determination. (12 Dec 1998) |
| frozen-in flow law | <radiobiology> In a perfect conductor, the total magnetic flux through any surface is a constant. In a plasma which is nearly perfectly conducting, the relevant surfaces move with the plasma, the result is that the plasma is tied to the magnetic field, and the field is tied to the plasma. Motion of the plasma thus deforms the magnetic field, and vice versa. The magnetic flux is said to be frozen into the plasma. (09 Oct 1997) |
| low flow principle | A principle based on the observation that animals can survive prolonged vena caval occlusion without sequelae: if blood from the azygos vein alone is permitted to enter the heart, patients are perfused during cardiac and pulmonary bypass at flows much less than the normal resting cardiac output. Synonym: low flow principle. (05 Mar 2000) |
| ABO blood group | <haematology> The major human blood type system which describes the oligosaccharide glycoprotein antigens found on the surface of human blood cells. According to the type of antigen present, a person may be assigned a blood type of A, B, AB or O. A second type of antigen, the Rh factor, renders a positive or negative blood type. The ABO blood group system is important because it determines who can donate blood to or accept blood from whom. Type A or AB blood will cause an immune reaction in people with type B blood and type B and AB blood will cause a reaction in people with type A blood. Conversely, type O blood has no A or B antigens, so people with type O blood are universal donors. And since AB blood already produces both antigens, people who are type AB can accept any of the other blood types without suffering an immune reaction. (04 Jul 1999) |
| Almen's test for blood | Glacial acetic acid, gum guaiac solution, and hydrogen peroxide are added to an aqueous suspension of the suspected stain; if occult blood or blood pigment is present, a blue colour develops. Synonym: guaiac test, Schonbein's test, van Deen's test. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial blood | Blood that is oxygenated in the lungs, found in the left chambers of the heart and in the arteries, and relatively bright red. (05 Mar 2000) |
| arterial blood gas | A test which analyses arterial blood for oxygen, carbon dioxide and bicarbonate content in addition to blood pH. Used to test the effectiveness of respiration. Acronym: ABG (17 Oct 1997) |
| blood | <haematology> Considered a circulating tissue composed of a fluid portion (plasma) with suspended formed elements (red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets). Arterial blood is the means by which oxygen and nutrients are transported to tissues, venous blood is the means by which carbon dioxide and metabolic by-products are transported for excretion. (05 Jan 1998) |
| blood agar | <cell culture> An agar-based medium which hasbeen enriched with sterilised, defibinated blood (sheep, rabbit or horse). It is used for primary plating andsubculturing, especially to determine bacterial haemolysis. (09 Oct 1997) |
| blood-air barrier | The barrier between capillary blood and alveolar air comprising the alveolar epithelium and capillary endothelium with their adherent basement membranes and epithelial cell cytoplasm. Gaseous exchange occurs across this membrane. (12 Dec 1998) |