| receiver operating characteristic | A plot of the sensitivity of a diagnostic test as a function of non-specificity (one minus the specificity). The ROC curve indicates the intrinsic properties of a test's diagnostic performance and can be used to compare the relative merits of competing procedures. (05 Mar 2000) |
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| 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) |
| recension | 1. The act of reviewing or revising; review; examination; enumeration. 2. Specifically, the review of a text (as of an ancient author) by an editor; critical revisal and establishment. 3. The result of such a work; a text established by critical revision; an edited version. Origin: L. Recensio: cf. F. Recension. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| recent | 1. Of late origin, existence, or occurrence; lately come; not of remote date, antiquated style, or the like; not already known, familiar, worn out, trite, etc.; fresh; novel; new; modern; as, recent news. "The ancients were of opinion, that a considerable portion of that country [Egypt] was recent, and formed out of the mud discharged into the neighboring sea by the Nile." (Woodward) 2. <geology> Of or pertaining to the present or existing epoch; as, recent shells. Origin: L. Recens, -entis: cf. F. Recent. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| receptacle | The main stem of a flower (torus), in ferns, a main stem on which sporangia arise. (09 Oct 1997) |
| receptacular | <botany> Pertaining to the receptacle, or growing on it; as, the receptacular chaff or scales in the sunflower. Origin: Cf. F. Receptaculaire. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| receptaculum | Origin: L. <anatomy> A receptacle; as, the receptaculum of the chyle. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| receptaculum chyli | A dilated sac at the lower end of the thoracic duct into which the intestinal trunk and two lumbar lymphatic trunks open; it occurs inconstantly and when present is located posterior to the aorta on the anterior aspect of the bodies of the first and second lumbar vertebrae. Synonym: ampulla chyli, chyle cistern, chylocyst, Pecquet's cistern, Pecquet's reservoir, receptaculum chyli, receptaculum pecqueti. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receptaculum ganglii petrosi | A small and often only faintly marked depression on the inferior surface of the petrous portion of the temporal bone, between the jugular fossa and the opening of the carotid canal; here opens the canaliculus tympanicus transmitting the tympanic nerve. Synonym: fossula petrosa, petrosal fossa, receptaculum ganglii petrosi. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receptaculum pecqueti | A dilated sac at the lower end of the thoracic duct into which the intestinal trunk and two lumbar lymphatic trunks open; it occurs inconstantly and when present is located posterior to the aorta on the anterior aspect of the bodies of the first and second lumbar vertebrae. Synonym: ampulla chyli, chyle cistern, chylocyst, Pecquet's cistern, Pecquet's reservoir, receptaculum chyli, receptaculum pecqueti. (05 Mar 2000) |
| reception | 1. The act of receiving; receipt; admission; as, the reception of food into the stomach; the reception of a letter; the reception of sensation or ideas; reception of evidence. 2. The state of being received. 3. The act or manner of receiving, especially. Of receiving visitors; entertainment; hence, an occasion or ceremony of receiving guests; as, a hearty reception; an elaborate reception. "What reception a poem may find." (Goldsmith) 4. Acceptance, as of an opinion or doctrine. "Philosophers who have quitted the popular doctrines of their countries have fallen into as extravagant opinions as even common reception countenanced." (Locke) 5. A retaking; a recovery. Origin: F. Reception, L. Receptio, fr. Recipere, receptum. See Receive. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
| receptive | Sensitive or responsive to stimulus. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receptive aphasia | Aphasia in which there is impairment in the comprehension of spoken and written words, associated with effortless, articulated, but paraphrasic, speech and writing; malformed words, substitute words, and enologisms are charcteristic. When severe, and speech is incomprehensible, it is called jargon aphasia. The patient often appears unaware of his deficit. Synonym: fluent aphasia, impressive aphasia, posterior aphasia, psychosensory aphasia, receptive aphasia, Wernicke's aphasia. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receptive field | That part of the retina whose photoreceptors (rods and cones) pertain to a single optic nerve fibre. The response of a neuron to stimulation of its receptive field depends on the type of neuron and the part of the field that is illuminated; an "on-centre" neuron is stimulated by light falling at the centre of its receptive field and inhibited by light falling at the periphery; an "off-centre" neuron reacts in exactly the opposite fashion; that is, it is inhibited by light falling at the centre of its receptive field. In either case, the net response depends on a complex switching action in the retina. When an entire receptive field is equally illuminated, the response of receptors at the centre of the field predominates. (05 Mar 2000) |
| receptoma | An obsolete term for chemodectoma. (05 Mar 2000) |