| fluctuation analysis | Method used to determine (for example) how many ion channels contribute to the transmembrane current. On the assumption that each channel is either open or shut, the noise in the recorded current can be considered to arise from the statistical fluctuation in the number of channels open and the magnitude of the fluctuation gives an estimate of the conductance of a single channel. (18 Nov 1997) |
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| fourier analysis | Analysis based on the mathematical function first formulated by jean-baptiste-joseph fourier in 1807. The function, known as the fourier transform, describes the sinusoidal pattern of any fluctuating pattern in the physical world in terms of its amplitude and its phase. It has broad applications in biomedicine, e.g., analysis of the X-ray crystallography data pivotal in identifying the double helical nature of DNA and in analysis of other molecules, including viruses, and the modified back-projection algorithm universally used in computerised tomography imaging, etc. (12 Dec 1998) |
| frequency analysis | <ecology, statistics> A method of evaluating vegetation in an area by establishing a transect and counting the occurrences of plant species at various sampling points along the transect. (07 Apr 1998) |
| least-squares analysis | A principle of estimation in which the estimates of a set of parameters in a statistical model are those quantities minimizing the sum of squared differences between the observed values of a dependent variable and the values predicted by the model. (12 Dec 1998) |
| linkage analysis | <genetics> Study aimed at establishing linkage between genes. Today linkage analysis serves as a way of gene-hunting and genetic testing. (12 Dec 1998) |