Glossary
Terms starting with A
493 definitions · page 8 of 9.
- Attachment
- A part of an email message. Usually a file (a data file or a multimedia file) or a webpage. It is not a part of the text of the message, instead it is attached to the message.
- ATTACHMENT
- The act of taking a person's property into legal custody by writ or other judicial order to hold it available for application to that person's debt to a creditor.
- attenuator
- A control region at the promoter end of repressible amino acid operons that exerts transcriptional control based on the translation of a small leader peptide gene. A region adjacent to the structural genes of the trp (tryptophan) operon; in the presence of…
- attenuator stem
- A configuration of the leader transcript that signals transcription termination in attenuator-controlled amino acid operons.
- attitude
- the orientation of a spacecraft relative to the direction of its motion
- ATTORNEY'S OPINION OF TITLE
- An abstract of title that an attorney has examined and has certified to be, in his or her opinion, an accurate statement of the facts concerning the property ownership.
- ATX
- The modern-day shape and layout of PC motherboards. It improves on the previous standard, the Baby AT form factor, by rotating the orientation of the board 90 degrees. This allows for a more efficient design, with disk drive cable connectors nearer to the…
- atypical
- not usual; abnormal; often refers to the appearance of pre-cancerous or cancerous cells. (See also hyperplasia.)
- AU
- Audio file format for Unix systems.
- AU
- a measurement used by astronomers within the solar system; one astronomical unit (AU) is the average distance between Earth and the sun (about 93,000,000 miles or 150,000,000 kilometers)
- Aubergine
- Aubergines are an essential Mediterranean vegetable, featuring in classic dishes such as ratatouille, moussaka and imam bayildi (stuffed aubergines). They’re also an important ingredient in many Indian vegetable-based dishes and are the basis of the Arabic…
- Auction Listing Agreement
- A contract executed by the auctioneer and the seller which authorizes the auctioneer to conduct the auction and sets out the terms of the agreement and the rights and responsibilities of each party.
- Auction Marketing Institute Inc
- Founded in 1976, this international association awards the professional designations CAI and AARE to properly qualified auctioneers through education, experience, and adherence to a strict code of ethics and standards of practice. Formerly known as the…
- Auction With Reserve
- An auction in which the seller or his agent reserves the right to accept or decline any and all bids. A minimum acceptable price may or may not be disclosed and the seller reserves the right to accept or decline any bid within a specified time.
- Audio Outputs Variable
- Variable Audio Outputs let you take advantage of the great sound an external stereo system can deliver. Just connect the audio output jacks of the TV to the AUX inputs of your stereo system and you're ready to enjoy outstanding stereo sound. Best of all, you…
- auditory brainstem response (ABR) test
- test used to screen for hearing impairments in infants and young children.
- augmentation
- The restatement of a theme in longer note values, often twice as long (and therefore twice as slow) as the original.
- augmentative devices
- tools that help individuals with limited or absent speech to communicate.
- aural rehabilitation
- techniques used with people who are hearing impaired to improve their ability to speak and to communicate.
- aurora
- the emission of light when charged particles from the solar wind slam into and excite atoms and molecules in a planet’s upper atmosphere
- aurora australis
- the southern lights; see definition for aurora
- aurora borealis
- the northern lights; see definition for aurora
- aurorae
- he plural of aurora (the emission of light when charged particles from the solar wind slam into and excite atoms and molecules in a planet’s upper atmosphere)
- Authentication
- Authentication is used to confirm the identity of the other party involved in the data transmission.
- Authority sites
- Authoritative sites in a particular subject and as such will receive a massive amount of links from other relevant sites.
- Auto Exposure Control
- Automatically senses the ambient light intensity and adjusts the aperture and shutter speed for optimum exposure or turns the flash on if required. To take a good picture, the camera must allow precisely the correct amount of light to hit the film. This…
- Auto Focus
- Selects the best focus positions depending on the subject distance. This system uses an infra-red transmitter and an infra-red receiver linked via an electronic logic circuit to a motor which moves the lens back and forth in minute steps. When the shutter…
- AUTO INSURANCE POLICY
- There are basically six different types of coverages. Some may be required by law. Others are optional. They are: 1. Bodily injury liability, for injuries the policyholder causes to someone else. 2. Medical payments or Personal Injury Protection (PIP) for…
- AUTO INSURANCE PREMIUM
- The price an insurance company charges for coverage, based on the frequency and cost of potential accidents, theft and other losses. Prices vary from company to company, as with any product or service. Premiums also vary depending on the amount and type of…
- Auto Programmable Scan
- Allows you to check all available channels in your area (or on your cable system) and automatically tunes them into memory. You can then add or delete the channels of your choice.
- Auto Reverse
- This feature will automatically reverse the direction of the tape at the end of each side of the cassette for extended listening. Some decks have this feature in both record and play modes, others in play mode only.
- Auto Search Tuning
- Initiates the tuner's search until a radio station of sufficient strength has been found. Weak stations are skipped during automatic search.
- Auto Volume Limiter System (AVLS)
- A feature on many personal stereos, it refers to circuitry that manages the audio signal to prevent distortion due to volume peaks.
- autoexec.bat
- A root directory batch file that is responsible for executing commands at system startup.
- autogamy
- nuclear reorganization in a single Paramecium cell similar to the changes that occur during conjugation.
- autoguider
- a CCD camera used to automatically guide a telescope during long-exposure photography
- autoimmune process
- a process where the body's immune system attacks and destroys body tissue that it mistakes for foreign matter.
- autologous transplant
- a procedure in which a patient's own bone marrow is removed, treated with anticancer drugs or radiation, then returned to the patient.
- AUTOMATIC EXTENSION
- A clause in a listing agreement that states that the agreement will continue automatically for a certain period of time after its expiration date. In many states, use of this clause is discouraged or prohibited.
- Automatic Phosphor Aging Compensation (APAC™)
- APAC functions only when black bars are present, either during letterboxed material or when viewing a 4:3 image on a 16:9 television. When these bars are present, APAC imperceptibly moves the image up and down, or to the right and left, one pixel at a time…
- Automatic Source Selection
- This feature will automatically switch to a new source and pause the previous source. For example, if the CD is playing and the tuner button is selected, the CD will be paused and the system will switch to the tuner mode.
- autonomous replication sequence (ARS)
- A segment of a DNA molecule necessary for the initiation of its replication; generally a site recognized and bound by the proteins of the replication system.
- autopolyploid
- A polyploid formed from the doubling of a single genome. Polyploidy in which all the chromosomes come from the same species.
- autopsy
- examination of a body after death; performed to determine cause of death, or to verify a diagnosis.
- autoradiography
- A process by which radioactive materials, often though not exclusively incorporated into cell structures, are located by exposure to a photographic emulsion forming a pattern on the film corresponding to the location of the radioactive compounds within the…
- autoregulation
- The control of the transcription of a gene by its own gene product.
- autosomal set
- The non-sex chromosomes consisting of one from each homologous pair in a diploid species.
- autosome
- Any chromosome that is not a sex chromosome.
- autotroph
- Organism that is able to utilize carbon dioxide as a carbon source.
- autozygosity
- homozygosity in which the two alleles are identical by descent (ie they are copies of an ancestral gene) .
- autumnal equinox
- the time of year around September 23 when the sun crosses the celestial equator heading south
- AUXILIARY ENERGY SUBSYSTEM
- Equipment using conventional fuel to supplement the energy output of a solar system. This might be, for example, an oil- fueled generator that adds to the electrical output of a substitutes for the solar system during long overcast periods when there is not…
- AUXILIARY EQUIPMENT
- Extra machinery needed to support the operation of a power plant or other large facility.
- auxotroph
- An organism with specific nutritional requirements.
- auxotrophic mutant
- A mutant strain of microorganism that will proliferate only when the medium is supplemented with some specific substance not required by wild-type organisms.
- avant garde
- In the art, on the leading edge of a change in style.
- AVERAGE COST
- The revenue requirement of a utility divided by the utility's sales. Average cost typically includes the costs of existing power plants, transmission, and distribution lines, and other facilities used by a utility to serve its customers. It also included…
- AVERAGE DEMAND
- The energy demand in a given geographical area over a period of time. For example, the number of kilowatt-hours used in a 24-hour period, divided by 24, tells the average demand for that period.
- AVERAGE HYDRO
- Rain, snow and runoff conditions that provide water for hydroelectric generation equal to the most commonly occurring levels. Average hydro usually is a mean indicating the levels experienced most often in a 104-year period.
- averted vision
- a technique that uses the more light-sensitive rods in the eye to better see a faint object by looking at it indirectly