ExpertGlossary terms starting with S

4,972 terms

Solar Time The period marked by successive crossing of the earth's meridian by the sun; the hour angle of the sun at a point of observance (apparent time) is…
Solar tracking The solar panels can be swiveled using the electric motors to follow the path of the sun exactly in the course of the day to maximize the yields.
Solar Transmittance The amount of solar energy that passes through a glazing material, expressed as a percentage.
Solar Trough Systems (see also Parabolic Trough, above) A type of solar thermal system where sunlight is concentrated by a curved reflector onto a pipe containing a working fluid that can be used for process…
Solar Two Solar Two is a retrofit of the Solar One project (see above). It is demonstrating the technical feasibility and power potential of a solar power tower…
Solar Ultraviolet Irradiance The amount of energy released from the Sun in the ultraviolet portion of the spectrum at wavelengths shorter than 400 nm.
solar variability changes in the amount of radiation emitted by the sun due to the sun's internal dynamics.
Solar Wind A stream of plasma coming out of the Sun in all directions at very high speeds—an average of about 400 km/sec, or a million mph.
Solarium A glazed structure, such as greenhouse or "sunspace."
Soldier-Machine Interface Considerations through system analysis and psychophysiology of equipment designs and operational concepts, to ensure they are compatible with capabilities…
Soldiers and Sailors Civil Relief Act A federal law that restricts the enforcement of civilian debts against military personnel who may not be able to pay because of active military service.
Sole custody a form of child custody that grants one parent the right to legal and physical custody.
Sole proprietor A sole proprietor is the owner and operator of a business that isn't registered as either a corporation or a limited liability company.
Sole Proprietorship A business entity privately owned by a single individual.
Sole Source Acquisition A contract for the purchase of supplies or services that is entered into a proposal to be entered into by an agency after soliciting and negotiating only…
Sole source aquifer An aquifer that supplies 50 percent or more of the drinking water of an area.
Solenoid An electromechanical device composed of a coil of wire wound around a cylinder containing a bar or plunger, that when a current is applied to the coil…
Solenoid Valve An automatic valve that is opened or closed by an electromagnet.
Solid Fuels Any fuel that is in solid form, such as wood, peat, lignite, coal, and manufactured fuels such as pulverized coal, coke, charcoal, briquettes, pellets…
Solid head buttress dam A buttress dam in which the upstream end of each buttress is enlarged to span the gap between buttresses.
solid medium Nutrient medium solidified by the addition of a gelling agent, commonly agar.
solid tumor An abnormal mass of tissue that usually does not contain cysts or liquid areas. Solid tumors may be benign (not cancerous), or malignant (cancerous).
Solid waste All unwanted, abandoned, or discarded solid or semisolid material whether or not subject to decomposition, originating from any source.
solid-state scanning In facsimile, scanning in which all or a part of the scanning process is performed by electronic commutation of an array of solid-state photosensitive…
Solidity In reference to a wind energy conversion device, the ratio of rotor blade surface area to the frontal, swept area that the rotor passes through.
Soliris (soh-LAYR-is) A monoclonal antibody used to prevent red blood cells from being destroyed in patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH), a red…
soliton An optical pulse having a shape, spectral content, and power level designed to take advantage of nonlinear effects in an optical fiber waveguide, for the…
SOLN Solution
SOLNS solutions
Solstice The two times of the year when the sun is apparently farthest north and south of the earth's equator; usually occurring on or around June 21 (summer…
soluble (SOL-yoo-bul) Able to be dissolved in a liquid.
Solvency The ability of a health insurance plan to meet all of its financial obligations.
solvent (SOL-vent) A liquid that is able to dissolve a solid.
Solvent extraction A method of separation used to purify vegetable oils.
Solvents liquids, usually petroleum based, that can dissolve solids and keep them in solution. May contribute to pollution through evaporation.
SOM System Object Model.
somaclonal variation Epigenetic or genetic changes induced during the callus phase of plant cells cultured in vitro.
somatic (soh-MA-tik) Having to do with the body.
Somatic cell (soh-MA-tik ...) Any of the body cells except the reproductive (germ) cells.
somatic cell embryogenesis The process of differentiation of somatic embryos either from explant cells (direct embryogenesis), or from callus generated from explants (indirect…
Somatic cell gene therapy The repair or replacement of a defective gene within somatic tissue. (See Somatic cell.)
Somatic cell genetic mutation A change in the genetic structure that is neither inherited nor passed to offspring. Also called acquired mutations. See also: germ line genetic mutation
somatic cell hybrid panel A panel of cells created by cell fusion, typically involving a reference species (e.g. hamster) and the species of interest (e.g.
Somatic cell nuclear transfer A technique in which the nucleus of a somatic cell (any cell of the body except sperm cells and egg cells) is injected, or transfered, into an egg, that…
Somatic Cell Nuclear Transfer (SCNT) A method of cloning: transfer of the nucleus from a donor somatic cell into an enucleated egg to produce a cloned embryo.
somatic cell variant A somatic cell with unique characters not present in the other cells, and which could be selected for by an appropriate screen.
Somatic cells Cells of body tissues other than the germline.
somatic embryo An organized embryo -like structure. Although morphologically similar to a zygotic embryo it is initiated from somatic plant cells.
somatic hybridization Naturally occurring or induced fusion of somatic protoplasts or cells of two genetically different parents. The difference may be as wide as interspecific.
somatic hypermutation The high frequency of mutation that occurs in the gene segments encoding the variable regions of immunoglobulins during the differentiation of B…
somatic mutation (soh-MA-tik myoo-TAY-shun) An alteration in DNA that occurs after conception. Somatic mutations can occur in any of the cells of the body except the germ…
somatic reduction Halving of the chromosomal number of somatic cells; a possible method of producing "haploids" from somatic cells and calli by artificial means.
Somatic stem cells Non-embryonic stem cells that are not derived from gametes (egg or sperm cells).
somatocrinin Growth hormone-releasing hormone. See: growth hormone.
Somatostatin Growth hormone-inhibiting hormone. See: growth hormone.
somatostatin receptor scintigraphy (SOH-muh-toh-STA-tin reh-SEP-ter sin-TIH-gruh-fee) A type of radionuclide scan used to find carcinoid and other types of tumors.
Somatotrophin See Human growth hormone.
somatotropin (SOH-muh-toh-TROH-pin) A protein made by the pituitary gland that helps control body growth and the use of glucose and fat in the body.
Somite One of the longitudinal series of segments into which the body of many animals (including vertebrates) is divided. (Merriam-Webster on line)
somnolence syndrome (SOM-noh-lens SIN-drome) Periods of drowsiness, lethargy, loss of appetite, and irritability in children following radiation therapy treatments to the…
Somogyi Effect See Rebound Hyperglycemia
Son/daughter (married/unmarried) In immigration law, a child becomes a son or daughter when he/she turns 21 or marries. A son or daughter must have once met the definition of a child.
sonar An acronym derived from the expression "sound navigation and ranging." Refers to the method or equipment for determining by underwater sound techniques…
SONET Synchronous Optical Network.
sonication Disruption of cells or DNA molecules by high frequency sound waves.
sonobuoy In sonar systems, a device (a) that is used to detect acoustic waves, such as those produced by ships and submarines, (b) that, when activated, relays…
sonogram (SON-o-gram) A computer picture of areas inside the body created by bouncing high-energy sound waves (ultrasound) off internal tissues or organs.
SOO Science and Operations Officer
Sooging Scrubbing or washing down any part of the towboat.
SOP See Standard Operating Procedure.
sorafenib (soh-RAF-eh-nib) A drug used to treat advanced kidney cancer and a type of liver cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.
sorafenib tosylate (soh-RAF-eh-nib TOH-suh-layt) A drug used to treat advanced kidney cancer and a type of liver cancer that cannot be removed by surgery.
sorivudine An antiviral drug that is being studied as a treatment for herpesvirus. It belongs to the family of drugs called nucleic acid synthesis inhibitors.
sorrel A plant that has been used in some cultures to treat certain medical problems. It may have anticancer effects. The scientific name is Rumex acetosella .
sort The arrangement of documents in the sequence in which they are to be filed or stored Things that have been put in a particular order The action of…
SORTIELOT Sortie Allotment message (JFACC term).
SORTS Status of Resources and Training System.
SOS Silicon-on-Sapphire.
SOS response The synthesis of a whole set of DNA repair, recombination and replication proteins in bacteria suffering severe DNA damage (e.g.
SOSUS Sound Surveillance System (USN term).
SOU Statement of Use
sound card A hardware device used to turn digital data into sound.
sound navigation and ranging See sonar.
sound wave See acoustic wave.
sound-powered telephone A telephone in which the operating power is derived from the speech input only.
sounder prediction station A station equipped with an ionosphere sounder for realtime monitoring of upper atmosphere phenomena or to obtain data for the prediction of propagation…
soundex A phonetic spelling (up to six characters) of a street name, used for address matching.
sounding A set of data measuring the vertical structure of an atmospheric parameter (temperature, humidity, pressure, winds, etc.) at a given time.
Source Any place or object from which air pollutants are released. Sources that are fixed in space are stationary sources and sources that move are mobile…
source DNA The DNA from an organism that contains a target gene, and used as the starting material in a cloning experiment.
source document The original from which a copy is made A document containing information entered into a computer during data entry; an input record
source documents Documents intended for microfilming or which provide input data for machine-readable records systems.
source efficiency In optical systems, the ratio of emitted optical power of a source to the input electrical power.
Source Emission Reduction Plan (SERP) A contingency plan developed to reduce emissions during an air quality emergency.
source filter A special kind of "module" that does "preprocessing" on your script just before it gets to the "tokener".
source language In computing, data processing, and communications systems, a language from which statements are translated.
source organism A bacterium, plant or animal from which DNA is purified and used in a cloning experiment.
source program A computer program written in a source language. Note: An example of a source program is a program that serves as the input to an assembler, compiler, or…
source quench A congestion-control technique in which a computer experiencing data traffic congestion sends a message back to the source of the messages or packets…
Source Selection Authority The official designated to direct the source selection process, approve the selection plan, select the source(s), and announce contract award.