HKCA Primary MCQ - independent subject foundations key terms
HKCA Primary MCQ - independent subject foundations · Get comfortable with the vocabulary.
- Context-sensitive half-time
The time for a specified plasma concentration decrease after stopping an infusion, dependent on the duration and the pharmacokinetic model.
- Redistribution
Movement of a drug away from an initially well-perfused effect site into other compartments, which can change effect before complete elimination.
- Partial agonist
A receptor ligand that produces a lower maximal response than a full agonist under the relevant system and occupancy conditions.
- Competitive antagonist
A ligand that competes for receptor binding and can produce a surmountable agonist response shift in the idealized reversible model.
- Minimum alveolar concentration
A population measure of an inhaled anesthetic concentration associated with prevention of movement in a specified fraction under a defined stimulus.
- Blood-gas partition coefficient
An equilibrium solubility relationship that helps predict the rate of alveolar concentration change alongside ventilation, delivery and circulation.
- Hofmann elimination
A spontaneous chemical breakdown pathway influenced by temperature and pH, rather than direct dependence on renal clearance alone.
- Neuromuscular junction
The specialized synaptic connection through which a motor neuron communicates with skeletal muscle using acetylcholine and postsynaptic receptor activation.
- Functional residual capacity
The volume of gas remaining in the lungs at the end of a normal tidal expiration under the stated physiological conditions.
- Physiological dead space
Ventilation that does not effectively participate in gas exchange, including relevant anatomical and alveolar contributions in the measurement model.
- Tonicity
The effective osmotic influence of a solution on water movement across a relevant membrane, distinct from total measured osmolality.
- Autoregulation
An organ capacity to modify vascular resistance and maintain flow over a context-dependent pressure range rather than an unlimited guarantee.
- Boyle relationship
The inverse relationship between volume and absolute pressure for a fixed amount of gas when temperature remains constant.
- Reynolds number
A dimensionless comparison of inertial and viscous effects used to evaluate flow behavior within specified geometry and conditions.
- Damping
A property of a measurement system dynamic response that can influence waveform fidelity and displayed pressure values.
- Thermocouple
A temperature-sensing arrangement using the voltage generated by a temperature difference involving dissimilar electrical conductors under specified conditions.
- Sensitivity
The proportion of people with a defined condition who receive a positive result under the specified diagnostic-testing framework.
- Standard error
An estimate of sampling uncertainty in a statistic, distinct from the variability among individual observations described by a standard deviation.
- Absolute risk reduction
The difference between event probabilities in two specified groups over a defined period, used in a contextual number-needed-to-treat calculation.
- Latent safety condition
A system vulnerability that can contribute to a harmful event when combined with other circumstances, distinct from an action immediately preceding harm.