1. A recipe or prescription containing directions for the compounding of a medicinal preparation. 2. In chemistry, a symbol or collection of symbols expressing the number of atoms of the element or elements forming one molecule of a substance, together with, on occasion, information concerning the arrangement of the atoms within the molecule, their electronic structure, their charge, the nature of the bonds within the molecule, etc. 3. An expression by symbols and numbers of the normal order or arrangement of parts or structures. 4. A mathematic relationship or principle, typically provided via an equation. [L. dim. of forma, form]
- Arneth f. the normal, approximate ratio of polymorphonuclear neutrophils, based on the number of lobes in the nuclei, as follows: 1 lobe, 5%; 2 lobes, 35%; 3 lobes, 41%; 4 lobes, 17%; 5 lobes, 2%.
- Bazett f. a f. for correcting the observed QT interval in the electrocardiogram for cardiac rate (R-R interval): corrected QT = Q-T sec/√RR sec.
- Bernhardt f. a f. used to calculate the ideal weight, in kilograms, for an adult; it is the height in centimeters times the chest circumference in centimeters divided by 240.
- Black f. a translation of Pignet f. into British measurements: F = (W + C) − H; F is the empirical factor, W is the weight in pounds, C the chest girth in inches at full inspiration, and H the height in inches; a man is classed as very strong when F is over 120, strong between 110 and 120, good 100 to 110, fair 90 to 100, weak 80 to 90, very weak under 80.
- Broca f. a fully developed man (30 years old) should weigh as many kilograms as he is centimeters in height over and above 1 meter.
- Christison f. SYN: Häser f..
- constitutional f. SYN: structural f..
- dental f. a statement in tabular form of the number of each kind of teeth in the jaw; the dental f. for man is, for the deciduous teeth : for the permanent teeth :
- DuBois f. a f. for predicting a man's surface area from weight and height : A = 71.84W0.425 H0.725, where A = surface area in cm2, W = weight in kg, and H = height in cm.
- electrical f. a graphic representation by means of symbols of the reaction of a muscle to an electrical stimulus.
- empirical f. in chemistry, a f. indicating the kind and number of atoms in the molecules of a substance, or its composition, but not the relation of the atoms to each other or the intimate structure of the molecule. SYN: molecular f..
- Flesch f. a method of determining the difficulty of a written passage by a formulation that provides an estimate of how many people in the U.S. would be able to read and understand the passage; used in determining patient comprehension of hospital consent forms.
- Florschütz f. the correct relation of height to the abdominal circumference : L : (2B − L), L representing the individual's height, and B the circumference of the abdomen; the normal value so determined would be 5, and any below that would indicate obesity.
- Gorlin f. a f. for calculating the area of the orifice of a cardiac valve, based on flow across the valve and the mean pressures in the chambers on either side of the valve.
- graphic f. SYN: structural f..
- Häser f. a f. to determine the number of grams of urinary solids per liter, obtained by multiplying 2.33 by the last two figures of the specific gravity of the urine. SYN: Christison f., Trapp f., Trapp-Häser f..
- Haworth perspective and conformational formulas See Haworth perspective formulas of cyclic sugars.
- Jellinek f. a method of estimating the prevalence of alcoholism in a nation's population, based on the assumption that a predictable proportion of persons addicted to alcohol die of cirrhosis of the liver.
- Ledermann f. a f. to calculate alcohol dependancy levels. Ledermann showed empirically that the distribution of alcohol consumption in a population is log normal; the f. used this observation to estimate the prevalence of various degrees of alcohol dependency. Some questions have been raised about the validity of Ledermann observations.
- Long f. a f. for estimating from the specific gravity of a specimen of urine the approximate amount of solids in grams per liter; the last two figures of the value for specific gravity are multiplied by 2.6. SYN: Long coefficient.
- Mall f. a f. for determining the age (in days) of a human embryo; calculated as the square root of its length (measured from vertex to breech) in millimeters multiplied by 100.
- Meeh-Dubois f. a f. for predicting surface area, assuming that it is proportional to the 23 power of the body weight. SYN: Meeh f..
- Poisson-Pearson f. a f. to determine the statistical error in calculating the endemic index of malaria : let N = total number of children under 15 years in a locality; n = total number examined for the spleen-rate; x = number found with enlarged spleen; (x/n)100 = spleen-rate; e% = percentage of error; the percentage error will be, by this f.:
- Ranke f. A = grams of albumin per liter of a serous fluid : then, A = (sp. gr. − 1000) × 0.52 − 5.406.
- rational f. in chemistry, a f. that indicates the constitution as well as the composition of a substance.
- Reuss f. a means of estimating the approximate amount of albumin in a transudate or exudate; 38 (sp. gr. - 1.000) − 2.8 results in a value that is a practicable indication of the percentage of albumin in the fluid.
- Runeberg f. a f. for estimating the percentage of albumin in a serous fluid, similar to Reuss f. except that, instead of 2.8, 2.73 is subtracted in the instance of a transudate, and 2.88 in that of an inflammatory exudate.
- spatial f. SYN: stereochemical f..
- stereochemical f. a chemical f. in which the arrangement of the atoms or atomic groupings in space are indicated. SYN: spatial f..
- structural f. a f. in which the connections of the atoms and groups of atoms, as well as their kind and number, are indicated. SYN: constitutional f., graphic f..
- Toronto f. for pulmonary artery banding a technique that provides a general guide for the size of the band relative to the patient's weight.
- Trapp f. SYN: Häser f..
- Trapp-Häser f. SYN: Häser f..
- vertebral f. a f. indicating the number of vertebrae in each segment of the spinal column; for humans it is C. 7, T. 12, L. 5, S. 5, Co. 4 = 33, the letters standing for cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal.
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1 a) a recipe or prescription giving method and proportions of ingredients for the preparation of some material (as a medicine)
b) a milk mixture or substitute for feeding an infant typically consisting of prescribed proportions and forms of cow's milk, water, and sugar also a batch of this made up at one time to meet an infant's future requirements (as during a 24-hour period)
2) a symbolic expression showing the composition or constitution of a chemical substance and consisting of symbols for the elements present and subscripts to indicate the relative or total number of atoms present in a molecule <the \formula for ethyl alcohol is C2H5OH> see EMPIRICAL FORMULA, MOLECULAR FORMULA, STRUCTURAL FORMULA
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for·mu·la (forґmu-lə) pl. formulas or forґmulae [L., dim. of forma form] a specific statement, using numerals and other symbols, of the composition of, or of the directions for preparing, a compound, such as a medicine, or of a procedure to follow for obtaining a desired value or result; a simplified statement, using numerals and symbols, of a single concept. See also chemical f.Medical dictionary. 2011.